COVID 19 Activities for Children

Activities for Children

Education and Home Learning

Keeping children engaged in learning when schools are closed will require creativity but in addition to curriculum content shared by schools, here are some helpful resources online that might supplement school content.

Check out BBC Bitesize for educational resources broken up by age and key stage to aid learning and revision.

The Literary Trust has produced free reading and writing resources, audiobooks, videos, competitions and reading challenges. These are also helpfully broken up by age and supports children's reading, writing and language development.

Amazon has cancelled the subscription of books and audio stories for children of all ages for as long as schools are closed. Children can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages at: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

The National Theatre Collection, including 24 full filmed plays, will now be available to pupils and teachers at state schools and state-funded further education colleges via remote access in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing. During this temporary period schools will be able to share log-in details with pupils to access resources at home.

A lot of museums such as the Guggenheim, National Gallery and British Museum have signed up to #MuseumfromHome. From the comfort of your own sofa you can explore the collections at these museums and learn about artwork exhibited. There are also a number of sites promoting virtual tours of museums or other places of educational interest?

Keep an eye on the penguins or koalas at the Edinburgh Zoo with their zoo live streaming cameras

If colouring in is more your thing, why not check out #ColourourCollections where various galleries, libraries and museums have uploaded numerous illustrations and images which can be downloaded and then coloured in.

PhonicsPlay is usually a subscription-based educational learning website however during the current coronavirus situation you can access their resources for free.

Oxford Owl has some helpful, learn-at-home educational resources for primary school aged children.

Twinkl has put together resource packs containing worksheets, activities and games for parents to use. Check out their Home Learning Support Page for more info.

Need to brush up on maths and science, why not have a look at the resources on the CK-12 Foundation’s website?

If you have Netflix there are a whole host of educational shows available. Why not see Homeschool Hideout for some suggested viewing

Spending more time at home is likely to be a challenge for many of us. Most of us are not used to spending quite so much time with family members or carers and many of us will be juggling working from home with child care.

With the cancellation of play dates, birthday parties, and sleep overs, why not use this time to:

Play cards and board games
Make art or do crafts together
Cook and bake together—talk about maths as you prepare the recipe
Build forts
Sort through bookshelves and revisit favourite stories
Change family picture frames and revisit memories as you change photos
Make a photo book together
Make and perform a play
Sing or play an instrument
Make puppets and put on a puppet show
Have a dance party or do fitness activities together
Play in the garden as a family
Plant some vegetables or flowers
Write letters or make cards for relatives or neighbours
Do puzzles—make up number puzzles or riddles
Write stories and poetry and read them aloud

If you have little ones why not check out the ideas on the BBC Tiny Happy People site. The site has a range of activities broken up by age (pre-birth to 5 years), as well as links to videos and transcripts of nursery rhymes that you and your child can sing along to.

After some craft ideas? The Best Ideas for Kids site has a playdough recipe and 100+indoor activities for kids

For football loving kids here's a link to some printable colouring sheets of football grounds

Although it might be harder to get out and enjoy the great outdoors at the moment, The Wildlife Trust has a number of activities on their website for kids to do such as making a bird feeder or your own binoculars! With approximately 60 different indoor and outdoor activity sheets that you can download, there are loads of ideas even if you don’t have a garden!

If you do get some exercise and go for a walk outside with the kids, why not take along The Woodland Trust’s tree-ID guide sheets to help them identify which tree is which!

Online Educational and Other Activities

Various celebrities are offering free daily entertainment to support education while schools are closed

9.00am - PE with Joe Wicks https://youtu.be/6v-a_dpwhro
10.00am - Maths with Carol Vorderman www.themathsfactor.com
11.00am - English with David Walliams https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/
12.00pm - Lunch (cooking with Jamie Oliver) https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/category/get-kids-cooking/
1.00pm - Music with Myleene Klass https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQh2wgJ5tOrixYBn6jFXsXQ
1.30pm - Dance with Darcey Bussell https://twitter.com/diversedancemix/status/1241098264373592065
2.00pm - History with Dan Snow (free for 30-days) https://tv.historyhit.com/signup/package
4.00pm - Home Economics with Theo Michaels (Mon/Wed/Fri) https://www.instagram.com/theocooks