Home learning: resources for parents

Learning 

• Exploratorium offers free videos for kids and families to learn more about what a virus is, and how it works.
• The Chicago Academy of Sciences has a ton of videos and activities for kids to learn about the natural world (an image from the site is top of page). Some activities include eating like a butterfly, and making your own 3D salamander!
• The American Museum of Natural History offers tons of online learning materials for all ages. This site offers videos, stories, games, and crafts on a multitude of different science topics.
• Does your kid have an interest in physics? The Physics Classroom has interactive games, concept builders, and videos to discover.
• This website is pairing families with an expert scientist that you can Skype in a private Q&A, right in the comfort of your living room.
• Farm Food 360 has a bunch of videos for you to learn how a farm works. They have videos, and interactive tours all for free!
• This interactive website is great for teaching kids how to code. It has two boxes: one for them to code, and one to show them what happens when you insert a piece of code.
• The New York Times Learning Network has resources for parents and teachers including daily lessons, weekly quizzes, and activities such as a student podcast contest that encourages youth ages 10–19 to submit short audio pieces.

Travel

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration allows people to tour marine sanctuaries and ocean habitats through a series of virtual dives. You can explore colorful coral reefs, shipwrecks, and even swim with seals!
• With Google Arts and Culture, you can view thousands of pieces of art, from The Museum of Modern Art in New York to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
• Google Arts and Culture is also offering virtual tours of our national parks. You can visit places like the Hawai'i Volcanoes in Hawaii, and the Dry Tortugas in Florida, all from the comfort of your couch!
• If you are feeling really adventurous, travel to Mars! This website allows you to explore Mars right alongside the Curiosity Rover.
• The Smithsonian Science Education Center has developed an app to help you travel the world! Fly over a natural wonders like mountains, oceans, and mesas. 

Creative activities

• The Kennedy Center partnered with Mo Willems, author of the children's book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, for an interactive doodling series. Once all the episodes are completed, there's even a "graduation gift" to print out at home! 
• If you have a printer, this website provides endless empty coloring pages of actual pieces of art from museums.  
• The Royal Ontario Museum can teach you how to write your name using Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
• This website has a kid-friendly recipe to make modeling clay at home.
• Make origami using this step-by-step guide! You can make things like a jumping frog, to a piano.
• Local youth organization Transit Arts has been busy creating a variety of art and music video tutorials by local artists.
• Columbus' Arts and College Preparatory Academy has also been creating videos with local artists, who share tutorials and thoughts about the creative process.

Exercise

• P.E. with Joe is an interactive workout series that you can do in your living room! Each workout is approximately 30 minutes, and will suffice for a good daily workout.
• Have a family-friendly dance party with DJ Mel! There are lots of videos for everyone in the family to dance along to.
• Do some interactive yoga that is easy and fun for the whole family! Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube has over 100 videos for you to watch for free.
• Once Upon a Dance engages kids to move with fun videos and other resources that focus on the storytelling potential of dance.
  
   

Live Streams & other things

• Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has a livestream of Discovery Reef and a "Bonobo Cam," along with lots of prerecorded videos on its YouTube page.
• The Monterey Bay Aquarium has multiple live streams for you to watch the sea life at home. Among the live streams, they have Sea Otters, and Coral Reefs. 
• The San Diego Zoo is also offering live streams of their animals. Some of their animals include penguins, and elephants.
• The California Science Center has "Stuck at Home Science," a series of science experiments you can do at home. There's something new via livestream every weekday at 1 PM EST and all past videos are archived on the center's website.
• PBS' Nova has online labs for older kids, exploring topics such as evolution, and cyber security.
• The Story Pirates Podcast has a ton of stories that kids can sit and listen to, and the best part, they are read by pirates!