Online Fun with Kids

It's official: My kids and I are home from school and work, respectively, for a minimum of two weeks. We'll definitely be doing some homeschooling, but I've been researching some fun "enrichment" activities that we can do online. Here are some great websites worth spending some time exploring with your kids while you're trapped at home. And thanks to the many online friends who have also been sharing great website ideas!

The National Gallery of Art: Virtual Tours - Exactly what it says: there are multiple links that take you on virtual tours of many of their collections, including not only high-resolution photographs of the various masterpieces, but descriptions and backgrounds of the artists and the importance of each work. Check out this article for links to other museums around the world with virtual tours.

The Great Plant Escape - Geared toward 4th and 5th graders and designed by the University of Illinois Extension, users help "Detective LaPlant" solve the mystery of plant life! Kids read a "Case Brief" to explain what they need to learn and figure out, review the "Facts of the Case" which give them the clues they need to solve the problem, then answer the questions to solve the mystery. After solving all 6 cases, kids will have learned the basics of plants science and how we grow food. The "Green Links" section at the end links to other gardening- and plant-related websites, including how to plant and care for your own backyard garden, collecting seeds, and all about a career in botany.

Amazing Space - Explore space-related topics like our solar system, galaxies, black holes, space telescopes and more. This non-game site is geared for older students (or younger science nerds - and I mean that in the most positive way possible) who love to dive into facts and figures. Expect to have many of those facts spouted back to you over the following days and weeks.

Time for Kids - Time Magazine posts age-appropriate news articles for kids, organized by grade level. Articles cover everything from current events (there are currently a number of helpful articles about COVID-19 and its impact), to the economy, to business and technology, to community issues, to the arts, to fun activities and games, and more.

Animal Diversity Web - Got an animal lover in your house? This site, hosted by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, allows users to explore photographs and information about any kind of animal imaginable. A delight for science nerds.

Go Noodle - A great weapon against cabin fever, these great videos get kids up and moving while they're learning. My kids' school uses them for "brain breaks," or what I would call a "wiggle break." For parents of a certain age, this is the Schoolhouse Rock of the current generation. Their songs are quick and memorable and teach fun mnemonics, concise grammar lessons, etc.

Scholastic Learn at Home - Divided by grade level (pre-k/kindergarten, grades 1 and 2, grades 3-5, and grades 6+), this site has daily lessons and projects covering a multitude of topics. They have a great kid-oriented spin, especially including stories about or by kids.


Happy web surfing!

Surviving the COVID-19 School Closure

As someone who works for my local school district, I am fortunate to be home with my kids while their schools as well as mine are closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As of this moment, the schools are only scheduled to be closed for today. But I have no doubt that my city will follow the lead of many others around us and close for at least several weeks. So what to do to make sure my kids aren't spending all that time goofing off and playing video games? Here's my list of things I'm planning to do with my kids that might work for you, too, if you're also fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be staying at home with your kids while the schools are closed down.

Cook Something
My kids love to cook and bake with me. Depending on how old your kids are and how comfortable they are in the kitchen, "cooking something" could be as simple as learning to fry an egg or make boxed mac and cheese, or as complicated as learning to make a complete dish from a family recipe. I love baking bread with my kids, so we're making challah. It's just enough different from plain sandwich bread to feel like a real treat, and the kneading and braiding steps are fun for kids of all ages to help with.

Cooking can also be a great opportunity to practice reading skills, math skills (cut a recipe in half or convert grams to cups!), and fine motor skills. You can even discuss the chemistry behind some of the ingredients and techniques, especially when you're baking instead of cooking.

Fix Something
If your house is like mine, there are always little fix-it projects waiting to be done. Maybe you have a squeaky door hinge that needs a squirt of WD-40, or there's a small rip in a pillowcase that needs mending or a button that's falling off a shirt, or the signal light in your car needs a new bulb, or there's a spot of grout in the bathroom that needs re-caulking. What a great time to not only get something crossed off your to-do list, but also to teach your kids some practical skills! And if it's something you don't really know how to fix, show your kids how to look for help online or call a handy neighbor or friend for tips.

Research Something
In addition to looking for fix-it help online, getting your kids to research an answer to a question is a great use of their time. Assign them a person that they might be interested in (a car designer or a fashion designer or a video game designer, an astronaut or computer pioneer, a politician or activist) or a historical event, or a general topic. Maybe even let them come up with the topic themselves. Have them discuss what they learned with the whole family over dinner. Let THEM teach YOU something for a change!

Learn Something
There are lots of great online education and tutoring sites for all ages, and many of them are free. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

Khan Academy - I used this site a lot when I was homeschooling my son. Kids progress at their own rate, the explanations are clear, and the site covers math, science, grammar, and history, as well as SAT prep for older kids

Starfall - Although limited to pre-K through grade 3, this site teaches reading and is especially helpful for those struggling with the skill due to dyslexia, ESL/ELL, and other learning difficulties. The free content can also be upgraded for a fee.

Cool Math - Cool Math is actually three related sites: Cool Math Games for preschoolers, Cool Math 4 Kids for ages 3 through 12, and Cool Math itself for ages 13 and up. Since everything is in the form of games rather than exercises or worksheets, kids are more willing to spend time on the site without complaining. In addition to math, there are quizzes on geography, history, science and nature, and other topics. There are also links with tips and tricks for parents and teachers.

How Stuff Works - With a list of categories including health, science, home and garden, auto, tech, money, culture, animals, and more, there's sure to be a topic that intrigues any child. (And I do mean ANY; one of today's featured topics is "How Do Boogers Form in Your Nose?" Not the topic I'd pick, but hey, it's legitimate science.) The quiz section gets into stupid stuff like "Fill Your Makeup Bag and We'll Tell You When You'll Get Married," but there are also a few gems like, "Can You Name All the Cities Taken Over by the Roman Empire?".

Clean Something
Cleaning tasks don't stop when school does, so take advantage of teaching your kids how to help. Teach them to do laundry, clean the oven, scrub the bathroom, rake the yard, strip and remake the beds, hand wash pots and pans. It teaches them practical life skills and makes your life easier. Win-win!

Look at Something
One of my favorite spring traditions that I've been doing with my kids since they were babies is going for a walk to look for signs of spring. We make note of flower and tree buds emerging, listen for birds singing their mating calls, check the neighbors' doors for spring and Easter decorations, and keep our eyes peeled for baby bunnies and other animals. It gets them (and you!) out in the fresh air, gets you a bit of exercise, and works on observation skills and making logical connections between the changing seasons and what they see outside. You can also make it a scavenger hunt and give them a list of things to look for: a robin with a twig in its beak, an Easter egg decoration, a yellow flower, a red car, a chipmunk, a rock that's bigger than a loaf of bread, someone pushing a baby carriage, someone walking a dog, two of the same kind of bird, etc.

Play Something
My kids love games, and we just don't get to play them often enough through the year. Our family favorites include chess, Catan Junior, Ticket to Ride, Monopoly, Mousetrap, Clue, Connect 4, Jenga, and Frozen Surprise Slides.

Listen to Something
And finally, I love spending time with my kids just talking and listening to each other. I tell them family stories, they tell me about their friends. We read each other stories - I'm continually amazed at the classic literature my kids will happily have read to them that they'd never read on their own. Our personal favorite classics include Treasure Island, The Invisible Man, Peter Pan, Julie of the Wolves, Robin Hood, Call of the Wild, and The Secret Garden.

We also love listening to classical music. Even if you're not a big classical music fan, there are some wonderful story-songs designed for children. Try Tubby the Tuba, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf (especially the David Bowie narration!), Vivaldi's Four Seasons narrated by Patrick Stewart, Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, and the fabulous Classical Kids CDs, which include "Beethoven Lives Upstairs," "Mr. Bach Comes to Call," "Tchaikovsky Discovers America," "Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery," and "Mozart's Magic Fantasy."


Good luck surviving the quarantine!!