In Gainesville, learning for kids that’s fun

When people drive past Brain Zoom in the Piedmont Center Plaza Shopping Center in Gainesville, they think it's a toy store, manager Alicia Hill said.

"We like to say we're more than a toy store," Hill said.

Brain Zoom, which opened in February, does sell toys, but its main function is as a "student enrichment center" offering hands-on learning workshops and activities for preschool through elementary school-aged children, Hill said.

"It's an enrichment center and it's the only one of its kind in the area," Hill said.

During the school year, kids from preschool through fifth grade can enroll in learning workshops in math, reading, science and technology and languages, including Spanish, French and Chinese.

During the summer, the center is offering summer camps for preschoolers through rising sixth-graders in the same subjects.

But it's not exactly summer school, Hill said.

"Our summer camps are a little bit out of the box," Hill said. "We get kids to challenge themselves through hands-on activities."

For example, in a math camp offered this summer, kids learn math and engineering concepts through building models of bridges and skyscrapers, Hill said.

"It's just a more exploratory way for them to learn," she said.

Also this summer, Brain Zoom is holding a summer book club for kids.

The club meets each week on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the cost is $20 a week.

"It's no ordinary reading club. The kids get to actually experience the literature," Hill said.

The kids read a book and then do an activity based on the book. Recently, the book was about quilting, so club members made a quilt.

"It's just all about connecting with what they're reading," Hill said.

The store will also hold a "Dinner and a Movie"night, just for kids, on four nights this summer, starting on July 10 at 5:30 p.m.

Children will watch a movie and make and eat a meal based on it.

"It gives parents a chance to get a night out," Hill said.

For more information about Brain Zoom and its programs, visit brainzoomonline.com or call 703-753-0442. Brain Zoom is located at 6884 Piedmont Center Plaza in Gainesville.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.