Thanks to the spread of COVID-19, everything is getting canceled. Schools are closed, sports and performing arts are postponed, and field trips are out of the question. And for many parents who are practicing social distancing with their kids at home, finding ways to break up the day and give kids a sense of routine has been a real challenge. One of the silver linings is that authors, artists, musicians, and creators of educational tools are stepping up to offer free lessons, tours, and concerts that you can check out from the safety of your home.
Whether you want easy lesson plans from Scholastic, a living room concert from John Legend, or a drawing lesson from Mo Willems, there’s no shortage of fun things to do online. We even have tools to help you find free or reduced-cost internet in your area. So check out this list of resources and events (we’ll be updating it as new things are announced). And for a daily schedule of when you can tune into events like book readings, music classes, and science lessons, check out the Live Events page on Wide Open School.
Getting Online
- Find free and low-cost internet and computers in your area (Everyone On, PCs for People)
Educational Activities & Lesson Plans
- Amazing Educational Resources, a HUGE spreadsheet of tools/programs/services that usually cost money but are being offered for free, with info on subject and grade level (crowdsourced)
- Andrew McMeel Publishing Kids, at-home learning resources featuring popular book characters like Big Nate and Phoebe and Her Unicorn
- Audubon for Kids, bird-themed learning resources from the Audubon Society
- Beanstalk, interactive video lessons based on offline activities and experiments
- Bookshare, a free online library for qualifying students with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers
- Brainfuse tutoring, live one-on-one sessions and video resources in all academic subjects accessible through the New York Public Library
- Carson Dellosa Education, free printable materials and activities by grade level
- Complexly, a series of video series on educational topics ranging from literature to biochemistry (YouTube)
- Crayola lesson plans, art-infused, standards-based activities and lessons
- Descanso at Home, virtual botanical garden tours, coloring pages, and gardening tutorials from the Descanso Gardens
- EduHam at Home, American history lessons and guides inspired by the musical Hamilton (registration required)
- Encantos Learning Hub (pre–K-1 resources available in English and Spanish)
- Exploratorium in San Francisco, DIY STEM lessons
- Fiveable, study plans and tips for taking the 2020 online AP tests
- Food Literacy Center education lessons, including kid-friendly recipes
- GoNoodle Good Energy at Home, entertaining videos and educational at-home activities that encourage movement (available in English and Spanish)
- A Good Time to Write, a compilation of lesson plans, resources, and prompts focused on writing skills from 826 Valencia (registration required)
- Hammertime education activities, tours, coloring, and building activities from the Petersen Automotive Museum
- Interactive Constitution, live, open-source civics and constitutional classes for middle and high schoolers
- Ken Burns in the Classroom, full-length documentaries and lesson plans covering several eras of American history
- KidLit.tv, a collection of webseries, podcasts, tutorials, and other reading resources from popular children’s authors and illustrators
- Kind World Explorers, a downloadable guidebook from Camp Kindness Counts, providing activities and lessons to support social-emotional learning, character strengths, and emotional well-being
- Learn@Home, educational YouTube channels curated by age group (YouTube)
- Mission U.S., interactive American history games
- NASA at Home, a collection of science lessons, activities, and virtual tours for kids curated by NASA
- Nature Lab at Home, downloadable curriculum about nature and science from The Nature Conservatory
- Newsicle, a daily (M-F) news trivia game put on by the folks behind XYZA: News for Kids
- News-o-Matic suspends fees for daily (M-F) news stories for kids K–8 (News-o-Matic app)
- PBS history documentaries, educational films and docu-series available for free
- Project Blue, lesson plans and educational resources focused on ocean health and conservation from AltaSea
- San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum, hands-on “STREAM” activities focused on science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and math
- Scholastic Learn at Home: 20 days of education activities, broken up into four grade levels
- SCWBI Connects, an extensive directory of activities, ebooks, podcasts, teaching guides, and workshops from members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
- Sesame Street’s Caring for Each Other, a collection of games, videos, and wellness tips from the popular characters (Spanish-language activities at sesamo.com)
- Story Pirates University, writing video lessons from the Story Pirates podcast team (YouTube)
- TIME for Kids, free access to their digital library and related resources (Time for Kids)
- Tinkergarten has a week’s worth of outdoor education DIY activities (sign up for the email newsletter on Tinkergarten’s website)
- TreePeople Learn@Home, a daily nature and ecology lesson
- Two Whats and a Wow!, a daily (M-F) science-based game show from the Wow in the World podcast team, including activity challenges (NPR)
- UC Scout, high school level curriculum and classes (all of which qualify for University of California eligibility) available for free to public school teachers and students (registration required for promo code)
- The World at Home, travel-centric virtual tours and activities from Get Your Guide
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Arts, Film, and Music Lessons & Resources
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, full-length performances
- Bay Area Children’s Theater Creativity Corner, interactive pretend play challenges and activity sheets (YouTube)
- Camp Hello Bello, scheduled arts, music, and cooking activities curated by Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard (Instagram Live @hellobello, YouTube @Hello Bello)
- CircleTime classes for age 0–6 including yoga, storytime, cooking, and music (registration required)
- Con Todo Press printable coloring pages featuring Latinx trailblazerss
- Disney Magic Moments, a hub of Disney-themed videos, drawing lessons, video-call backgrounds, and even a Mickey Mouse bedtime hotline
- Draw with Drew (and Rosie!), a collaborative drawing lesson every Thursday from the Time for Kids creative director and a 10-year-old artist
- Home with Olympus, free group photography lessons geared toward those with Olympus equipment
- Hour of Code’s Star Wars-themed coding games (also available offline)
- Imagineering in a Box, a virtual lesson from Pixar and Khan Academy on how to design a Disney theme park (Khan Academy)
- Jarrett Lerner (Enginerds) leads drawing and provides comic-creating prompts
- Kanopy, a movie streaming service available with a library card
- Keep Kids Smart with ART, art lesson plans run through the Boca Raton Museum
- LACO at Home Meet the Music, an on-demand recording of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s interactive educational concert for kids
- Laurie Berkner provides educational music videos (YouTube)
- Little Kids Rock, daily lessons and music resources teaching kids how to play instruments and write songs
- Maria Scrivan (Nat Enough) leads cartooning lessons (YouTube @Maria Scrivan)
- MazeToon’s Joe Wos, daily cartooning lessons (YouTube @HowtoToon)
- New York MoMA art-making activities for families inspired by modern art
- New Victory Arts Break, a weekly schedule of videos and activities focused on a different art form from the New Victory Theater
- Quarantine Art Club, a daily (M-F) drawing challenge from illustrator Carson Ellis (Du Iz Tak?) (Instagram @carsonellis)
- Rebel Girls providing 90+ writing/drawing/DIY prompts (sign up via email)
- Setting the Stage for Learning, a collection of free audio recordings of frequently taught plays from LA Theatre Works
- Stop Motion Kids Camp enrollment from artist Trisha Zemp is being offered for free (redeem enrollment code by sharing one of Zemp’s posts on Instagram @trishazemp)
- Veoleo, printable coloring pages from Latinx artists (donations encouraged)
- Virtual MOCA, a daily (M-F) series of activities for families from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles
Audiobooks & Virtual Storytime
- Audible Stories, an extensive streaming library of children’s and young adult audiobooks (Amazon Audible)
- Authors read their books aloud (curated on Kate Messner’s website) (YouTube)
- Magic Tree House Home Adventures, weekly activity packets inspired by (and promoting) the Magic Tree House book series
- National Emergency Library, over a million digitally scanned books, research papers, and collections scholarship use while universities and libraries are closed (Internet Archive)
- #OperationStorytime, a partnership with picture book authors and Romper to read their stories aloud (posted and curated on Twitter @romper, updated regularly)
- Storytime Online, a literacy initiative where actors and celebrities read popular children’s books
- We Are Teachers provides a long list of authors and celebrities reading picture books
Virtual Tours
- Animal live-cams from around the world, including eagles, tigers, service dogs, and walruses
- Virtual “field trips” to zoos, dairies, symphonies, and operas (curated by Red Tricycle)
- Virtual museums, classes, and exhibits in Chicago (curated by Red Tricycle)
- Virtual museums, classes, and exhibits in San Diego (curated by Red Tricycle)
- Virtual museums, classes, and exhibits in San Francisco (curated by Red Tricycle)
- Virtual museums, classes, and exhibits in Seattle (curated by Red Tricycle)
- Virtual tour of American National Parks (Google Arts & Culture)
- Virtual tour of the Boston Children’s Museum (Google Earth)
- Virtual tours of Canadian farms
- Virtual tour of the deYoung Art Museum in San Francisco (Google Arts & Culture)
- Virtual tour of the Great Wall of China
- Virtual tour of the Louvre museum in Paris, France
- Virtual tour of Mars from pictures from NASA’s Curiosity rover (Google)
- Virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
- Virtual tour of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
- Virtual tour of the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain
- Virtual tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- Virtual tour of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy
- Virtual tour of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Virtual tour of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California
Fun & Games
- Activity Hero, a database of free virtual classes and camps for kids with a wide variety of activities including cooking, coding, sports, and mindfulness
- Amazon’s original kids’ series will be available for free (with or without a Prime account) (Amazon Video)
- Family Time Machine, ideas for activities for the whole family, available in Spanish
- Kitchen Classroom, a daily (M–F + S/S) recipe or experiment for kids from America’s Test Kitchen
- Marvel Unlimited is making several subscription-only comics available for free
- The Mattel Playroom, games, apps, and printable activities featuring Mattel brands like Hot Wheels and Barbie
- Nomster Chef, a library of healthy, kid-friendly digital recipes
- StoryToys makes its educational preschool apps free to download
- Virtual rides on Disney attractions (YouTube, curated on PopSugar)
- Wizards of the Coast virtual “Dungeons & Dragons” trial adventure (Roll20)
- A roundup of free streaming video platforms (curated by Wirecutter)
- A roundup of free livestreamed fitness classes and workout guides for teens and adults (curated by Shape)
SOURCE COMMON SENSE MEDIA
