Our first official stay at home day was March 10th. There have been so many amazing suggestions and websites and YouTube videos and tours and everything in between with suggestions on how to keep kids busy. At first I was excited, then I felt like I was drinking from a firehouse. I’m so thankful for the amazing input and sharing of information, but how was I going to keep track of it all? I went into information overload and just started ignoring everything.
This week, I feel like I’m lifting my head up after the shock of it all and I’m ready for some of the resources.
I decided to make myself a list of the amazing resources out there of how to keep kids busy, so that I could have them all in one place whenever I was ready for something fun and different. I hope it helps you, too!
How to keep kids busy
Afternoon Distractions with Chris Field – kid friendly afternoon adventures on Facebook
Storybook Entertainment – fun events with your favorite characters
Crumbl Cookies – dessert delivered for a fun family evening
Disney Parks Blog – activities and learning tools from Disney, Pixar and National Geographic⠀
Bluprint – Everything you need to create! Watch every class for FREE ‘til 4/16!
Show us what you’re making!
Piper Computer Kit – The Piper Computer Kit is a hands-on STEAM learning experience which allows students to learn computer science, electronics, and coding while building and using a fully functioning computer.
Khan Academy Kids – Five whimsical, charming characters—including narrator Kodi Bear—guide kids through activities and stories.
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems – 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 below. Let the doodling continue! Please tag your artwork on social media with #MoLunchDoodles so that we can all see it!
The Adventure Academy – You’re invited to join the ranks of young scholars at Adventure Academy, a fully immersive virtual universe for those seeking knowledge and adventure. Gain access to hundreds of hours of educational activities teaching essential skills in math, language arts, science, social studies, and much more!
My Bedtime – Have little ones interact with this Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood bedtime game to remind them of the importance of a winding down at the end of the day
Weekly Planner Chart – Engage your child in making their schedule, and use this Weekly Planner Chart, so every family member can pitch in
Storyline – Stories read aloud (an amazing collection of titles you recognize and love!)
Listen and Read Books – Captivate your early learners with these 15 nonfiction read-along books. Listen and Read activities tell their stories through words, images, and sound. You can use these online activities in a variety of ways, from one-on-one instruction using a computer or tablet to class instruction on an interactive whiteboard.
Mad Libs for Kids – Mad libs are funny stories created on the spot. Pick a story from any category and fill in a word for each prompt. Once you’ve filled in all the blanks click on the Build ‘Story Button’ and a funny story will be made with the words you provided! Play this fun word game alone or with friends. The results are usually hilarious and we’ve got over a 100 mad lib stories to choose from! Just pick a story to get started!
Typing game – TypeTastic School Edition includes a fun and inspiring K-12 keyboarding curriculum along with a suite of teacher tools. Watch your students embark on a thrilling island adventure to collect words and letters in bright and exciting landscapes while becoming fluent typists.
Prodigy – Math Games
Arizona Science Center – Introducing our new weekly lesson plans offering hands-on activities, experiments and virtual teaching support to inspire, educate and engage curious minds through science. Targeting grades K-8, each week’s content offers 150 minutes of education aligned with the State of Arizona Science Standards.
Recess at Home Activity Booklet – from Arizona Center
National Geographic Kids – science experiments, cool animal facts, US facts, videos, etc. Cincinnati Zoo Safaris – on Facebook Live, every day at Noon PST
Arts and Culture with Google – National Parks Tours
PE with Joe – Kids workouts to do at home
Apps to Keep Kids Busy
Math Doodles
Math and logic puzzles you can’t stop playing, for ages 7 and up
Four clever hand-drawn puzzles test your ability to manipulate powerful mathematical ideas. Because the puzzles are both high in child control, and they let you set your own challenge level, you’re more likely to try harder math on for size. $2.99 from Apple
JFK Moonshot
Scientific exploration, space travel, astronomy for ages 7 and up
Put the Apollo 11 mission on your living room rug with this well-designed augmented reality experience that works in concert with your smartphone’s camera. Aside from the ability to watch the launch and mission, you can play six mini-games that recreate key parts of the mission. Free from Apple or Google.
Monument Valley
Escher-like brain teasers for ages 8 and up.
Addictive, beautiful and leveled perfectly to keep you challenged (and confused), this is a set of 10 optical-illusion maze puzzles ideal for a child in need of a challenge. The first puzzle is easy enough for a younger player, mixing horizontal and vertical navigation thinking. So sometimes you’re walking on the side of a monument, like a spider, but a hidden door or ramp flips the entire structure on its axis. There’s no hint system, and the game suggests that you share each level on different social media services, with no age gate. $3.99 from Apple, Google or Amazon.
Outbreak Squad
Help children and adults, understand the science of public health; ages 8 and up.
For kids with coronavirus on the mind, this app can help them understand the science behind disease outbreaks. You help four cartoon-style characters apply their “weapons” (things like conducting research, enforcing a law or creating an educational program) to fight against an outbreak monster. Good decisions avoid deaths. Free to play.
Bugs and Beyond
Playfully reinforce emerging math and logic skills; ages 4 and up.
This fresh collection of 18 mini-games is infested with beautifully rendered insects and learning possibilities. The more you play, the more bug stickers you can collect. You get a lot for the $1.99 one-time purchase. From Apple
Thinkrolls Space
Easy to learn logic puzzles with a narrative twist; ages 5 and up
This is the fourth Thinkrolls logic app that we’ve reviewed and it is one of the best, and most challenging. Like the previous releases, you simply swipe to move a rolling character through mazes that start easy and get very challenging. Progress is saved automatically. For younger children (5 to 8) there are 110 easy puzzles. For older children (8 and up) there are 108 harder puzzles. $3.99 from Apple.
Activities for Parents
Grace Based Discipline – free, streaming study – Here’s the good news: we can learn to respond to our kids with love, firm boundaries and grace-based discipline, even when their behavior lights our fuse.
Birth to Five Helpline – These are unusual and challenging times that we face. Staying connected by having someone to talk with or lend an empathetic ear is more important than ever to our well-being, our families and our community. The Birth to Five Helpline specialists are available for you at 877-705-KIDS (5437)!
Please feel free to comment and let us know what resources you’ve found! Let’s keep sharing the amazing information we find!
