Needing ideas on how to stay sane, with the family home in isolation? We’ve gathered together a few thought-starters to help keep everyone in the family entertained.
Stories, activities and learning for kids
- Elevenses with the world of David Walliams – Every day at 11 am, you can listen to one of David Walliams’ World’s Worst Children stories, so sit down, take a break, and enjoy 20ish minutes of pure fun!
https://soundcloud.com/harpercollinspublishers/the-worlds-worst-children-by/s-dqoZWNyMFFq
- Listen to a story on Audible – free for a limited time. Kids can stream on desktop, laptop, phone or tablet, including titles across six different languages.
https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
- Educational games for kids in maths, reading, problem-solving and literacy.
- Hours of Seussian ideas to engage your child in playful learning.
Learn something new
- Keep learning wherever you are with an online education platform for adults set up by a group of British Universities, Explore online courses to continue studying, build professional skills, and connect with experts.
- Coursera is offering free classes from leading universities and companies. Choose from content covering business, technology, data science, and more.
Learn a language
- Duolingo has 48 languages online for Free: Spanish, Chinese, English & More. the lessons are bite-sized and gamified with points and levels.
- download language lessons from Open Culture.
http://www.openculture.com/freelanguagelessons
Visit a gallery from home
- You can’t go out but there are some amazing websites for most museums and galleries around the world. Some even have a virtual tour.
https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours
Learn about arts and culture around the world
- Google’s arts and culture website contains loads of content from around the world, including history art, people, and amazing places. Take a virtual tour of Machu Picchu, learn who invented the internet or learn about famous artworks. All the things you’d love to know but never had the time!
https://artsandculture.google.com/
- Explore New Zealand through stories, photography, videos and even virtual reality tours of amazing places around NZ.
Go to the zoo from home
A number of zoos around the world have live stream webcams so you can watch the animals. The staff won’t be moving the cameras so you may have to be patient for some to come into view and remember that the animals on the other side of the world might be asleep unless they are nocturnal!
- Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo
https://www.zoo.org.au/animal-house
- The Edinburgh Zoo
https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams
- Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams
Do an exercise class in your living room
Circuits, Yoga, Pilates? There are lots of online resources available to choose from in the app store or on video streaming services like YouTube and Vimeo.
If you can, support your local gym, physio or personal trainers. They’ll no doubt be setting up online and glad to have you with them while they are not earning.
Engineering and science challenges to do with the kids
- Are you ready for a challenge? Dyson engineers have designed these challenges specifically for children. Ideal for home or in the classroom, they encourage inquisitive young minds to get excited about engineering. Can you skewer a balloon without popping it? Coat a nail in copper? What happens when you plug a clock into a potato? There are 44 challenges to try.
Listen to a podcast
- Tune in is free internet radio. Listen to a podcast, music or news that is local to you.
https://tunein.com/radio/home/
Learn to draw
- This one is great for kids. Award-winning author/illustrator Rob Biddulph posts a draw-along video for our and your kids every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 am GMT.
http://robbiddulph.com/draw-with-rob
Looking for a book recommendation?
- Create a profile on the Goodreads website. List the titles or genres you’ve enjoyed in the past, and you’ll get recommendations. You can also link to friends and see what they have read.
Get into the kitchen
- Follow your favourite chef or cook on Facebook or Instagram. They’ll probably be sharing great recipes. Try soda bread from Jamie Oliver.
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/simple-soda-bread/
And finally, stay connected with friends and family through calls, messaging and video apps.
Stay at home and stay safe.