Bloggers are coming up with some really great lists of activities to do at home. Check out these from A Mighty Girl and Saved You a Spot. For additional local information and links, click below.
Get Outside | Crafting | Languages
Library of Michigan and Michigan History Center COVID-19 Projects
Make a Veteran Smile
Harry Potter at Home | Story Times | Drawing and Coloring
EGLE Online Activity Resources | MSU Science Festival | Henry Ford Museum
Animal Web Cams | Virtual Field Trips | Wildtalk | DNR Education Resources
Puppetry | Edutainment for Kids | Digital Escape Rooms | Puzzles
Open Educational Library | Open Educational Resources | Khan Academy
Recreation Safety | Cultural Exploration
Get Outside!
If space permits, now is a great time to get started on your garden! We would like to thank Brooke for sharing this wonderful resource on gardening with kids from Kremp Florist.
Recreation passports are now required to access state lands. Visit their COVID-19 response page for more information openings and amenities and Recreation Passport for information on how to purchase.
Crafting
Explore MeL eResource Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center
Pinterest also has some great ideas from some really creative people!
Languages
Learn a new language with Duolingo.
COVID-19: Save Your Story, Library of Michigan
The Library of Michigan is looking for volunteers to help them with their project. They are asking people to record their thoughts, feelings, and activities in diary form and submit them to the Library of Michigan. These can be as long or short as you like, written or video. For more information and ideas, visit their website for COVID-19: Save Your Story.
Collecting COVID-19, Michigan History Center
The Michigan History Center launched their own project to document COVID-19. They will archive stories and interviews, but are also asking for additional things like objects and photographs. For more information and ideas, visit their website for Collecting COVID-19.
Make a Veteran Smile
Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency launches 'Make A Veteran Smile' calling for short videos and letters or cards to Michigan veterans with a goal of cheering up our patriots during these challenging times of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Harry Potter at Home
Join the Harry Potter at Home Hub for wonderful wizarding world activities! Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone is now available as a free eBook on Libby and audiobook at stories.audible.com
Story Times
Story Time From Space | StorylineOnline
Read Together Be Together | The Spanish Experiment
Quaran-Teen | Other Live Events | Authors Everywhere
Story Time From Space
Watch astronauts on the Space Station read children’s books and perform science demonstrations! Story Time From Space offers a delightful combination of science, literacy, and entertainment through its library of free, family-friendly videos.
StorylineOnline
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning and Daytime Emmy-nominated children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams imaginatively produced videos featuring celebrated actors including Viola Davis, Allison Janney, Chris Pine, Wanda Sykes, Justin Theroux, and Betty White reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations, helping to inspire a love of reading in children.
Read Together Be Together
Penguin and Random House, in partnership with Meredith/PARENTS, are launching *READ TOGETHER, BE TOGETHER. * Visit the website for a list of live stream events or explore their collection of videos.
The Spanish Experiment
Visit this website to listen to children's stories in Spanish.
Visita a esto sitio de web para escuchar a cuentas por niños en español.
Aiden Tyler, Quaran-Teen
Aiden Tyler, Quaran-teen is a new and original middle-grade serial written and read in real-time by author Rex Ogle (Free Lunch). New episode every Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET
Live Events
Librarian Miss Staal has put together an amazing list of Live Events offered by authors and illustrators
Authors Everywhere
Authors Everywhere has a YouTube Channel with read alouds, activities, writing workshops and art demos!
Drawing and Coloring
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems | Draw Everyday with JJK | Coloring Pages
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
The author of popular children's books like the "Elephant and Piggie" and "Pigeon" series invites YOU into his studio every day for his Lunch Doodle. New episodes will be posted each weekday at 1:00 p.m. ET and then remain online to be streamed afterward.
Draw Every Day with JJK
Daily, live art lessons from author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka. New York Times bestselling-author of Punk Farm, Lunch Lady, Jedi Academy, and Hey, Kiddo. Draw Every Day with JJK
Coloring Pages
If you have access to a printer at home, you can find free coloring pages from the following:
Smithsonian Article with links to museum submissions for the #ColorOurCollections campaign
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Online Activity Resources
EGLE Online Activity Resources has an extensive list of resources to promote environmental education
MSU Science Festival
The MSU Science Festival has moved online! Have a look at their digital presentation schedule, learn how to participate in their Citizen Science program, explore their collection of virtual tours and videos, or find STEAM activities you can do from home.
Henry Ford Museum Innovation Museum
Access The Henry Ford's Innovation Learning materials for students of all ages. Pre-made lesson plans to keep your students and children engaged in fun and educational activities.
Animal Web Cams
Check in on your furry friends!
Home Safari Facebook Live events by the Cincinnati Zoo
Panda Cam at the Atlanta Zoo
Penguin Cam at the Kansas City Zoo
Beluga Cam at the Georgia Aquarium
San Diego Zoo live cams
Houston Zoo live cams
Virtual Field Trips
Learn more through a virtual field trip.
Interactive Historical Virtual Reality Field Trips (Thanks, Lily!)
Tundra Connections: Polar Bears
Arconic Power and Propulsion Manufacturing, Whitehall, MI
Don't forget to dream of your next in person experience! Travel to One of the Top Zoos or Aquariums. Many thanks to Patricia and Tracy for passing this link on to us!
Wildtalk
On the Michigan DNR's Wildtalk Podcast, released on the first of each month, Wildlife Division staff chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat, feathers, and fur. With insights, interviews and listener questions answered on the air, you'll come away with a better picture of what's happening in the world of Michigan's wildlife.
Department of Natural Resources Education Resources
DNR Education Resources includes video nature lessons, virtual field trips, and fun activities.
Puppetry
Join the Center for Puppetry Arts for one of their Facebook Live events. Visit their website for upcoming events.
Edutainment for Kids
Nat Geo Kids | Michigan History for Kids | Scholastic
PBS and Sesame Street | Nick Jr | Disney
Nat Geo Kids
Nat Geo Kids has videos, games and more on subjects like animals, space, and geography.
Michigan History for Kids
The Historical Society of Michigan (HSM) is opening its Michigan History for Kids website to EVERYONE for FREE for a limited time. To login, use username MHK and password 1234.
Scholastic
Scholastic has also opened their Scholastic Learn at Home resources for grades preK-9
PBS Kids and Sesame Street
PBS Kids has videos, games and more featuring your favorite PBS characters. Sesame Street fans? Explore more Sesame Street.
Nick Jr
Prefer Nick Jr?
Disney
Prefer Disney?
DigitalEscape Rooms
Some wonderful librarians put together digital escape rooms using Google Forms.
Puzzles
The Cooper Gallery turns one of the pieces of artwork into a Puzzle every day. Join the competition for the fastest time! Most are around 2 minutes.
Open Educational Library
Open Educational Library (ORL) is planned to include all Open Access book content worldwide on one platform for user-friendly discovery
Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy has long been one of the premier free online learning tools for people of all ages, and they are now offering daily schedules for children ages 4-18.
Recreation Safety Certification
You can earn your boating, snowmobile or ORV safety certificate from home with the DNR’s self-paced, online courses available at Michigan.gov/RecreationalSafety.
Cultural Exploration
Library of Congress
National Emergency Library Internet Archive
Metropolitan Opera | Detroit Symphony | Virtual Museum Tours
Blooming Botanical Gardens | The National Film Board of Canada
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has an extensive digital collection for you to explore. You can browse by subject, collection, or format.
National Emergency Library Internet Archive
National Emergency Library, a collection of books that supports emergency remote teaching, research activities, independent scholarship, and intellectual stimulation while universities, schools, training centers, and libraries are closed. Here's a direct link to the Children's Library. Some question the legal and ethical standing of this collection.
Metropolitan Opera
Watch performances by the Metropolitan Opera.
Detroit Symphony
Watch performances by the Detroit Symphony.
Virtual Museum Tours
Visit any of these museums or exhibits from the comfort and safety of your own home!
National Museum of the United States Air Force, OH
NASA Glenn Research Center, OH
NASA Langley Research Center, Virginia
National Women's History Museum, Virginia
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Guggenheim Museum and Spiral Staircase, New York
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
The British Museum for an interactive experience, or go their homepage and scroll down to "Explore the collection"
Pergamon Museum, Berlin Artifacts from the ancient Greek city of Pergamon
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea
Blooming Botanical Gardens
U.S. Botanical Garden Washington, D.C.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Richmond, VA
New York Botanical Garden New York, NY
Brooklyn Botanic Garden New York, NY
Longwood Gardens Kennett Square, PA
Missouri Botanical Garden St. Louis, MO
Cheekwood Estate and Garden Nashville, TN
Portland Japanese Garden Portland, OR
Dubai Miracle Garden Dubai, UAE (Thanks to to Sky and the St Paul's family for this link!)
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada has over 4,000 films, documentaries, and short pieces available to stream for free and this includes a rich library of Indigenous content.
