While states are working to reopen following coronavirus shutdowns, there is still the common guidance that we should try to stay home as much as possible.
There are so many things that many of us are doing online and remotely that maybe we didn’t even think about doing before the pandemic.
You might be telecommuting for work or seeing your doctor on a digital visit for example. You can even talk to your lawyer through a virtual consultation, for example, if you’re involved in an auto accident and need legal advice immediately or have an upcoming case when courts reopen.
There is also a growing selection of unique options for kids and young people to experience new things, some of which are around the world, from home.
With all that in mind, since your kids are likely out of school for the rest of the year, beyond the obvious, what are some of the best online activities they can participate in?
We picked a few of our favorites.
Mo Willems Lunch Doodles
Mo Willems is one of America’s favorite children’s authors, perhaps best known for his pigeon stories like Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
He did a series of Lunch Doodles starting in mid-March because he said he was also home during corona quarantine.
The Lunch Doodles are on the Kennedy’s Center’s YouTube channel, and each in the series provides kids or even adults the opportunity to draw with Mo
Virtual Disney Rides
Disney World, Disneyland and other theme parks around the country and world may be closed right now, but you can still enjoy the magic virtually.
Disney released videos that will take you on the virtual Small World experience. You can also virtually experience other popular park attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and Frozen Ever After.
Virtual Tours of the National Aquarium
There are two National Aquariums in Baltimore, MD, and Washington, D.C.
Samurai Virtual Tours photographed the aquariums to create virtual tours of both.
When you do the tours, you gain access to an interactive map and instructions on how to move through the virtual tour.
You can move through various 360-degree scenes, and there are pop-up images so you can see things up close and personal and learn facts about the animals.
National Park Foundation Virtual Visits
The National Park Foundation offers different virtual visits and tours of parks and facilities.
For example, you can enjoy a 36-degree video of Crater Lake National Park, guided by Dierks Bentley and park ranger Charlie.
You can see the sun as it rises over Garfield Peak, or take a cruise around Phantom Ship.
The National Park Foundation also advertises the opportunity to visit national parks via live webcams.
If you’d like to see the National Mall and Memorial Parks, there are live webcams to do so, and you can also check out the live ocean webcam of Channel Islands National Park, located near the southern coast of California.
You can see Old Faithful Geyser erupt with Yellowstone’s webcams. There are nine of them throughout the park. One is live-streaming, and the other eight are static.
Duolingo
Maybe during the days of social distancing, you and your kids commit to learning a new language. If so, Duolingo lets you do so for free.
With Duolingo, which is an app, you follow a gamification-style approach, so it’ll hold your attention and your kids’ attention.
The lessons are bite-sized, and you get points when you get answers right.
The lessons adapt to the user’s individual learning style, and research found that 34 hours of Duolingo are the same as a university semester of a language course.
Morning MeditOcean
Most of us are feeling a certain level of anxiety and stress during uncertain times. Our kids are likely feeling this too.
Guided meditations may help them relax and also stay focused if they’re learning from home, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium has an interesting take on this with their Morning MeditOceans.
These are a series of videos that encourage you to focus on videos of sea life to promote mindfulness. They use their jellyfish tanks for the guided meditations. The voice guiding you encourages you to calm your mind and body.
Scholastic Learn at Home
Finally, Scholastic Learn at Home is a program offering a slew of free options for kids to help them with not only reading but learning in other ways.
Select a grade level, watch a story, and then do an associated activity.
Each of the stories falls into a subject matter area, such as life science and social studies.
Even as we all try to focus on getting back to a sense of normalcy, it’s likely a lot of our daily lives will continue to center around digital activities and telecommuting.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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