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News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida and WUSF can help. Our responsibility at WUSF News is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Fighting Your Kids’ Boredom During The Coronavirus Outbreak

Preschool children at a table.
Kerry Sheridan/WUSF
/
WUSF Public Media
It can be difficult for parents to entertain and educate their kids while they are staying home. Online resources can provide some help.

Following the recommendations of experts, staying at home and keeping a social distance is very important to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. It can also be exhausting, especially for the parents whose children are staying home instead of going to school.

This list of resources can be helpful for those families who are running out of ideas of what to do during the quarantine. 

Some of the websites listed below offer online activities and games, others have offline options. Various resources include tools for parents and teachers to help their children learning.

What most aim to do is to help children avoid feeling like they're on vacation and are staying active.  

Offline Activities For Children

Online Activities For Children 

Screenshot of website that offers online activities and educational games for children.
Credit https://www.learninggamesforkids.com
Many websites offer online resources that stimulate the learning of children from home.

  • Featured Educational Games.  This web site offers online learning games in categories like geography, health, math, science and art. It also features educational videos and online lessons. 
  • 27 Best Educational Games for Kids. On this website, you can find dynamic learning games for children that will help them develop skills in science and art. 
  • Scholastic Learn At Home offers different 20-day long learning experiences for children from kindergarten till ninth grade. Each day, children will watch videos, read books or articles and comment on what they’ve learned. 
  • Kids Classes From Home. On this website, early childhood educators lead the sessions, which include yoga or cooking, and provide ideas for activities that kids can do offline. The sessions are live but can also be streamed on-demand. 
  • Free, Easy Science for Remote Learning. This website has free science lessons for children from kindergarten to fifth grade. Lessons vary from short five-minute videos to 30-minute lectures. Some also offer activities that children can do at home. 
  • The Kennedy Center Art Classes. Videos of daily art classes by Mo Willems, writer and animator of books for children. 
  • Buzzfeed Ideas to Entertain Children. A list of 18 ideas to do at home with children, including learning to play instruments online and yoga classes for kids. Parents can also join the children in these activities and help complete them. 

RELATED: Coronavirus Coverage On WUSF

Online Activities For Families

Screenshot of website that offers ideas for indoor activities for children.
Credit Sitter.co.uk

  • Educational Shows on Netflix. Here families who enjoy watching TV together can find a list of more than 150 educational Netflix shows. Some of the shows are recommended for adults only, but you can also find some to watch with children.
  • The Ringling. The museum has several kid-friendly activities, including a virtual “animal safari” in which artists portray animals in different ways. Also check out various art-making activities, Ringling Read Along videos, and more.
  • Museum Virtual ToursThis website has links for 12 virtual tours of museums around the world including the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam or the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. 
  • Internet Archive. This online, non-profit library offers free access to 418 billion webpages, 23 million books, 5.6 million movies, 9.5 million audios, 2 million clips from TV, 527,000 software programs, 3.4 million images, 214,000 concerts and 772,000 collections.
  • The Metropolitan Opera. The Metropolitan Opera will stream performances each day for the remainder of March at 7:30 p.m. The performances will remain available for 20 hours on the Met's homepage, metopera.org.
  • Florida Aquarium Live. The Florida Aquarium is doing a Facebook live stream, SEA-SPAN, each day at 10 a.m. The aquarium will also have live sessions on their YouTube page.

-2EScc

Tools For Parents And Teachers

  • Montessori Free Downloads. More than 130 free tools that parents or teachers can download to teach children different subjects including French or Chinese. It includes work plans, study cards, games, worksheets and printable books.
  • Hippocampus Free Videos offers more than 7,000 videos on different subjects and collections like Khan Academy. The videos are designed for students from middle school to college. 
  • “We are Teachers” Online Learning ResourcesThis website offers more than 125 online learning courses for children of all ages. It offers descriptions of the program and instructions to access them for free. 
  • The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award Online CoursesThis website offers online programs that can get you certified in different skills. Courses include coding, blockchains and virtual reality. 
Screenshot of one of the websites that facilitate resources for teachers and parents to educate children.
Credit http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com
Some websites are offering tools that make online teaching easier.

Angela Cordoba Perez is a WUSF/USF Zimmerman School digital news intern for the spring 2020 semester. Currently, she is a sophomore at USF majoring in mass communications and completing a minor in psychology.
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