Sheltering-in-Place Children's Resources

The COVID-19 has caused an unprecedented time of Sheltering-in-Place for communities around the globe. This is a time of uncertainty and anxiety, but I also believe it is a time of hope. As a librarian who interacts with children and learning resources on a daily basis, I have been astounded by the multitude of e-learning opportunities flooding the internet. After weeks of saving links and scouring blogs, I am pleased to provide a (mostly) curated list of resources to help you and your family continue learning from the safety of your own home. For many, this is a stressful time of remote learning, for others, "home schooling" is old-hat, but you're running out of engaging ideas. I hope you are able to find something worthwhile from this list.

To begin, check out this resource for ways to talk to your kids about the coronavirus: https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/

Below you will see links in the following categories:

• Hands-on Activities
• General E-Learning
• Storytimes & Read Alouds
• Podcasts & Audiobooks
• Reading & Writing
• Games
• Art, Music, Culture, & History
• Science & Technology
• Movement
• Virtual Field Trips
  

Hands-on Activities

At Home Activities for Kids https://www.purewow.com/family/at-home-activities-for-kids

Eric Carle Printables https://www.readbrightly.com/eric-carle-printables-activities/

Star Wars Printables https://www.readbrightly.com/star-wars-printables-activities/

Lego Printables https://www.readbrightly.com/lego-printables-activities/

Printables and Activities Starring Your Kids’ Favorite Characters https://www.readbrightly.com/favorite-characters-printables-activities/

Magic Tree House Prinables https://www.readbrightly.com/magic-tree-house-printables-activities/

63 Easy Science Experiments for Kids Using Household Stuff https://mommypoppins.com/kids/50-easy-science-experiments-for-kids-fun-educational-activities-using-household-stuff

TinkerGarten https://www.facebook.com/tinkergarten/
50 Process Art Activities for Kids https://mericherry.com/2015/09/28/50-process-art-activities-for-kids/

Make a Family Museum https://www.facebook.com/ImaginationSoup/videos/215308939683922/

Bookish Ways to Keep Your Kids Entertained https://www.readbrightly.com/bookish-ways-keep-kids-entertained/

Book Booty! A Printable Treasure Maze for Kids https://www.readbrightly.com/book-booty-printable-treasure-maze-kids/

Treehouse Kidswear DIY projects https://www.instagram.com/treehouse_kidswear/

Park Activities You Can Do From the Comfort of Your Own Home https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/park-activities-you-can-do-comfort-your-home 

Best In-door Activities for Kids  https://www.earlychildhoodeducationzone.
com/the-35-best-indoor-activities-for-kids/

General E-Learning

Scholastic Learn at Home https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy Kids https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/

TED Ed (note: website for all ages) https://ed.ted.com/lessons

TED Talks to watch with kids https://www.ted.com/playlists/86/talks_to_watch_with_kids

Activities from the Library of Congress https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/03/parents-smart-fun-for-kids/

PBS Kids https://pbskids.org/apps/

5 Teacher-Recommended Tips for Exploring Current Events with Your Students https://www.readbrightly.com/teacher-tips-exploring-current-events/

Here’s The Entire List of Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions Due to School Closings https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/135609/list-of-education-companies-offering-free-subscriptions/
Free Resources for Families https://schoolchoiceweek.com/parent-resources-during-coronavirus/ 

200+ Amazing Online Learning Resources https://www.weareteachers.com/free-online-learning-resources/

Voices of Youth https://www.voicesofyouth.org/
 

Storytimes & Read Alouds

Chicago Public Library storytime videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE8pQ7ZYzs_Aq_fa0mweJGw/videos

Goodnight with Dolly https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0MpwxxTbrBOz1g1X-BynUA

Storyline Online https://www.storylineonline.net/about-us/

Jennifer Ehle reading Pride and Prejudice (ages 10+) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryraQlMMfuA

Brooklyn Public Library Virtual Storytimes https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/list/Virtual%20Programming?search=virtual+storytime&date

Dav Pilkey and the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-20-026/dav-pilkey-author-and-illustrator-of-dog-man-and-captain-underpants-collaborating-with-the-library-of-congress-to-serve-families-at-home/2020-03-30/

Kid Lit TV https://kidlit.tv/category/read-out-loud/
Read Aloud with Dan Gutman
https://www.facebook.com/pages/
category/Author/Dan-Gutman-60020139122/

Stories, Songs, and Stretches https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd7c6gQWlaTgykxAQI9uXkQ/videos

Jbrary https://jbrary.com/

Pete the Cat Club Virtual Storytime with James Dean https://www.instagram.com/petethecatofficial/

Daily Story with David Walliams https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/

LeVar Burton Reads https://twitter.com/levarburton

Zoe Saldaña & Eva Longoria Read Kids Books in Spanish https://remezcla.com/film/eva-longoria-selena-save-stories/

Brightly Storytimes https://www.readbrightly.com/topics/brightly-storytime/

Young Black & Lit Live Storytimes https://www.youngblackandlit.org/

Penguin Kids Publishing https://www.instagram.com/penguinkids/

Harper Kids Publishing https://www.instagram.com/harperkids/ 

Podcasts & Audiobooks

Circle Round Podcast https://www.wbur.org/circleround

Stories by Audible https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

25 Best Podcasts for Kids https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/the-best-podcasts-for-kids

A Big List of Podcasts for Little Kids https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/parenting/podcasts-for-kids.html

Wow in the World (from NPR) https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510321/wow-in-the-world

Pinna https://pinna.fm/  

Check out your local library for their digital resources, including audiobooks! 
 

Reading & Writing

Harry Potter at Home https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/harry-potter-at-home

(Harry Potter-related activities and free downloads. Through April, users can get free audiobook and ebook versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, through partnerships with Audible and OverDrive)

Start with a Book https://www.startwithabook.org/

Sesame Street “Caring For Each Other” E-Books https://www.sesamestreet.org/caring

How To Run a Virtual Book Club with Middle Schoolers https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=How-To-Run-a-Virtual-Online-Zoom-Book-Club-middle-schoolers-library-school

Online Writing Class for Teens with Front Desk Author, Kelly Yang (Ages 10+) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-XqJR-A38K/

DC Kids Camp with Graphic Novel Authors https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=DC-launches-DC-Kids-camp-with-videos-and-activities-from-minh-l%C3%AA-gene-luen-yang-shannon-hale-coronavirus

Kids Ask Authors with Grace Lin https://www.kidsaskauthors.com/

826 Writing Challenge https://gallery.mailchimp.com/462fd7b9bcff8afe827177c78/files/17a99546-91eb-4946-8d88-8fb0105ce78e/Write_Start_Challenge_Handout.pdf and https://mcusercontent.com/462fd7b9bcff8afe827177c78/files/d19d7c2e-b926-48c9-8bfe-28e59e50d4ee/Write_Here_Write_Now_Handout.pdf

Unicorns Read Too! https://www.internationalunicornday.com/

Six Great Websites for Teen Writers https://www.readbrightly.com/6-great-websites-teen-writers

Writing Tips from Kate DiCamillo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA1CTuZ27Bs

Epic! Books for Kids https://www.getepic.com/

Book Creator https://bookcreator.com/

Vooks: Storybooks Brought to Life! https://www.vooks.com/ 

Check out your local library for their digital resources, including ebooks!
  

Games

Board Game Moible Apps (Ages 10+)
https://www.vulture.com/article/best-board-game-apps.html

10 Fun Games You Can Play on Zoom https://www.twoscotsabroad.com/zoom-video-conference-call-games/

Create Your Own Digital Escape Room https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLzbPGF4TzY&t=141s
Hogwarts Digital Escape Room https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflNxNM0jzbZJjUqOcXkwhGTfii4CM_CA3kCxImbY8c3AABEA/viewform

ABC Mouse https://www.abcmouse.com/abt/homepage?8a08850bc2 or if you live in Chicago, visit through the Chicago Public Library website with your library card number.

Quizlet https://quizlet.com/

Art, Music, Culture, & History

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/

Art for Kids Hub https://www.youtube.com/user/ArtforKidsHub

Google Arts & Culture (Some content for ages 10+) https://artsandculture.google.com/

Dav Pilkey at the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-20-026/dav-pilkey-author-and-illustrator-of-dog-man-and-captain-underpants-collaborating-with-the-library-of-congress-to-serve-families-at-home/2020-03-30/

Stimola Live https://www.stimolalive.com/

Jarrett J. Krosoczka “Draw Every Day” https://www.youtube.com/studiojjk

Live with Author/Illustrator Ben Clayton https://www.instagram.com/benclantoon/ and https://www.facebook.com/narwhalandjelly/

The Metropolitan Opera https://www.metopera.org/

YoYo Ma and Sandra Boynton’s #SongsofComfort https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=655859071874252

Playtime Playlist https://playtimeplaylist.com/events/ 

Stay Home Sing Together https://www.stayhomesingtogether.com/ 

Toontastic 3D https://toontastic.withgoogle.com/ 

Canva https://www.canva.com/

Chatter Pix Kids http://www.duckduckmoose.com/educational-iphone-itouch-apps-for-kids/chatterpixkids/

Ancestry.com Lessons https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2020/03/24/free-at-home-education-resources-from-ancestry-and-access-to-nearly-500m-national-archives-records/ 

Help Librarians and Archivists Decipher Records (for teens and adults) https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/archives-to-browse-from-home
 

Science & Technology

PBS Nova Labs (Ages 10+) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/

Five Dollar Dinners Cooking Class https://www.5dollardinners.com/school-cancellation-kids-cooking-lessons/

Taste Buds at Home Cooking Club https://tastebudskitchen.com/cooking-club/

National Geographic Kids https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/?fbclid and https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Coding with Kids https://www.codingwithkids.com/#!/

NASA at Home https://www.nasa.gov/specials/nasaathome/index.html

Hour of Code on Code.org https://code.org/

The Brain Scoop Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/thebrainscoop

America's Test Kitchen: Young Chef's Club https://www.americastestkitchen.com/kids/home

Tynker https://www.tynker.com/

Scratch https://scratch.mit.edu/

Code Monkey https://www.codemonkey.com/ 

Movement

P.E. with Jo https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1/videos

Cosmic Kids Yoga https://www.youtube.com/cosmickidsyoga

Karma Kids Yoga https://karmakidsyoga.com/schedules.html

Go Noodle https://www.gonoodle.com/

Lolly and Yoyo https://www.lollyandyoyo.com/

Kidz Bop https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMr-d2PLsO95ydptpBnsxdQNSKc9iUNU0  

Virtual Field Trips

(This is in no way an exhaustive list. Check out your local museums and zoos for more resources.)

National Parks https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/parks

Farm Food 360 https://www.farmfood360.ca/

Google Lit Trips https://www.googlelittrips.org/ 

National Museum of Natural History https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour

National Gallery of Art – Washington D.C. https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-gallery-of-art-washington-dc?hl=en

Colonial Williamsburg https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/

Boston Children’s Museum https://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/museum-virtual-tour

Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Cam https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams

Van Gogh Museum https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/van-gogh-museum?hl=en

The Lourve https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne
(Hint: ancient Egypt or medieval architecture)

Uffizi Gallery https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/uffizi-gallery?hl=en

NASA John Glenn Research Center https://www.nasa.gov/glennvirtualtours

NASA Hubble Space Telescope https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-360-degree-virtual-tour

The British Museum https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

The Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/metkids/

Easter Island https://artsandculture.google.com/story/4wXhfs-0ooroMQ?hl=en

Roald Dahl Museum https://www.roalddahl.com/museum/visit/virtual-museum-tour

Museo Galileo https://catalogue.museogalileo.it/

Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari http://cincinnatizoo.org/home-safari-resources/  

Panoramas from around the world http://www.airpano.com/

Explore LiveCams https://explore.org/livecams
  







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