The Children's Library of Things is the Library's collection of non-traditional materials. Materials in the Library of Things include a variety of interactive items to provide learning opportunities and entertainment for your child as well as let you test out equipment before you invest in your own.
Any Thing costing $50 or more requires a library card holder over the age of 18 to sign the borrower’s agreement . Forms are available to print here from the website or at the service desk in the Children's Room.
The Library of Things was made possible through a 2021 Rhode Island legislative grant obtained through Senator Ryan Pearson
Any valid Ocean State Libraries library card can be used to check out a Thing.
Items from the Library of Things must be checked out from, and returned to, the service desk in the Children's Room during regular operating hours. Things may not be returned in any return bins or to any other library.
Please note: This list is a few years old and may not be an accurate list of our Library of Things collection. Please feel free to contact us at childrens [at] cumberlandlibrary.org if you have any questions ahead of visiting.
 | Easy Twist Animal Builders Made just for tiny hands, our adorable builders let children match up animal patterns to create 4 cute critters—or mix up the pieces for super-silly fun! However they put the animals together, tots develop fine motor skills and eye/hand coordination as they twist, turn and build! |
 | Mix & Match Farm Animals Tots just connect the matching pieces to create lots of fun farm friends—or mix and match the shapes to invent their own animals! Designed to boost fine motor control in little fingers, our set features 12 squeezable plastic pieces that are super-easy to connect—allowing kids to create 6 adorable two-piece animals—including a sheep, pig, dog and more! |
 | The World Grab & Play Game As kids play our fun skill-building game, they explore the cultures, landmarks and geography of all 7 continents! o play, children take turns rolling the die to select questions, then use their mapping skills and social studies knowledge to answer them. For each correct answer, players collect tokens—as they race to earn 100 points! |
 | Fractions & Decimals BINGO This fast-paced bingo game helps students explore equivalencies and conversions between fractions and decimals—hands on! The game is similar to traditional bingo, so it’s super-easy for children to learn…they simply listen to clues, then try to find the matching numbers or images on their game cards. |
 | Coding Critter This playful puppy pet brings early STEM concepts to preschool learning through 100% screen-free coding. Kids code along with their new pets’ storybook adventure, and help the brave Ranger and mischievous Zip have a playtime they'll never forget. Each storybook coding challenge unfolds in the Coding critters' Fun pet playset - can you code Ranger to play hide and seek, fetch a ball from the tennis ball launcher, or catch zip after a ride down the slide? The Coding critters also double as cute interactive pets - Press Ranger's nose to activate play mode, where you can feed, pet, and take care of your new puppy robot pal. You can even make him dance and sing a silly song. |
 | Spiral Tower The Spiral Tower is a colorful ball ramp that is sure to keep kids entertained! Babies will have a blast by placing the balls at the top and watching them roll, spin, and rattle to the bottom! The balls are clear and filled with colorful beads so provide fun visual stimulation. They also make a gentle rattling sound when rolling down the tower, adding to the engaging play experience. The Super Spiral Tower promotes important sensory development and early learning, like eye-hand coordination and cause and effect, all in a fun and engaging play experience. |
 | Lace & Trace Kit With charming farm animal art on both sides, it’s fun to practice lacing and tracing skills. Develop eye-hand coordination and attention skills with this great activity. The accompanying book also includes zippers, buttons, and tying laces to help with hand-eye coordination. |
 | Fill a Bucket Kit Boost early literacy and social-emotional skills—with this charming kit that brings Fill a Bucket to life! A big, ready-to-use bucket and storytelling pieces let children act out the beloved tale as they explore kindness and self-awareness. |
 | Bucket Balance Our super-versatile bucket balance gives children a clear view of science in action! Each removable, see-inside bucket holds both liquids & solids...so kids can observe, weigh and compare water, rocks, feathers, sand and much more. |
 | Forest Friends Can you find all the forest friends a home in our tree? Our playset helps tots develop fine motor skills as they pop each squeezably cute critter in & out of the cozy tree! |
 | Allowance Game Wash the car and earn $1.30, but forget your homework and lose a turn! In this fast-paced game, players race around the colorful board doing chores and collecting an allowance, then spend their earnings on the things they want! |
 | Cash Register Kids can ring up the fun with our real-working cash register! The built-in calculator and digital display let kids add, subtract, multiply and divide as they ring up pretend purchases. The cash drawer even pops open so children can figure out the correct change! |
 | Moods & Emotions Match-ups Kids identify moods and emotions with our easy-to-use illustrated puzzles! Each self-correcting 2-piece puzzle features a relatable scenario on one half and a corresponding emoji on the other—so kids make a visual connection between everyday situations and feelings. |
 | Pet Vet Center Our activity-filled center lets young animal doctors bandage pretend wounds, listen to heartbeats, examine X-rays & more! |
 | Table Telescope Encourage a love of Science! Support STEM learning through scientific exploration and hands-on experience. Encourage little explorers to pursue their natural love of science! |
 | Magnetic Building Tiles Magnetic tiles inspire children's manipulative ability, imagination and creativity, problem solving, social skills, motor skills. Children can acquire strong sense of color, geometrical shapes including 3D forms numbers counts, magnetic polarities & architectural design at early age. |
 | Bowling Set With a squeezably soft foam bowling ball and 6 extra-chunky foam pins, this action-packed set makes it super-safe—and tons of fun—to roll strike after strike! |
 | Code-a-pillar Preschoolers can twist the dials on the caterpillar's segments to create a sequence and send their pal along the programmed path with moves like forward, turn right, and turn left. They can even add exciting lights and sound effects! This friendly learning toy encourages your kiddo to experiment while they play, exercising important skills like problem solving, planning and sequencing, and more. |
 | Deluxe Chef Set Kids wearing this set chef costume set can play pretend, chef role play, while helping mom and dad in the kitchen. Let children experience and find interest in cooking and making food, and enjoy the happy time with them. |
 | Code & Go Robot Mouse Kit Build your maze, and then use the coding cards to create a step-by-step path for the Programmable Robot Mouse. Program the sequence of steps, and then watch the mouse race to find the cheese! |