This is a fabulous list of resources and ideas to inspire and keep you and your family active and entertained while social distancing.
Ideas include free online yoga classes, language learning resources, starting a virtual book club, hosting a virtual hangout or wine tasting with friends, making a family scrapbook or newsletter and SO much more.
Browse inspirational ideas and links to free online resources
“One of the things I enjoy doing with my kids is incorporating learning into a fun activity. And if that activity can be incorporated into a busy bag--well, I love it even more! This activity for the Pre-K level concentrates on visual-motor skills, hand-eye coordination, letter recognition, word identification, as well as picture-word matching.”
Ages 3-8
“This cardboard cash register is a fun addition to pretend market play! "Ring up" sells by pushing buttons and exchanging pretend money!”
Ages 3-8
“As Grandparents Day (the first Sunday after Labor Day) approaches, we wanted to share with you a simple but personalized gift idea that will be sure to delight grandma or grandpa: a photo card that contains a picture of your little one on one side and a custom portrait of your little one with his or her grandparent on the other. After all, is there anything more "grand" than a handmade present from a beloved grandchild?”
Ages 3-8
“I love creating anything involving preserving my little ones' hand prints or fingerprints. There is a great quote by an anonymous writer that says, "This is to remind you when I have grown so tall, that once I was quite little and my hands were very small." This wonderful activity is fun, with very little ingredients involved, to preserve those little memories.”
Ages 3-8
“Write secret messages to your friends and family and then let them decode it with any source of heat - like a candle or an incandescent light bulb!”
Ages 5-16
“The perfect Mother's Day gift, from them to her...easy footprint hearts.”
Ages 2-8
“Learn about electrochemical cells and make a battery using pennies, felt, and a salt water solution. Then, power a digital clock with it!”
Ages 9-16
“My kids love the changing seasons, they love watching all the leaves change on the trees and I don't blame them, it's my favorite part as well. We decided to make our own changing trees in some four season art.”
Ages 3-8
“Stuck inside? Use up some energy with this giant, life-sized board game.”
Ages 3-11
“We love getting multiple uses out of simple materials. That's why we created this easy DIY Marble maze. Not only will you repurpose an old crate or box to make the maze. But you will also be able to play multiple games out of one project! If your kids enjoy puzzles or strategy games then this would be a perfect DIY for your family.”
Ages 5-11
“This project is half art, half science, and all fun! Just write a message or draw a picture in lemon juice or baking soda invisible ink, then reveal the hidden message by rubbing the paper with flowers. The color of the flower smear changes wherever you painted with the invisible ink. In fact, different flowers create different color changes, so it's the perfect experiment to try with a mixed bouquet of flowers, or with flowers from a garden.”
Ages 3-11
“Sewing and embroidery are two hobbies I really enjoy. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I decided to use a simple cross-stitching technique to make string art valentines. I loved the homemade look and feel of the finished cards - a perfect last-minute note for a loved one!”
All ages
“Normally, a cake would take an hour or more to make in an oven, but with a microwave oven, you can make one in minutes! Microwave ovens use waves of energy called – you guessed it – microwaves to cook food quickly. The microwaves go into the food and make water molecules inside move around really fast. The movement creates heat which cooks the food. But the microwave is just one part of this scientific process. First, you need to mix up ingredients. Two of the ingredients are key to making a tasty mug cake! Baking powder will make your cake spongy because it produces gas bubbles that get trapped in the batter as it cooks. The egg will help your cake rise because it has proteins that create a strong structure. Without these ingredients, your cake will look like soup! Experiment with the other ingredients to customize your mug cake. What will you add to give it a whole new flavor?!”
Ages 5-16
“This is such a fun and creative gift for your child to make for someone special!”
Ages 3-8
"With the holiday weekend around the corner, we decided to create a set of patriotic star shapes to create a festive garland. Learn how to use a basic string art technique to create a set of 3D shapes. What other shapes can you make?”
Ages 9-12
“Make printed T-shirts powered by the sun! Paint your shirt and place objects on (while it is still wet!) The sun heats up the parts of the T-shirt that are uncovered, but not the parts that are blocked by the objects. When water gets hot, it starts to evaporate, turning from a liquid to a gas. The paint starts to dry, and the water starts to evaporate on the uncovered parts, but under the blocks, it stays wet. As the water evaporates from the T-shirt, water and paint from under the blocks moves out into the dry areas, like how the dry edge of a paper towel picks up spilled juice (or some other image). Eventually, all the paint gets drawn out from under the blocks, leaving you with unpainted shapes on a painted background.”
Ages 5-16
“Make fruity gel bubbles that pop in your mouth! The magic ingredient is agar powder. Agar powder is a gelling agent that comes from a type of algae. Make multiple batches in different colors!”
Ages 5-16
“I had a few spare planting pots sitting around, so I decided to pull together this simple and fun activity for my visiting niece. Together we shaped flowers out of clay and decorated a tiny pot. After the clay dried, my niece gave the decorated pot to her mother.”
Ages 3-9
“Kids love building projects, whether it be with blocks at a young age or sticks. This activity combines skewers and clay to make structures! It provides endless engineering fun as kids explore shapes they can make.”
“Kids love building projects, whether it be with blocks at a young age or sticks. This activity combines skewers and clay to make structures! It provides endless engineering fun as kids explore shapes they can make.”
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