We live in strange times, yall.
I’ve been trying to compile a list of resources (free, some only for a limited time) and activities to do with kids during this COVID-19 driven quarantine. I’ve been waiting to compile more and more but thought I’d rather just post as I go. Hope this keeps you guys busy and the kids occupied and engaged, even during this time of being “stuck” at home! Though this may be uncharted territory for many of us, and this “staying in” is causing our lives to look different than normal – I’m looking forward to slowing down, spending extended time engaging with my kids, and learning the discipline of just being still. Will continue to add as I find more things, but here’s what I have so far:
online resources + educational materials
- Animated books for kids via VOOKS (one month free)
- Lunch doodles with the amazing Mo Willems!
- Cool ideas for DIY science projects for Kids, by KiwiCo (Thanks, Joan!)
- Also you can get $3.14 off per month Kiwi Co subscriptions with promo code PIDAY for a limited time! Been wanting to try this out!
- Sign up via this website and gain access to lots of really cute coloring pages for kids by From the Pond for free!! (thanks C.Lin!)
- Virtual tours of 12 famous museums that you can enjoy in the comforts of your own home!
- Free access (temporary) to BrainPOP! A cool little science resource that offers videos, quizzes and other activities for almost every subject!
- Really really fun youtube channel StorylineOnline which is pretty much just celebrities reading children stories! so fun!
- FREE Independent study packets from an awesome company via Education.com offering their packets for free. A 5-day independent study workbook for grades K-5th (Thanks for sharing, Bosun!)
- There are a ton of these, but here are a list of 100 activities you can do with your kids at home.
- Our current favorite TPT shop is Moffatt girls – she has really great NO PREP learning packets and currently is selling a 3-week learning packet for preschool-3rd grade for $5 each!
church + bible
Last week we streamed our church’s Sunday service virtually as a family and will be continuing to do so as our church as moved 100% online as of this week. Though we will so terribly miss gathering in worship with our whole church for the time being – we want to be intentional about continuing to worship God together on Sundays and really seizing the opportunity to really integrate worship into our family life. These resources are meant to help families have more meaningful discussions after worshipping together – there is one for the younger crowd, and another for older kids. These are a little too advanced for my kiddos but hoping to do something similar with my kiddos!
We also love the free Bible App for kids.
Not everyone may be a fan, but I also absolutely love the videos from the Beginner’s Bible. (not 100% accurate maybe, but a fun and animated way to show bible stories to kids. I’m biased to this because I grew up reading this bible and watching these videos!)
apps + shows
- Teach Monster app by Usborne (teaches phonics, phonetics, early reading)
- Khan Academy for kids is honestly the best ever. They are constantly adding new things, and cover things like letters, numbers, patterns, reading, coloring etc. (I honestly can’t believe this app is FREE. its awesome)
- Get ABC mouse for FREE while kiddos are home from school (App for iPhone or tablet) Use code: SCHOOL7771
- storyBots: educational songs that are insanely clever and so much fun! We love listening to the songs (which have videos too!) and also love watching the Ask the Storybots videos (though certain parts might be a little creepy haha) Available on youtube and Netflix. Not that you asked – but my favorite story bot songs are the outerspace ones, the dinosaur ones, and the one about horses, LOL HAY OATS HAY OATS. (just trust me)
- Leap Frog Learning videos! We absolutely love Letter Factory (Asher learned all his letter sounds by watching this DVD!) and all of them are pretty swell and they sell em in a nice pack. Affiliate links, fyi!
During this quarantine period, my prayer (for myself and my family!) is that we would be purposeful and intentional with the extended time we have at home, and that we would be able to redeem this quarantine, for the glory of God!
Hope these resources help you and your families!
Stay safe and healthy everyone!
life with the tsengs 