https://zoom.us/j/998678908?pwd=RjU3bVY0SXgwdDJiZFgycW5LRy9KQT090

Structure & Learning

Get Yer Ya-yas Out

Games What to do with the kids!

To help others navigate this growing list–if you find a link/resource that is particularly helpful, leave a comment indicating what was helpful, or mark it with an asterisk*.

Perhaps this will help already overloaded eyes/brains find helpful resources more quickly.

Arts Classes

Helping Others

Other Activity Suggestions

Book Reading

Explaining This To Y

our Kids

Keeping The Parents From Going Crazy

Community Support

Here’s that amazing, organized email resource list, organized.

STRUCTURE & LEARNING

General Tips & Tricks

* NESCA: Making the most of COVID-19 school closures

* How to set up a Homeschool Classroom:

* Planning Your Day (a collaborative doc)

* Keep music on in the house! Remind the family of joy and the big, wide universe that still exists outside your increasingly claustrophobic home!

* 5 Minute Mom: Structures ring the Day

* Supporting your children’s social, emotional and mental health during COVID-19 pandemic (from Confident Parents)

Libraries & Museums

* Digital Public Library of America

* 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch.

* Museum collections and virtual walks (via Google Arts & Culture)

* PJ Library Resources for Quarantined Families

* Smithsonian Online Exhibits

* 500 Museum and Galleries you can tour online (Google Arts)

* Boston Public Library e-card. Includes access to all BPL online resources, and is available to part- and full-time residents of Massachusetts.

Music/Audio

* Common Sense Media 25 Best Podcasts for Kids

* The Tom Knight Show - music and puppets by Northampton’s beloved puppeteer

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxLQ0hWTRX8SqjpnC_jnjUVvONM-USd_9

* Berlin PhilharmonCollectionsic Concert Archive (free while the concert hall is closed)

* Have your kids create a couple of songs on the Groove Pad App and then have a dance party

Online Learning

* Khan Academy daily outline of study, grouped by grades.

* Articles about a variety of science topics (Science Daily)

* Lesson plans, worksheets, ideas for educators (Education World)

* Grades K-12 brief articles on fun and interesting topics (Smithsonian Tween Tribune)

* Time for Kids student articles, audio and video content for grades K-6

* Games, videos and articles on many topics (National Geographic Kids)

* At home science experiments from a girls and STEM promoting website (Curiosity Girl Science)

* Scholastic Learn at Home: Day-by-day projects for K-12

* UNESCO Distance Learning Solutions

* DIY.org huge library of hands-on projects, how-to videos, and an awesome kid community

* The Kids Should See This: Videos for Curious Kids

* At-Home Resources for Kids (and their grownups)

* Kids Listen - Podcast Collective of Great Podcasts for Kids

* Outschool: Online learning for kids 3-18

* Internet Archive books and resources

* Online anti-racist/anti-oppressive curriculum options

Coding

* Hopscotch: Bite-sized coding***

* Free Code Camp

* Code.org lots of fun coding games and activities

* Learn to code games! https://scratch.mit.edu/

* Raspberry pi

Collections & Activities

* Amazing Educational Resources a listing of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings (formerly this Google Sheet, moved to Facebook page)

* Online Resources microsite (Drea Marks)

* 150+ Enrichment Activities for Children While Parents are Working Remotely

* Ideas for Quarantine/Social distancing

* Learning Topics & Resources (a collaborative document)

ARTS CLASSES

* Carla Sonheim has a bunch of mini classes - go to the bottom of this page and poke around: https://www.carlasonheim.com/online-classes/

* Effy Wild is giving away her Darling Human class for the month: https://www.patreon.com/posts/darling-human-34850393?000000000000000000000

* Kasia Avery is doing a 7 day Soothe Me art journal thing if you join her (free) FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaplayground/

* From Juliette Crane: https://www.juliettecrane.com/thankyouforbeinghere/

* Ivy Newport: https://ivynewport.com/inner-fire-lesson

* Mark Kistler is doing free drawing lessons every day at noon: https://www.youtube.com/user/MarkKistler

* Draw Every Day at 2pm ET with Jarrett J. Krosoczka illustratorhttps://www.youtube.com/studiojjk?fbclid=IwAR1CLC1MbMvHfqqccBNMaXot8e0aEZk3kNitcux66CTlNl9HTignymggZpk

* Nice coloring pages (print and color)

* Draw squiggle birds–fun and quick collaborative drawing exercise with Dave Gray

* Draw with Mo Willems every day at 1pm EST.

BOOK READING

* Oliver Jeffers reads one of his books everyday 6pm GMT / 2pm EST / 11am PST

* Mac Barnett reads one of his books everyday 3pm EST

* The author Kate Messner created a page for children's authors to share read alouds, writing prompts, and other activities. (Kate Messner)

* Fairy Tales in Spanish, French, German, Italian and English

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

* Communitylearning.space a community-grown initiative to provide interesting online learning conversations/activities for young people and families. If you want to contribute an hour of your time to host a lesson/activity/story you can sign up here.

* Community Learning facebook discussion/support group for families

GET YER YA-YAS OUT

* Cosmic Kids Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga or 2-weeks free on the site

* Create an "american ninja" obstacle course in the back yard (or house): https://www.pinterest.com/pin/76490893649909884/

* Go Noodle

HELPING OTHERS

* Organize a computer drive in your community so everyone can get online at home

* Charter Spectrum (USA) announced it will offer free access to broadband and WiFi services to households with students who do not already have the services. To enroll in this service call 1-844-488-8395[a]

* Nextdoor.com is a good way to check in with others in your community (who may not be on facebook, or who live a bit farther away from you than right next door).

* Stop & Shop is opening doors early for 60+

* There are a lot of mutual aid groups forming. Here’s a great starting point.

EXPLAINING THIS TO YOUR KIDS

* NPR: Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus

* Girl Scouts: How to Talk 2to Your Kids About Coronavirus

* Marketwatch: How to Talk to Your Kids about COVID-19

GAMES

* Video-chat powered Dungeons and Dragons with friends

* Unlock! [b]Every participant with their own cards, over a group Zoom or Hangout

* The Mind: Write out your own cards (100 cards numbered 1-100, 12 Level cards, 5 Life cards, and 3 Throwing Star cards) instead of buying the set. Create a group Zoom or Hangout!

* Vassal Engine: Let’s you play lots of board games online with friends. Use Zoom/Hangout for voice, but Vassal can be the game.

OTHER ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS

* Go hunting for bugs, safely capture them, look at them, learn about them, draw them, release them

* Morning meditation and stretching

* Practice using hammers and nails–hammer nails into a board, then do a weaving using yarn, looping around the nails

* Make a cardboard home for a pet and decorate it

* Learn about the solar system, draw the solar system, make up a new planet and new life forms that live on it (art project)

* Make veggie soup! Let them cut the veggies with wavy slicers.

* Plant seeds (you can use things already around: beans, lemons, avocado!)

* Have each kid write a letter and/or emails to a different friend or family member each day. Send those letters digitally!

* Check out PuppetMaster $1.99 an app where you can animate anything from a drawing to a stuffed animal.

* Write something for this local writing contest

* Make a starfinder: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/starfinder/en/

* Fingerpainting, you can do it in the bathtub to make cleanup easier

THE I’M BORED RESOURCE LIST

* Pick a topic you’d like to learn about and spend 30 mins each day on that topic

* Go hunting for bugs, safely capture them, look at them, learn about them, draw them, release them

* Use all of the building toys to make one giant structure

* Do a race (hop on one foot, crabwalk, walking backwards, etc.)

* Inventory the plants and wildlife inside and outside

* Do a still-life drawing

* Write a short story & illustrate it.

* Sew something by hand

* Make a tent/reading cave including flashlights, tidy snacks, books, and pillows!

* Put on a puppet show

* Put on a play

* Write a letter/draw a picture/send an email to a (different) friend or family member each day

* Make a cardboard home for a pet and decorate it

* Look through binoculars and learn about the birds near where you live (extra: look them up on google and search for their birdcalls on YouTube)

* Make a stuffed animal

* Play with cornstarch and water

* Do a puzzle (ideally ones that is 500-1000 pieces and challenging but not too frustrating)

* Create a newspaper of events, interviews etc

* Start a donation box and start collecting things around the house/apartment

* Play a board game

* Make up your own board game or card game

* Write a story cooperatively: One person picks a character and the other picks a setting and then go back and forth or brainstorm together.

* Make a folding picture story! One person draws a small picture across the top of a paper the next person writes a sentence that describes that picture and folds Over the paper top of the paper hot dog style to cover the picture. So the 3rd person only sees a sentence and they have to draw a picture. They fold over the sentence.

* Sing karaoke

* Draw a self portrait

* Make a map of the neighborhood

* Make a video teaching someone how to do something

* Li