At-Home Children's Activities Guide
How can you keep kids entertained during the coronavirus crisis? Parents can do a number of activities alongside their kids that facilitate active, engaged learning combining it with fun, quality time.
TODDLERS (12 TO 36 MONTHS OLD)
The Kinedu App
This platform has activities to help your toddler develop hand coordination & also helps to keep your toddler entertained while not at nursery. Engaging in activities you can do together, in turn helps to reduce any anxiety you may have. Subscription can be cancelled at any time.
Mattel Inc. Virtual Playroom
Toy manufacturer Mattel Inc. launched a website with free games, activities and content to help children stay occupied at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Mattel Playroom, in addition to games, printable coloring pages, crafting projects, videos and downloadable apps, also offers tips for parents and caregivers on keeping kids entertained at home.
Little Pim: Online Language Learning Subscription for Kids
Introducing your child to a foreign language will be a fun learning experience now and a critical investment in his or her quality of life for all the years to come. Several studies prove that children are uniquely and temporarily primed to acquire up to three languages before the age of six with ease. After this early learning window the brain’s plasticity diminishes dramatically.
Additionally, scientific research shows that bilinguals, especially those who have acquired their second language before the age of six, demonstrate superior reading and writing skills, as well as advanced analytical and social skills – giving them a head start in school. Economists predict that knowing a foreign language will give our children a competitive advantage in an increasingly global economy.
CHILDREN (4-10 YR OLD)
Prestige Prep Educational Services
Prestige Prep’s is here to offer support to students and families during this unprecedented time.
With schools closed and parents scrambling to figure out homeschooling and other options for their families, they are setting up virtual classes in all subject matters and opening up our programs to any child. They can do this for any student, in any grade, and in any subject. They are committed to figuring out how Prestige Prep can help families provide for their kids’ educational needs in this new reality.
Their team is set up to do remote learning via Google Docs/Classroom, Explain Everything, Zoom, FaceTime and are actively exploring other ways to provide educational support and remote/online tutoring – for specific subjects and/or standardized tests.
They truly understand each family’s circumstance is unique, and we will work with you to ensure your child is supported!
Children’s Museum of Manhattan
CMOM at Home program posts one themed activity each day, including “Our World Wednesday” where children are encouraged to explore.
“We want to really nurture the next generation of global citizens by sharing other cultures and introducing other cultures to children, and experiencing that through art and music, cooking, dance. We want this daily dose to spark people's imaginations and get them excited to learn together and provide a different point of view.”
Every day, the museum will post a different activity to help kids learn as well as explore the world and the community around them. CMOM can be a part of your day through videos, sing-a-longs, games and more for you to do together with your family at home.
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
The Space Center is doing its part to help kids (and parents) learn.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is offering online learning activities for kids aged anywhere between elementary school and high school.
The center has been hosting these live streams and videos since March 18, according to the Kennedy Space Center Instagram account. On Wednesday, the education team at the center hosted two lessons via Facebook Live, one at 9:30 a.m. EST for younger kids and at 1 p.m. for teenagers. Originally, the online content was planned to be published in daily live streams, however, the center has amended its plan to only publish pre-recorded videos that followers can watch on their time.
Scholastic Online Programming
Scholastic published an online resource that offers day-to-day projects to keep children reading, thinking and growing during the self-quarantine.
“Even when schools are closed, you can keep the learning going with these special cross-curricular journeys,” the program’s website reads. “Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Kids can do them on their own, with their families, or with their teachers. Just find your grade level and let the learning begin!”
LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems! | Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence at Home
Around the world, people of all ages have joined Mo Willems in his studio for weekday LUNCH DOODLES. The three-week run, all 15 episodes and their downloadable activities, are archived at the above link.
Let the doodling continue! Please tag your artwork on social media with #MoLunchDoodles so that we can all see it!
PRE-TEENS & TEENS (11-18 YR OLD)
BrainHQ
BrainHQ has 29 online exercises that work out attention, brain speed, memory, people skills, navigation, and intelligence.
If you want, you can have BrainHQ tell you exactly which exercises to do, and in which order: the personalized trainer feature, designed by scientists, continually measures your performance and serves up the exercises that are right for you.
Or if you prefer, you can design your own program, choosing exercises and workouts that meet your personal interests, mood, and schedule.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
“Unable to perform in public, the amazing dancers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre haven’t stopped inspiring audiences. They’ve been filming themselves dancing, separate and isolated wherever they might be, and then combining the footage in short videos on Instagram.
The company has also started streaming full-length performances, for limited periods, on its Web site. The offerings—which started, naturally, with “Revelations”—continue, on April 9, with Judith Jamison’s “Divining.” In the coming weeks, look for Camille A. Brown’s grief-defying “City of Rain” and, especially, Rennie Harris’s “Lazarus,” whose mix of painful searching and pleasure in the groove should feel even more potent now.”
— Brian Seibert for the New Yorker
NYT Guidance “Quaranteenagers: Strategies for Parenting in Close Quarters”
“All normally developing teenagers strive for independence, yearn to be with their peers and look ahead to the future. Given this, how do we care for young people whose wings have been clipped, who aren’t supposed to hang out with their friends and whose plans have been upended by coronavirus? Here are some strategies that might help to address these unforeseen parenting challenges, especially at a time when many adults are struggling to hold it all together and may not have easy access to their usual reserves.
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