Fun things for children and young people to do online during COVID-19

It’s not easy finding ways to entertain kids during self isolation. It’s not surprising parents may be hearing “I’m bored” a lot more than before. Here are some ways you can entertain your kids online at home. These activities are fun and educational!

• Meet the new baby otters at Melbourne Zoo
• Learn to paint with Ken Done
• Explore art, animation, game & film making online at ACMI
• Join a City of Maribyrnong Library online story time
• Grow your garden
• Visit underwater animals with a SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium live stream
• Get creative with NGV for Kids online including how to make a stop motion animation at home
• Enjoy ABC Education’s free online learning resources
• Read and download a free book from Australia’s oldest public library
• Cast a spell at Harry Potter at Home, a new online resource from JK Rowling
• Kids shows – Amazon has lifted its Prime Video paywall for more than 40 children’s shows so Amazon customers have free access to kids shows – https://amzn.to/34ZKFXe
• Volunteer Park Conservatory in Settle are living streaming its historic greenhouse “Plant Therapy’ live stream on Instagram Live – https://www.instagram.com/vpconservatory/
• 5 virtual tours of breathtaking gardens from around the world including England, France, Chicago and Hawaii –  https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g31746949/gardens-you-can-virtually-tour/
• Google Arts and Culture have teamed up with 5 National Parks to provide video tours led by rangers – https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/parks
• Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover – https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/
• Geography with National Geographic – https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
• Children’s books read by famous people – https://www.storylineonline.net/
• Crafts and activities – https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/
• Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities – https://www.highlightskids.com/
• Young Explorers is a magazine designed specifically for young children. Children can listen to the magazine being read to them as they follow along with the highlighted text – https://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html
• Help children learn to appreciate the arts by providing them with the opportunity to play games, conduct investigations, and explore different forms of art – https://artsology.com/
• Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts – https://www.gonoodle.com/
• Kid-friendly workouts — choose from Strength for Kids, Agility for Kids, Flexibility and Balance for Kids, Warm-Up for Kids, Cooldown for Kids, Stand Up and Move for Kids, OR create your own custom kid workout – https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts

• Music is for everyone – https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments
• Projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing – https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
• Yoga and mindfulness for kids – https://youtu.be/0ImHIWzP49M
• All sorts of online classes for kids – https://outschool.com/#abk7vott3k
• Learn to code – https://www.codecademy.com/
• Listen to astronauts read stories from space – https://storytimefromspace.com/library/
• Lots of science experiments that you can do at home – https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

Compiled by: Rebecca Jankovic- DPV Health
Hume School Focused Youth Services Coordinator