During this unprecedented time, many childcare facilities are unsure about the future. Over the coming weeks, we will publish a series of blogs to help navigate through this confusing time. Our first blog is a list of resources that childcare providers or parents can use to add new activities in the classroom or for virtual learning.
Now more than ever we want to keep our children actively engaged in positive activities. Let’s help them experience the beauty, the fun and learn new things about our world. Whether at school or stay-at-home – let’s explore!
Tours & Museums
- The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. Enjoy the tour!
- Tour Yellowstone National Park!
- Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover.
- This Canadian site FarmFood 360 offers 11 Virtual Tours of farms from minks, pigs, and cows, to apples and eggs.
- Travel to Paris, France to see amazing works of art at The Louvre with this virtual field trip.
- This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life.
- This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies.
- Alaskan Government Site – Alaskan Wildlife cams
- Smithsonian — this website brings your child everything from live video of the National Zoo to the Smithsonian Learning Lab right to their screen
- Smithsonian – This educational website hosted by the Smithsonian Museum takes a deep dive into ocean life.
- Met Museum – A wonderful, endlessly detailed way to get kids engaged in the world of art.
Games & Activities
- BusyToddler.com – Indoor Activities for busy toddlers
- Switchzoo.com – Play games and learn all about animals
- Play with favorite show characters from PBS and learn too
- Allkidsnetwork.com – Crafts, activities, mazes, dot to dot, etc.
- Highlights – Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities
- Dogonalogbooks.com – Printable board games, activities and more for phonics and reading all using evidence-based methods. Can be customized to any student’s needs including creating flashcards for other subjects.
- nomsterchef.com – Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, math, and science.
- kiwico.com – Quick & easy at home projects curated for kids 2 and up
- turlediary.com – PreK – 5 games for all subjects
- thecolor.com – Online digital coloring pages
- jigsawexplorer.com – Online photograph jigsaw puzzles You can set the pieces from 6-1000+
- preschoolinspirations.com – Toddler and preschool age ideas
- fonology.com – Crafts, projects, science, recipes for young children
- crazygames.com – Tons of games, some for learning and some just fun
- funbrain.com – Miscellaneous games for all subjects k-8
- Illinois.edu – Guide to gardening for kids
- preschoolexpress.com – Crafts, activities, bulletin board designs, and finger plays for early education teachers and parents to use with kids.
Language
- Difusion.com – Resources for Spanish practice
- Chalkacademy.com – Chinese learning activities
- Conjuguemos.com – Vocabulary, grammar, listening activities and games in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, and Latin.
- Duolingo – Foreign languages
- Rockalingua – Music Based Spanish Learning
- Memrise.com – 22 languages to learn
Math
- Mathscore.com – Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry
- Boddlelearning.com – Elem Math through 6th grade
- Canfigureit.com – Geometry
- Bedtimemath.org – Math as a fun part of your daily family routine
- Dreambox.com – K-8 online math program that looks at how a student is solving problems to adjust accordingly and build a unique learning path for them.
- Deltamath.com – A wide range of math content from middle school through AP Calculus.
- Colorado.edu – Science and math labs and simulations
- Positivephysics.org – An online physics problem and video bank designed for conceptual, standard, honors or AP1 physics.
- YouTube Higher level math series – online video series with detailed solutions to more than a thousand publicly-released College Board SAT Math, Subject Test Math Level 1, and Subject Test Math Level 2 problems.
- Mathcelebrity.com – Enter your math problem or search term, press the button, and they show you the step-by-step work and answer instantly. 2nd grade through college.
- MathPlayground.com – Elem Math games, logic puzzles and educational resources
- Hmhco.com – Math Videos with lessons, real life uses of math, famous actors
- Ngpf.org – Scads of free resources, games, learning resources, and lesson plans for teaching personal finance
- Xtramath.org – Math practice
- Aplusclick.org – Math and logic problems for ages 5 and up to adult
- Dragonboxapp.com – Algebra games for kids
- Mathchimp.com – Fractions practice
- Mangahigh.com – allows students to play basic games to reinforce math skills and compete against the computer or others
- Gridblub.com – Math games
- Mathplayground.com – Math Games, Logic Puzzles and Brain Builders
- Numberphile.com – Short videos about numbers that help kids explore complex math topics and make math more fun.
- Teachbanzai.com – Banzai exposes students to real-world financial dilemmas to teach them the importance of smart money management.
Science
- Backpacksciences.com – Hands on Elementary science videos
- Biologysumulations.com – Biology
- Mysteryscience.com – K-5th Science lessons
- Innerbody.com – explores the 11 bodily systems in depth. With interactive models and detailed explanations, this website will help them learn more about the internal mechanics of the amazing human body.
- Club SciKidz – Daily free science or cooking experiment to do at home.
- WeatherWizkids.com – From rainbows to tornadoes and winter storms to tsunamis, meteorologist Crystal Wicker breaks down the fascinating world of weather.
- National Geographic Young Explorers is a magazine designed specifically for kindergarten and first grade students. Children can listen to the magazine being read to them as they follow along with the highlighted text.
- Earthquake.usgs.gov – Learn all about earthquakes
- Chemicool – Learn all about the periodic table
- Alamanac.com – Farmer’s almanac for kids
- Steve Spanger Science – Tons of science experiments that you can do at home
- TYTO Online – Next Generation Science video game focused on middle school where students directly engage in science phenomena as they solve problems.
- Sciencespot.net – Science projects that can be completed with or without Internet access
- Everyday-earth.com – Interactive video earth science based curriculum supplement.
- Premeditatedleftovers.com – Amphibian unit studies
- The Homeschool Scientist – Engineering challenges with things you have at home
- NASA – Space science for kiddos
- Medium.com – Science podcasts to listen to with your kids
- Sepuplhs.org – Science simulations, scientist profiles, and other digital resources for middle school science and high school biology
- Elemental Science – 80+ do at home science activities
- The Happy Scientist – Explore, have fun, & learn some science along the way.
- Cellsalive.com – Learn all about cells
- Geoguessr.com – Tests kids’ geography skills. Using images from Google’s Street View, it plops players down in the middle of the street and asks them to figure out where they are.
- Human.biodigital.com – A human visualization platform that allows students to explore the human body in really cool ways.
- This NASA initiative covers a wide range of topics including weather, climate, atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals.
- Ask Dr. Universe is a science-education project from Washington State University. Kids can send Dr. Universe any question they may have about history, geography, plants, animals, technology, engineering, math, culture, and more.
Learning – All Topics
- Scholastic – Learn at Home
- Audible – currently free
- Funbrain.com – Math and Reading games
- ClickSchooling brings you daily recommendations by email for entertaining websites that help your kids learn.
- National Geographic – Geography and animals
- Abcya.com – Math and reading games
- Arcademics.com – Math and language games
- Bamboo.com – Voice based learning, learn through Alexa
- 123homeschool4me.com – 300,000+ FREE printable worksheets from toddlers to teens
- Breakoutedu.com – Educational games K-12
- Ck12.org – Science, Math, Social Studies
- Countryreports.org – 35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world.
- Coursera – Tons of free classes from leading universities and companies
- Curriki– Digital learning content for preschool through high school
- Discoveryk12.com – Online homeschool platform & curriculum for Pre-K to 12th grade.
- Izzit.org – Entertaining & educational videos for all levels and subjects
- Khan Academy – Online education program for toddler through high chool.
- Teachers Pay Teachers – Free Printables for PreK-2nd Grade
- Littlesparkcompany.com – Free printables library with activities for children 0-6
- Fluency and Fitness – Educational brain breaks to help students review essential literacy and math skills, while getting in some exercise. Ages 4-8.
- Fiveable.me – Resources for AP students including live reviews, live trivia, and study guides!
- Hippocampus.org – 7,000 free videos in 13 subject areas
- Carmen Sandiego – Carmen Sandiego videos, stories, and lessons for all subject areas
- Marcolearning.com – Resources for AP students
- Allinonehighschool.com – Every course you could possibly want to homeschool for high school
- PBS – PreK-12 digital media service with more than 30,000 learning materials
- Pebblego.com – Curricular content hub specifically designed for K-3 students.
- Zearn.org – K-5 curriculum that builds deep understanding and a love of learning math for all students
- A Better Way to Homeschool – A quick start resource to help families pull together a plan for surviving the next 1-2 months at home with their kids, but it can also be a time of slowing down and enjoying kids as they learn. Preschool through 8th grade
- US Mint – Your child can play games, learn fun facts, and find out how to turn coin collecting into a hobby. https://supersimple.com/
- Kids Think Design explores careers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, book design, product design, film and theatre, architecture, animation, and environmental design.
- Free Code Camp – 450 Ivy League courses that you can take
- Quizlet – For students to practice and master whatever they are learning.
- Red T Kids – Critical Thinking resources for K-6 students
- Wonderopolis.org – Short videos and readings that answer various burning questions for students. There are vocabulary challenges and comprehension questions.
- EdX – 2,500+ online courses from top institutions
- Youngzine – News and more for kids
- Google Earth – All sorts of learning here if you dig in
- Super Simple – Resource section includes free flashcards, coloring pages, worksheets, and other resources for children, teachers, and parents.
- Overcomingobstacles.org – Life skills curriculum for students in grades K-12. Their resources include strategies for teaching social and emotional skills.
- Alcumus is specifically designed to provide high-performing students with a challenging curriculum appropriate to their abilities
- Mobymax.com – Find and fix learning gaps
- Ducksters – Education for kids all topics
- Magic Tree House – Interactive games based on the book series
- Cool Kid Facts gives your child access to educational videos, pictures, quizzes, downloadable worksheets, and infographics. They can use these to learn about geography, history, science, animals, and even the human body.
- US Gov – This interactive website, hosted by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, allows your child to see the ins and outs of the U.S. government by taking a series of learning adventures with none other than Benjamin Franklin.
- Brainscape offers over a million flashcard decks for every subject, entrance exam, and certification imaginable.
Spelling, Writing & Reading
- Read, play games, and hang out with Dr. Seuss
- Storylineonline.net – Favorite kids books read by famous people
- Starfall.com – Phonics skills
- Reading.ecb.org – Games to get “into the book”
- Classroomcereal.com – Grammar practice for middle grades
- Commonlit.org – Reading passages for grades 3-12, with reading comprehension and discussion questions.
- Squigglepark.com – Engaging reading game for grades 2-8 that combines strategy, engagement, and imaginative reading passages to create a fun, curriculum-aligned literacy game.
- Facts4me.com – A safe research site for elementary-level readers. They are offering — free 24/7 access
- USERNAME: read (case sensitive)
- PASSWORD: read (case sensitive)
- Noredink.com -Online curriculum that builds better writers.
- Novel Effect makes storytime a little more fun for kids (and grown-ups too!) As you read out loud from print books (or ebooks!) music, sound effects, and character voices play at just the right moment, adjusting and responding to your voice.
- Paragraphpunch.com – Teaches students how to write a paragraph through interactive online tutorial
- ReadWorks is an online resource of reading passages and lesson plans for students of all levels K-12.
- Goodandbeautiful.com – Course sets (Levels 1–5) that combine and thoroughly cover phonics, reading, writing, spelling, literature, grammar, punctuation, art, and geography—all in one easy-to-use, beautiful course.
- The Shurley English program for grades K-8 provides a clear, logical, and concrete approach to language arts.
- Spellingcity is free right now with code VSCFree90
- Spelling Training – 1-4 grade
- Readingeggs.com – Phonics and learning to read
- Funfonix.com – Phonics worksheets for kids
- Freechildrenstories.com – Free stories online ages 3-12
- The Story Starter – Randomly generates 356,300,262,144 story starters
- Grammaropolis – Work on the 8 parts of speech
History
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- Bighistoryproject.com – Online history classes for all ages preteen through adults
- Bunkhistory.org – Digital archive of history
- NGAkids interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history.
- Mission-us.org – An interactive way to learn history
- Whatwasthere.com – Allows students to type in any city, state, or country to view an archive of historical photographs and other documents. It’s a unique way to help them learn about history.
- Bbc.co.uk – Games, quizzes and fact sheets take kids on a journey through time.
Fitness
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- Little Twisters Yoga – Free at-home kids yoga lesson plans
- Gonoodle.com – Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts.
- Sworkit.com – choose from Strength for Kids, Agility for Kids, Flexibility and Balance for Kids, Warm-Up for Kids, Cooldown for Kids, Stand Up and Move for Kids, OR create your own custom kid workout.
Test Prep
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- Bwseducationsonulting.com – Test Prep for SAT, ACT, etc.
Music
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- Music Lab – Music is for everyone
- Thewell.world –Poetry and music
- Musictheory.net – intermediate music theory lessons, exercises, ear trainers, and calculators.
- Prodigies is a colorful music curriculum for kids 1-12 that will teach your kids how to play their first instrument, how to sing in tune & how to understand the language of music! 21 for free
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- Smart Music – Music practice transformed
- Sight Reading Factory – Sight reading and sight singing practice exercises.
- Virtual Musical Instruments – Lets kids play instruments online. Instruments include the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, and bongos.
- Songs for Teaching – A large selection of fun songs to help teach preschool and kindergarten students
- The Theta Music Trainer offers a series of online courses and games for ear training and music theory.
Coding & Computer Science
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- Udemy – offers many free coding courses for kids at all levels
- Instructables – 3D printing projects and Coding projects, involving math and other K-12 subjects
- Nitrotype – Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 typers from around the world.
- Typing Club – Keyboarding practice
- Codecademy – Learn to code
- Scratch draws students of all types into coding and lays a foundation for future learning.
- Code.org – Coding with Star Wars
- Kodable – Coding for ages 4-10
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