Self isolation ideas for children?s entertainment

[yeknomyeknom]

Hello,

I really hope this can be a pleasant, non judgy thread to help families cope in potentially difficult times. We are at home with our child more than most average folk and wanted to share indoor ideas to help keep them occupied. Feel free to share your own too:

*Inspired by Julia Donaldson?s Paper Dolls - make you own paper doll chain and name them all and retell the story (which can also be found read aloud on YouTube) with you own names.

*Print off a garden bird identifier sheet from the rspb and tick off any you see out of the window or in the garden. Also on you tube there are videos of common garden bird song, watch that then see what you can hear out of the window.

*Print out a list of common car brands or vehicles types and play I spy the vehicle out of the window.

*Make bubbles out of washing up liquid and water and fashion a blower out of a household item (petit filou tub or kinder egg cut to suit?)

*Make a lava lamp in a jam jar with oil, water, food colouring and an alka seltzer (teach the science behind this if your child is old enough/interested, from online).

*Do the mentos coke challenge in the garden (teach the science behind this if your child is old enough/interested, from online).

*Make your own slime (plenty of borax free recipes online).

*A good game for the whole day is to pretend each room of your house is a continent. Put the fan on in Antartica and the heater on in Africa etc (briefly for effect). Get your child to run around the house collecting relevant items for each continent (Frozen soundtrack in Antarctica, ice cube, arctic teddy bear, Kangaroo book, noodles, etc). For Asia we built the Great Wall of China from Lego and made the Himalayas from toothpicks and marshmallows for example.

Plenty more ideas but tired of typing for now. I will add some more soon. I hope this sparks some fun times for you and yours.

X

[Angelina]

Routine is key and planning your day, otherwise it can feel frantic. Kids need routine, and so do you.

Bake - and teach them about food

Paint - give them something to do, rather than anything they want as well - eg "today we're going to paint our favourite toy and out it on our wall".

Plant seeds (you can make heads out of socks and grow cress hair)

Story time (read a chapter of a book a day, as a fixed time)

Board games

Teach them how to sew (you can make a cat out of triangles)

Look on Home Schooling sites.

Of course, you have to continue with the school work, check in with your school on what you need to cover.

Also, look online for free curriculum exercises and make it fun (just doing it with them makes it more fun).

Exercise - you have to get out if you can, or you could play on the wii, do press ups, star jumps, dancing in the kitchen, walking on your toes.

Oh my - how could I forget - TALK TO THEM and listen to them. Inspire them with the art of conversation.

[yeknomyeknom]

Easy Play Doh Recipe

250g plain flour (any flour will do if in a bind)

50g salt

140ml water

1tbsp oil

Mix solids together first then liquids. Combine both. Knead like bread. Keeps in cling film for a week.

That?s it. But if you want to get inventive, split the play doh into portions and add food colouring and/or essential oils for scent to the liquid before combining with solids ideally. If you do it after it may produce marbled play doh which is also cool.

[yeknomyeknom]

Some more ideas:

*Make those inkblot type paintings with a folded page and some blobs of paint (kids paints or samples you have lying around etc). Then ask them what they see in each one and to give it a title. This can actually be quite revealing and spark some interesting conversations.

*See what crazy shapes household objects dipped in paint make on paper. If you have some we particularly like pouring paint on orbies and throwing them at paper in the garden.

*Make summer snow globes - fill a jar with oil, water and glitter (don?t buy glitter if you don?t have some, just cut up some foil). Leave enough room for 1cm of air to allow for shaking. Stick a waterproof toy to the lid and put the lid on, eh voila.

*Make a puppet show with an old box and some socks and a lot of imagination.

*Make papier mache anything. Did you know you can just use flour and water? You don?t have to use glue. It doesn?t last as long but still lasts months. Put layers of paper over a balloon ideally to make a bowl, animal head etc. Plenty of inspiration online.

*If you have a garden or aren?t too precious about your house, use chalk to write numbers around the place for an assault course of sorts. They have to race to consecutive numbers in a time limit. Use a timer or a frantic song (we like flight of the bumble bees). Perhaps they have to collect tokens on the way and get them to the end in time. If they drop them, they have to start again (always more fun with an element of peril).

[yeknomyeknom]

Another Mum?s ideas:

https://m.facebook.com/503578409/posts/10158182164608410/?d=n

[yeknomyeknom]

More ideas from Day out with the kids.

Indoor Fun: 100 Great Indoor Activities for Kids to Do at Home

https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/blog/indoor-activities-for-kids?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=indoor_1

[yeknomyeknom]

Another list doing the rounds. I?m not sure of the original source but thank you to whoever you are. Rather than ideas this has links to interesting websites. Most of them are American which actually offers a bit of variety from the easily found UK ones online:

The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. Enjoy the tour! ‪https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/‬

Tour Yellowstone National Park!

‪https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm‬

Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover.

‪https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/‬

This Canadian site FarmFood 360 offers 11 Virtual Tours of farms from minks, pigs, and cows, to apples and eggs. ?‪https://www.farmfood360.ca/‬

Indoor Activities for busy toddlers

‪https://busytoddler.com/2020/03/indoor-activities/?fbclid=IwAR3tYXAqw7tJRAzLExpPcJo4rApLsKtgL0AwghzxgnhwOajc4auX6o12_xw‬

Play games and learn all about animals

‪https://switchzoo.com/‬

Play with fave show characters and learn too ‪https://pbskids.org/‬

Travel to Paris, France to see amazing works of art at The Louvre with this virtual field trip. ?

‪https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne‬

This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life.

‪https://www.thechinaguide.com/destination/great-wall-of-china‬

Math and Reading games ?‪https://www.funbrain.com/‬

Phonics skills ‪https://www.starfall.com/h/‬

This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. ?‪https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/‬

Read, play games, and hang out with Dr. Seuss ‪https://www.seussville.com/‬

300,000+ FREE printable worksheets from toddlers to teens ‪https://www.123homeschool4me.com/home-school-free-printables/‬

Geography and animals

‪https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/‬

Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry ‪http://www.mathscore.com/‬

Fave kids books read by famous people ‪https://www.storylineonline.net/‬

Crafts, activities, mazes, dot to dot, etc, ‪https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/‬

High school chemistry topics ‪https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/articles-by-topic.html‬

Math and reading games ‪https://www.abcya.com/‬

Math and language games ‪https://www.arcademics.com/‬

Hands on Elem science videos ‪https://www.backpacksciences.com/science-simplified‬

Voice based learning... learn through Alexa ‪https://bamboolearning.com/resources‬

Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities ?‪https://www.highlightskids.com/‬

ClickSchooling brings you daily recommendations by email for entertaining websites that help your kids learn. ‪https://clickschooling.com/‬

[yeknomyeknom]

More from the American list:

Math as a fun part of your daily family routine ‪http://bedtimemath.org/‬

Games to get "into the book" ‪https://reading.ecb.org/‬

Online history classes for all ages preteen through adults ?‪https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive‬

Biology ?‪https://www.biologysimulations.com/‬

Elem Math through 6th grade ?‪https://boddlelearning.com/‬

Educational games K-12 ?‪https://www.breakoutedu.com/funathome‬

Digital archive of history ?‪https://www.bunkhistory.org/‬

Test Prep for SAT, ACT, etc. ?‪https://www.bwseducationconsulting.com/handouts.php‬

Geometry ‪https://www.canfigureit.com/‬

Resources for Spanish practice ‪https://www.difusion.com/campus/‬

Chinese learning activities ?‪https://chalkacademy.com/‬

Music is for everyone ‪https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments‬

Science, Math, Social Studies ‪https://www.ck12.org/student/‬

Grammar practice for middle grades ?‪https://www.classroomcereal.com/‬

Daily free science or cooking experiment to do at home.‪http://www.clubscikidzmd.com/blog/‬

Chemistry ?‪https://www.playmadagames.com/‬

Reading passages for grades 3-12, with reading comprehension and discussion questions. ‪https://www.commonlit.org/‬

Vocabulary, grammar, listening activities and games in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, and Latin. ??‪https://conjuguemos.com/‬

35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world. ‪https://www.countryreports.org/‬

K5th Science lessons ?‪https://mysteryscience.com/‬

Tons of free classes from leading universities and companies ?‪https://www.coursera.org/‬

Free printable K-8 Reading and Math activity packs (available in English and Spanish) ‪https://www.curriculumassociates.com/supporting-students-away-from-school‬

Digital learning content for preschool through high school ‪https://www.curriki.org/‬

[yeknomyeknom]

Here are some ideas from London based website Culture Whisper:

https://www.culturewhisper.com/r/kids/things_to_do_kids_london_weekend/14930

And how to tour museums and galleries from home:

https://www.culturewhisper.com/r/visual_arts/virtual_gallery_tours_and_exhibitions/15289

[gebbjane]

Audible have announced that all their children?s audio books will be free to listen to

https://stories.audible.com/start-listen?utm_campaign=audible+stories+free+children%27s+audiobooks&utm_medium=&utm_source=linktree

The great indoors - ideas from the scout's https://www.scouts.org.uk/the-great-indoors/

[yeknomyeknom]

Baking and cooking has been mentioned above but with limited fresh stocks it might prove tricky. Here are 2 tried and tested, really delicious recipes.

Cookies (chosen because unusually, no eggs are required):

https://food52.com/recipes/39132-ovenly-s-secretly-vegan-salted-chocolate-chip-cookies

3 ingredient tomato sauce recipe (I use tinned tomatoes every time):

https://food52.com/recipes/13722-marcella-hazan-s-tomato-sauce-with-onion-butter

And of course, don?t forget the simpllest banana icecream in the world - slice ripe bananas, freeze slices, blend frozen slices. Job done.

[yeknomyeknom]

If you are in the market for buying things to do then I recommend this site as they are cheap and have a lot of creative and fun educational things. I recommend fimo and air drying clay as super fun activities:

https://www.bakerross.co.uk/

[yeknomyeknom]

A bunch of cool ideas for all ages on here:

https://learning-resources.sciencemuseum.org.uk/resources/?type=at-home

[yeknomyeknom]

More novel ideas from the USA:

Movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. ?‪https://www.gonoodle.com/‬

7,000 free videos in 13 subject areas ?‪https://hippocampus.org/‬

Carmen Sandiego videos, stories, and lessons for all subject areas ?‪https://www.carmensandiego.com/resources/‬

Math Videos with lessons, real life uses of math, famous actors ‪https://www.hmhco.com/math-at-work‬

Entertaining & educational videos for all levels and subjects

‪https://www.izzit.org/index.php‬

Poetry and music ?‪https://www.thewell.world/mindful-music/mindful-poetry-moments‬

3D printing projects and Coding projects, involving math and other K-12 subjects ?‪https://www.instructables.com/member/EdgertonCenter/instructables/‬

Introductory and intermediate music theory lessons, exercises, ear trainers, and calculators. ?‪https://www.musictheory.net/‬

Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 typers from around the world. ‪https://www.nitrotype.com/‬

Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups. Recipes encourage culinary skills, literacy, math, and science. ?‪https://www.nomsterchef.com/nomster-recipe-library‬

80+ do at home science activities ‪https://elementalscience.com/blogs/news/80-free-science-activities‬

Novel Effect makes storytime a little more fun for kids (and grown-ups too!) As you read out loud from print books (or ebooks!) music, sound effects, and character voices play at just the right moment, adjusting and responding to your voice. ?‪https://noveleffect.com/‬

Quick & easy at home projects curated for kids 2 and up

‪https://www.kiwico.com/kids-at-home‬

An online physics problem and video bank designed for conceptual, standard, honors or AP1 physics. ?‪https://www.positivephysics.org/home‬

Prodigies is a colorful music curriculum for kids 1-12 that will teach your kids how to play their first instrument, how to sing in tune & how to understand the language of music! 21 for free ?‪https://prodigiesmusic.com/‬

Free videos from around the world from grade 3-12

‪https://www.projectexplorer.org/‬

[yeknomyeknom]

Morning all,

Joe Wicks is doing a PE lesson live at 9am Mon-Fri every week. You can watch last weeks episodes here:

https://www.thebodycoach.com/blog/pe-with-joe-1254.html

[yeknomyeknom]

Our kid asked what a chain reaction was. This led to a fun activity that you might like, good for kids of all ages.

As explanation we watched:

Then got ideas to make our own Rube Goldberg machine from:

A handy materials ideas list is here: https://tinkerlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Rube-Goldberg-Activity-List.pdf

Now we are off to make our own across the house #sneakyphysics

[BestBeast]

This is such an amazing thread thank you

[yeknomyeknom]

Oh good!

BestBeast Wrote:

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> This is such an amazing thread thank you

[yeknomyeknom]

Ted Talks and Ted Ed are great to learn about all sorts of fun things and interesting enough for young and old to watch together. Now they?ve launched TedEd@Home with a daily newsletter. https://ed.ted.com/daily_newsletter

[yeknomyeknom]

we were thinking about subscribing to these posted magazines but their website is pretty cool in itself so not sure we need to. If you do fancy the magazine, Little Bird have a discount code.

https://www.howitworksdaily.com/

[yeknomyeknom]

Feeling arty? These folk will be setting daily art challenges which could be interesting. Not just for kids!

https://64millionartists.com

[yeknomyeknom]

10 fun science experiments to do at home, from Days Out with the Kids:

https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/blog/easy-cool-science-experiments-for-kids?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=indoor_2

[B&G]

Thank you! Brilliant thread.

[yeknomyeknom]

Pleasure

B&G Wrote:

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> Thank you! Brilliant thread.

[alice]

How about asking children to make a cafe at home. They could designate a space, maybe outdoors, come up with a name, a sign, a decorated menu with prices, act as waiting staff (dressing up), make a little notebook to take orders, could decide on opening hours, make hygiene posters etc etc thus could be ongoing. Say a week to set it up then run it 2 sessions a day. Maths/ literacy/drama/ science all covered.