Keep Your Kids Entertained at Home During School Closings

We have you covered if your school has been closed to flatten the curve. This is uncharted territory and we are here to help you and your little ones make the best of this unexpected time together at home.

This post includes affiliate links – this just means that by clicking through to content I think will genuinely help your family during school closures, you are supporting this blog. Read our full Disclosure here.

We encourage you to stay up to date on the CDC recommendations and report symptoms to your doctor immediately.

LEARN through PLAY at home

Schools and Teachers are working hard to establish distance learning opportunities, but they aren’t the only resource for your kids. Check out this list of Education Companies Offering FREE Subscriptions during school closures.

Some of our favorite other FREE educational resources include:

• The Scholastic Learn at Home program also offers free daily coursework.
• The WWF Wild Classroom offers subject-integrated lessons so students can learn how their actions help shape the future of nature.
• The Soar with Wings: Social Emotional Skills for School & Life an educational program created to equip educators with digital resources focused on social and emotional learning in the classroom and beyond.
• Kids of all ages can Learn to Code for free with code.org
• There are some amazingly talented professionals who are sharing their expertise and knowledge on social media. Check out #oceanschool for daily doses of marine learning.
• Join Ocean Protection Advocacy Kids for FREE ocean webinars while schools are closed.
• The amazing Sara Lynn Creative is sharing some beautiful and educational activity sheets at www.saralynncreative.com. Click on the images below to download.

Many schools are looking to use video chats as a way to stay connected. Ask your teacher if your school was verified for a FREE Zoom account during school closures.

Experiments at Home

If you don’t already follow The DAD Lab on social media, start now! Sergei Urban, the Dad behind The Dad Lab, creates and shares easy and fun educational activities to do with your kids at home.

Grab the TheDadLab: 50 Awesome Science Projects for Parents and Kids from Amazon.

Start a New Subscription

There are a ton of educational subscriptions for kids. Check out some of our favorite STEAM subscriptions:

• Visit Kiwico.com/adventuremomsdc to try a month of KiwiCo for FREE!
• Sign up for a free introductory course with MakeCrate. You’ll get downloadable instructions and video tutorials for three projects that will teach you basic skills while having fun.
• Make screen time count with the on-demand award-winning science, technology, history, and nature documentaries on CuriosityStream.
• Sign up for curated sensory bin kits with Mama May I.
• Make Dinner an Adventure with Eat2Explore.

Live Streams

Let others entertain your little ones for little bit with these amazing free Live Streams:

• LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems – Draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks. Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together. New episodes will be posted each weekday at 1:00 p.m. ET and then remain online to be streamed afterwards. Check back each weekday for new LUNCH DOODLES!
• Animal web cams at: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Houston Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Reid Park Zoo Lion Cam, Ouwehand Park Polar Bear Cubs Rhenen, Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari Facebook Lives
• Cook with online classes classes for kids from Yummy Sprout.

Virtual Tours

Take your kids on a virtual field trip with virtual tours:

• The Louvre
• The Great Wall of China
• Johnson Space Center
• Experience the Tundra
• Yellowstone National Park
• Mammoth Hot Springs
• Mud Volcano, Planet Mars
• National Gallery of Art
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
• Uffizi Gallery
• National Aquarium
• Seattle Aquarium
• Tour England
• Colonial Williamsburg
• Ellis Island

Digital Reading Resources

Reading is a great way to keep kids occupied at home. If you didn’t stock up on books from the library you can go digital. Enjoy ebooks and audiobooks for free through your local public library or school on overdrive.com. Or try Audiobooks.com and get 2 AudioBooks Free and 720,000 Free Podcasts!

There are even Live Story Times online for kids!

• Story Time from SPACE with Astronauts
• Crescendo Connect: VIRTUAL Circle Time!
• Storytime Live! Waunakee Public Library
• Shark Story Hour with Atlantic White Shark Conservancy
• Follow #savewithstories on Instagram for daily read aloud stories in partnership with Save the Children and No Kid Hungry.

Movie Night

Let’s be honest, during these stressful times it is nice to sit down for a family movie night, or morning or afternoon really. All of the streaming platforms are updating content regularly. Disney+ even released Frozen 2 early.

If you don’t already have a streaming service, Kanopy is making many of their films and all of their children’s content free with unlimited viewing for our customers for 30 days starting March 16.

Start Journaling

You and your kids can start doing this together. This can be a great way to process feelings and strengthen bonds. We have been doing a letter journal with our daughter. We take turns writing each other letters in a journal asking each other questions and sharing thoughts.

This time at home is a great time to practice a growth mindset with the Big Life Journal. Find out more about the Big Life Journal components: the journal, listening to the podcast, and printable activities in our review.

Do YOGA!

Yoga is a great way for kids to exercise their bodies and minds. Order a deck of  Yoga Cards or watch one of our favorite YouTube channels Cosmic Kids Yoga.

Along with yoga, meditation is a great practice to prioritize during these crazy times. Join The Well Space for daily meditations at 8am EST on Zoom.

Exercise Together

Keeping moving is a great way to beat stress and avoid overactive kids. Some easy family friendly ways to exercise indoors include: jumping rope, setting up an obstacle course, running up and down stairs or working out together.

Joe Wicks is offering KIDS workouts to replace gym on TheBodyCoachTV YouTube channel daily. These videos are around 10 minutes and a fun way to get your littles wiggles out.

Families can workout together using Beach Body On Demand FREE for 2 weeks. Beach Body has Double Time workouts that are easy for parents and kids to do together. We are excited to start Double Time so follow along on social media. If you are interested in signing up for Beach Body my niece Michelle is an amazing coach who has experience working with families. You can find out more about her and sign up on her Coach Page.

Start a correspondence with a Pen Pal

This is a great way for kids to connect with others. If you don’t have extended family or friends who you can write to, try a local facebook groups for a city or country your child is interested in learning more about and ask for pen pal volunteers.

Sensory Bin

We love finding new and interesting items for our sensory bin. Try some of our favorites: dry rice, dry beans, dry noodles, water beads, shaving cream, ice cube letters and even pouch tops.

Spa Day

With all the feat and unknown surrounding the Coronavirus in America, school closings and quarantine, it is the perfect time to have a spa day at home. Cut some cucumbers for your eyes and drink some bubbly water out of a fancy cup. You can make your own spa products like the bath bombs and soaps from our friends at Mama Instincts.

Check out our Adventure Gift Guide for ideas on STEAM inspired toys to keep your littles happy and learning at home.

Get OUTSIDE

Social distancing is important, but does not prevent individual adventures outdoors. Check out some of our favorite outdoor adventures without the crowds.

Take a Hike

Another great way to get outside together is to go for a hike. Even if you pass others on the trail its a zero contact way to be outside. Find a new trail to tackle on alltrails.com.

Plant a Garden

This is actually the perfect time of year to start a garden. You can start growing from your own food scraps. Check out the Food Revolution Network for illustrated directions for some easy to grow foods from scraps. Enlist the kids to help you find a sunny spot in the yard to start digging or rummage through the kitchen for containers to repurpose for a windowsill garden.

Build a Fort

You can move this inside if you need to, but fort building is a great way for kids to move, create and imagine. Grab sticks, boxes, blankets, tires or even pallets and let the kids go wild.

Have a Bonfire

Warm days and cool nights are the perfect time for a bonfire! If you don’t have a fire pit you can use a charcoal grill. Grab some firewood and enjoy the warmth of the fire. Cook hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire if you have them.

Search for FOSSILS

There are several local areas to look for fossils – including fossilized sharks teeth. We love to visit Flag Ponds Nature Park or Brownies Beach in Calvert County, but you can also search along the Potomac River.

Ride Bikes

Learning to ride a bike is a great way to spend time outside. Our kids have or are currently learning to ride by starting on the 12″ Schwinn Balance Bike. When kids learn to balance first they become more confident riders and parents spend less time holding on to the back of bike seats. It’s a win-win!

Go Fishing

We fell in love with fishing on our Family Fishing Adventure (save that for post quarantine adventures) and can’t wait to see what bites in our local pond this week. If you need poles for the kids we love our Zebco Z pole with  Zebco 33 spincast reel from Amazon. We also have our nets ready for some stream walking. We love to catch minnows and crayfish, and search for frog eggs although our new obsession seems to be stream jumping.

Food Resources

Many local schools are still offering students free breakfast and lunch: MCPS locations and hours, PGCPS locations and hours, HCPSS location and hours, ACPS locations and hours, APS locations and hours.

Find Inspiration Online

We will continue to share ideas and offer support to families through our online communities on Facebook and Instagram. Come join the conversation.

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