Wow! I noticed these kits on display at the Brandywine Hundred Library!What's The Big Idea is a pilot program with the Vermont Center of the Book's Mother Goose Programs and the Delaware Public Library System. This program was underwritten by the National Science Foundation in an effort to bring Science and Math into the Library for Young Children.
These mini unit studies are wonderfully suited for those preschool years, ages 3+ to 5. The kits are not suitable for children 3 and under because they contain small parts.Several Libraries in Delaware now carry these kits. If your library doesn't you the kits may be requested through the library system. New Castle, Sussex and Kent Counties are participating. This is a national program so the kits may also be available in libraries outside Delaware, call your local library.
The Brandywine Hundred Library has several boxes of each of a dozen topics; Building, Counting 1 2 3, Collecting and Sorting, Construction, Exploring Weather, Growing, Making Sets, Part-Part Whole, Number Patterns, Shadows and Recognizing Different and Same.
Each kit contains a picture book, a mini manual and materials to explore. For example the Part-Part Whole Kit includes the book "How Do You Count a Dozen Ducks," a mini manual and 100 snap blocks. The Exploring Weather Kit contains a rain meter and a couple thermometers and The Recognizing Same and Different kit contains a collection of items to sort.
You can check these kits out, one kit at a time, for three weeks, just like you would check out a book. So, check it out!
What's The Big Idea website
