Master List of Resources and Ideas for Kids at Home
LAST UPDATED 3/16/20 12:38 PM (organized by category)
Like many people across the world, we are trying to figure out what the next few weeks and months will look like. We are two working parents with two kids in a Chinese immersion program. We speak no Chinese. Being a small business owner is a blessing and a curse in these times. While I’m a bit terrified of what this will mean for the health of my business, I am quite fortunate to have the flexibility to quickly adapt to the needs of our family. For us it will be important to provide normalcy for our kids. I know nothing about homeschooling and started compiling every resource I could find.
Below is a list of tools and ideas for keeping our children engaged and active at home. I will continue to add resources as I see them. Rather than extract from all the lists and documents I saw forming, I linked directly to everything. Thanks especially to the fellow parents at Waddell Language Academy who shared most of these resources in our community.
GENERAL ACADEMICS
Khan Academy
These schedules are meant to be templates that you could adopt as is or copy and modify to better suit the needs of your children, classroom or district. Khan Academy uses self-paced, interactive content--exercises, videos and articles--for students in every grade and in most major subject areas. It is all free.
Amazing Education Resources
Education companies offering free resources and subscriptions due to school closing. This is a huge google document that is constantly updated. They also have a Facebook group you can join for more ideas and information.
Kidsactivities.com List of Resources
This blog post gives the entire list of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings. They’ve provided direct links for you below. All you need to do is click the link and follow the instructions on that website to sign-up.They are all free.
Edhelper.com
Daily Free Learning Workbooks for Teachers to Share with Parents while Schools are Closed - Kids will actually do these!
Prodigygame.com
The engaging, curriculum-aligned math platform loved by over 50 million students, teachers and admins. No cost, ever.
Mysteryscience.com
Free, easy science for remote learning. To help educators during this time of coronavirus, we have pulled our most popular science lessons and are offering them for anyone to use for free. No account or login is needed. Mini Lessons (great for parents) are sorted by grade level.
National Geographic Kids
Nat Geo Kids features games, videos and exploration for kids around nature, animals and culture. Digital version of the magazine also available.
History for Kids
History for Kids the free online history network. We hope you enjoy and have fun exploring our history. The website is packed with articles, worksheets and even a quiz on each section.
Scholastic Learn at Home
Even when schools are closed, you can keep the learning going with these special cross-curricular journeys. Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Kids can do them on their own, with their families, or with their teachers. Just find your grade level and let the learning begin!
We Are Teachers Online Teaching Tools
This is an article aimed at helping teachers set up a virtual classroom. However the list of tools can be used by parents and anyone. There are more online learning resources available than ever before. Plus, many companies are choosing to make their products free for schools, teachers, and students during these turbulent times.
Breakout Edu Games
In the event that your school is closed for an extended period of time as a result of recent events, we’ve put together a collection of digital games that students can play at home. Students can click on any game and start playing!
150+ Educational Shows on Netflix
Netflix has also been a game-changer in the way we homeschool. Sick days can still be educational. Parents can clean the house while kids learn, right from the couch. The number of educational shows on Netflix is growing everyday! Not to mention the benefits Netflix has added to homeschoolers who learn best visually.
Text to Speech Online with Natural Reader
Drag and drop your files, or type, paste, and edit text here. Natural Reader is a professional text to speech program that converts any written text into spoken words. The paid versions of Natural Reader have many more features.
Story Starters for Kids
Creative writing offers so many benefits for kids. It helps them tap into their imagination and develops their creativity, which teaches them to think outside the box. It’s also fun, boosts their confidence, and gives them a wonderful outlet for self-expression. Sometimes kids have a tough time knowing how to start their stories. If this is the case for your students, then, by all means, please use the fun story starters below to help spark their imaginations. Whether your students have written one story or 50 stories, the practice of regular writing can have a positive impact on their creativity.
Live Cincinnati Zoo Sessions
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden announced Saturday it would close due to the new coronavirus outbreak, with no reopen date known yet. But the zoo said the community can stay connected to their favorite animals while it is closed through the Home Safari Facebook Live sessions, which will be weekdays starting at 3 p.m. Monday.
”A Week of Awesome Afternoon Adventures!”
Open to all ages but focused on kids ages 5-10. Each day this week at 2pm CST/3pm EST you can log in for free and your kids can go on a LIVE and one of a kind adventure with some awesome people.
Monday (3/16) - an exotic animal veterinarian will be hanging out with real giraffes (yes, this photo is one of them!) and teaching us all about their lives
Tuesday - a local policeman will give a tour of his police car and share all about how our policemen spend their days
Wednesday - some fun and relaxing and CALMING kid’s yoga with the amazing Allison Sullivan
Thursday - an adventure all the way to Ghana, Africa with yours truly
Friday - an online art class where kids will learn new skills and refine old ones and create something awesome (and not messy)
All of these classes will be FREE and available right here on this page via live stream. Each adventure will last between 30-45 minutes.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
30 Educational Chinese YouTube Channels for Children
Here is a list of recommended Chinese YouTube channels for kids that I will be updating every few months. This list of Chinese YouTube channels includes live storytelling and performances with fluent people speaking and singing Mandarin Chinese. Culture, cooking, math, science, shows, singing.
Die Seite mit der Maus
German learning website.
The Best of French on Youtube for Kids and Teens
YouTube is a whole wide world of children’s entertainment. Watching videos en français with your child makes screen time also learning time! The best part: you’re probably already using YouTube
Online French Reading
French reading and German workbook resources from Biblio Manuels.
ARTS & CULTURE
Virtual Events Calendar: Concerts, history, talk, music lessons and more
Charlotteonthecheap.com has created a new calendar, just of virtual events. You’ll find live streamed concerts, music lessons, history talks, opera performances and more. We’ll be adding to this list all the time Of course, we want to highlight local events, but one silver lining is that now you can experience live events from all over the globe. An opera in New York. A musical festival (from the artists’ homes!) in Wilmington. This is an opportunity to find your new favorite artist. Some of these events will allow you to interact with the artists, so in a strange way, it might be more intimate than a live show. Keep in mind that COVID-19 is depriving us of some live experiences, but it’s depriving many musicians of their livelihood. So if there’s an opportunity to tip during the show, or to buy merchandise, please do so if you can.
Ontheboards.tv Free Online Dance Performance Library
As On the Boards continues to determine how best to move forward with public performances, and is considering public health guidelines around COVID-19, we recognize, and truly believe, in the need for art in trying times. In this spirit, we offer free access to On the Boards.tv to our local, national, and global community. Anyone may access unlimited On the Boards.tv rentals through the end of April 2020.
Storyline Online
Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
Oliver Jeffries Reads and Discusses Books Live
For all you folks stuck at home in the coming weeks. Starting on Monday, at 6pm GMT / 2pm EST / 11am PST
I will be reading one of my books every weekday, and talking about some of the things that went into making it. See them live on his Instagram.
Mac Barnett Reads and Discusses Books Live
Each day) at noon Pacific, 3PM EST, I’m going to read out loud right here on Instagram Live. If you can’t make it, I think it stays up for 24 hours—I don’t know, I’ve never used Instagram Live before, we will figure this out together. Then on Monday at noon I’m going to read my second picture book. I’ll keep going for a while, probably. I’ve got about a month’s worth of picture books, and if we run out I might read some chapter books or something. Who knows? See you tomorrow, maybe!
Make Beliefs Comix
Create comics online. Empowering you to express your ideas and stories in comix.
Virtual Museum Visits
Google Arts & Culture teamed up with over 500 museums and galleries around the world to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world. Now, you get “go to the museum” and never have to leave your couch. Travel + Leisure highlights 12 of the best museum tours.
Zooglobble Massive List of Podcasts for Kids
A list of podcasts created specifically with kids in mind. I can't promise it's complete -- it is and will be a work in progress -- but I think it captures most of the most popular and well-done podcasts for families.
Newsela
Everything you find on Newsela is vetted and aligned to standards. Teachers can search by standard or topic to find content that both supports their curriculum and is engaging and accessible to every learner. Key literacy skills cannot be taught with just any content. Engage students with thousands of texts on topics they care about most, with standards-aligned lesson supports built for ELA instruction.
Art for Kids Hub
A family Youtube channel with How to Draw A… tutorials you can follow along with. Very few supplies needed.
Virtual Field Trips
Go on a virtual field trip to places all over the world (and even other planets) through the links provided.
CNN10
News explained in 10 minutes each day in digestible videos. Suggested for older kids 12+ or with parental participation to choose what is viewed. The CNN Student News home page has neatly arranged and easy-to-follow sections that give the necessary information for students, parents, and teachers. The main feature is the daily news report, in which broadcaster Carl Azuz offers up the news of the day with explanations that include important background information for understanding the issues. The Resources section includes transcripts of each broadcast, discussion suggestions, and downloadable maps, all targeted to the topics. The FAQ section provides helpful information for all users.
Free Coloring Pages from Museums
Color Our Collections, a compellingly democratic initiative on the part of the New York Academy of Medicine. Since 2016, the Academy has made an annual practice of inviting other libraries, archives, and cultural institutions around the world to upload PDF coloring pages based on their collections for the public's free download. This year 113 institutions took the bait.
Online Museum Images from Paris
You Can Now Download Images of 100,000 Artworks From Prominent Paris Museums’ Collections. Now, in a sign of the changing times, the public institution that oversees 14 major museums in Paris is helping audiences around the world easily access and enjoy Courbet’s notorious painting—along with a trove of other important artworks. Visitors to the Paris Musées collections portal can now download a file that contains a high-resolution digital version of a given artwork, details about the image, and a guide for using and citing it. Works still under copyright can also be downloaded through the portal but are only available as low-resolution images.
9 TED Talks recommended by Students, for Students
Which TED Talks do students love? We asked TED-Ed Club Members around the world to share their favorites. Below, check out 9 great talks recommended by and for young people:
Free Virtual Art Class from Make
Make will be offering free art lessons on their Facebook page each weekday for the next two weeks. These will be family oriented for a range of ages and utilize supplies typically found in your home. Creativity can ease stress, expedite learning & allow us to see circumstances in different ways. Since we will all be home gathered together over the next few weeks unexpectedly, it is the perfect time to discover and grow new talent! I always pull from my classical training as a BFA studio art major and 25 years as a professional artist, but also love to introduce process learning- In other words- I like to show you how to do it AND get messy! Join us at 1pm CT / 2pm EST this Monday for our first lesson!
Educational Cooking at Home from Raddish
At Raddish, we believe the heart of the home is in the kitchen. And our team of parents, chefs, and educators know the kitchen is the perfect place to cultivate academic skills outside the traditional classroom -- including math, science, geography, language arts, and more. We’ve created this page as a free resource to support families likes yours, because food is love! It comforts and connects us all!
ACTIVE LEARNING
No Screens Learning from Home by Rachel Young
Rachel Young is a designer for IDEO. She put together a great twitter thread on ideas for each subject that allow for learning at home without using technology.
KiwiCo
We have used KiwiCo monthly boxes for years and can vouch for how great their tools are. They are providing free online resources.
Princess Awesome and Boy Wonder Community Ideas for Being Home
A giant list of ideas for keeping kids entertained at home and using things around the house. A lot of active play. This was compiled from the Princess Awesome and Boy Wonder Community.
FAMILY FUN
Crazy Fun Family Games You Can Play Anywhere
Make family time crazy fun with games! You can make a fun game up in any situation… but we’ve found 50 simple family games that you can play anywhere, with supplies you have around you!
HIghlights Family Game Ideas
Remember those fun, informal family games that parents and kids have enjoyed for generations—no batteries or equipment required? Some are perfect when you’re stuck on a long line or caught in traffic. Here’s a refresher course in the classics, which you can adapt to your own family. The bonus: They help boost language, memory and other learning skills. (But you don’t have to tell the kids they’re educational.)
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Yoga for Kids
Follow along as Sophia Khan leads a fun and family-friendly introduction to yoga. You’ll get to warm up, practice breathing and poses, and relax into a power down.
Go Noodle
GoNoodle® gets kids up and moving to fun, engaging content and games. Every dance party, yoga session, mindfulness activity, and game session is an opportunity for kids to wake up their bodies, engage their minds, and be their best.