Keeping kids entertained and educated
While more and more families are homebound, going stir-crazy is bound to happen. Here are some fun activities and links that you can do at home with your children.
If you have an idea you’d like to share, feel free to email marketing@pioneerconnect.net and we’ll add it to our list.
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- Scholastics is offering 20 days’ worth of projects to keep kids reading, thinking and growing
- Mad Libs for Kids (printable Mad Libs)
- Experience Polar Bears on the Tundra
- Fun math lessons
- Freckle Math
- Brain Pop Jr
- Legends of Learning
- Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy: You can even do a science experiment along with him
- Try some STEM activities: STEM activities are great for learning and educating kids about science and math.
- National Geographic Kids
- Free Printable worksheets
- Oregon Trail
- Kids Discover
- NASA Kids Club
- Discovery Mindblown
- PBS Kids
- Smithsonian for Kids
- Time for Kids
- SplashLearn
- Math Playground
- Storyline Online
- Listen to a real astronaut read you a book from space
- Little House – Audio book
- Raz-Kids
- Lunch Doodles
- Art for Kids Hub
- 12 Art Lessons on YouTube
- The Art Sherpa: Follow along and create some gorgeous acrylic art work with TheArtSherpa. She offers well over 1,000 different videos that last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Her spunky personality, along with her art-inspired fashion makes her appealing to kids and adults alike. No matter what you want to paint, she’s got something you’ll enjoy!
- Drawing Pop Art for Kids: If your little artists doesn’t have much of an attention span yet, PopArtDoodle is just what you’ve been looking for. With fun and colorful drawings, each video is around 3 minutes but creates fun and funky artwork that kids will enjoy!
- FaceDrawer: Kids love cartoons and FaceDrawer can help them create their own work using their favorite characters. With everything from Luigi to Star Wars, kids will enjoy these quick and easy art lessons on YouTube.
- Katie Jobling: Katie Jobling is a fun young lady who offers amazing art tutorials. We love her because she shows a lot of videos into her life, such as the importance of having a serene workspace. Her painting videos cover everything from roses to waterfalls and she uses mostly acrylic and watercolors.
- Art for Kids Hub: Quick and easy art lessons on YouTube are easy to find but they’re usually not the greatest quality. Art for Kids Hub has hit it out of the park with their fun videos that make drawing fun and simple. Whether you want to draw Santa or The Incredibles, they’ve got a lesson you’ll love.
- Angela Anderson: If you’ve ever been to a paint party at a local art store, you know how much fun they can be! I’ve wished for years that I could create the same type of party at home, without spending a fortune on lessons. Angela Anderson has created an amazing art lessons on YouTube that are exactly what I was searching for! She covers everything from fun kid paintings to farmhouse inspired artwork. You simply need to pick a video and get to work.
- Alfonso Dunn Art Tutorials: If you’ve ever dreamed of creating gorgeous works of art using nothing more than pen and pencil, AlfonsoDunn is your guy. The way he teaches so clearly and explains why does what he does really helps young artists to see art in a whole new way.
- Circle Line Art School: If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced for older kids, be sure to check out CircleLineArtSchool. They cover everything from perspective to how to draw optical illusions. I would say this channel works best with seasoned artists or older kids who have the basics down well.
- Vamos Art: If you’re looking for a challenge for your budding artists, Drawing3DArt will definitely provide it! With several hundred videos available, you can learn everything from drawing geometric shapes to how to trick the human eye. It’s challenging and tedious work but the outcomes are amazing.
- Rapid Fire Art: Learn to improve your drawing’s facial expressions, shadings and so much more with Rapid Fire Art. While this channel is smaller than others on the list, the way she explains things makes her one of our favorites. Plus, they’re constantly adding new art lesson on YouTube for you to try out.
- Art a la Carte: If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to create calligraphy with crayons or how to make your own stickers, Art a la Carte has got you covered. Not only do they offer thorough art lessons on YouTube, but they also teach you creative arts, outside of paint and colored pencils.
- My-How-To-Draw: Learn to draw everything from Justin Bieber to Peppa Pig with MyHowToDraw’s quick and easy tutorials. They don’t actually do any voiceovers on the videos, but do give written instructions throughout each step. I’ve found that this has helped my kids understand exactly what they need to do next, without the distraction of “small talk” that some videos offer.
- Get up and move with Cosmic Kids Yoga
- GoNoodle
- Super Stretch Yogo
- Story Pirates
- Brains On!
- Story Collider
- WOW in the World
- Fun Kids Story Quest
- Simon’s Science Adventure Stories
- Fun Kids Science Weekly
- Free Virtual Field Trips
- Great Wall of China
- Yellowstone
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Panda Cam at Zoo Atlanta
- Houston Zoo
- Georgia Aquarium
- Boston Children Museum
- Sequoia National Park
- Take a virtual tour of a farm: learn about what it takes to run a farm, meet farm animals and ore by taking a virtual farm tour.
- Explore Africa with African wildlife cam: Learn more about the wildlife of Africa by checking out this African wildlife cam situated by a busy watering hole.
- San Diego Zoo
- Virtual glider around the world: The Smithsonian Science Education Center has more resources, too, including a virtual gliderthat makes you feel like you’re flying around the world, exploring.
- Acadia National Park: Acadia National Park is a national park located in Maine. With Google Maps, you can scroll over the different terrains, and click on places of interest.
- For endless ideas that mix science, fun and the kitchen, check out The Kitchen Pantry Scientist.
- Make Playdough
- Make slime
- Take digital cooking classes for kids
- Make ice cream in a bag
- Make pizza bagels
- Set up a treasure hunt: Treasure hunts are pretty easy and depending on how many items there are, could last a while. Hide anywhere from 10 to 20 items around the house or outside to keep kids occupied for a few hours.
- Play cards: Rummy, War, Go Fish, Solitatire, Uno, Old Maid… Any game you can think of!
- Break out the board games: Scrabble, Monopoly, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders…
- Put a puzzle together: Break out the jigsaw puzzle!
- Set up indoor hopscotch: With painters’ tape!
- Make forts out of cardboard boxes and blankets
- Make a walking Robot
- 100 Best Magic Tricks