100 things to do with your kids during coronavirus closures

It’s going to be a challenging few weeks for parents. We’re here for you! Below are some things you might want to look into for your kids.

1. Contact your local school district for free meals for students while schools are closed
2. Restaurant dining rooms are closing but many local favorites are offering to-go options
3. Hot Mess Burgers plans to serve free lunches to kids out of school
4. Gyms have shut down but some are offering “work-ins“- check with your gym for a similar option
5. Create a daily schedule as a family; take turns being the one who decides what activity to do during certain blocks of time
6. Have a family meeting; talk with everyone about what they want out of this break
7. Dino Drop-In daycare is offering “Dino on the GO!” at-home daycare for Tri-Cities families
8. Khan Academy offers online learning and has partnered with Pixar on Imagineering in a Box, a theme-park design program for kids
9. Outschool.com has live, online classes for ages 3-18
10. Try these Brain Breaks to keep kids moving and grooving
11. Go to a sparsely-populated/empty park rather than a playground — a little fresh air may do you good
12. Watch Washington state astronaut Anne McClain read a book from space!
13. Make origami animals and objects
14. Hold a paper boat race in your tub or at a pond
15. Explore the arts, history, and foreign places with Google Arts & Culture
16. The Amazing Educational Resources Facebook page offers just that
17. Check out Too Cool for School, a virtual kids camp
18. Scholastic provides learn-at-home resources
19. Break out the board games
20. Teach each other card games with a standard deck of cards; make up your own games
21. Hold a contest to see who can pick up the most dishes/clothes/socks; winner gets to pick the next board/card game
22. Do a 30-day Lego Challenge
23. Save the boxes from your package deliveries and use them to make towers or forts
24. Watch pandas, beluga whales, and other animals on live cams at San Diego Zoo, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Houston Zoo and more
25. Take a virtual field trip to Yellowstone National Park or even Mars
26. Discovery Education offers a number of virtual field trips
27. Watch cooking videos for kids and cook/bake together
28. Go tent camping in your yard
29. Start a home garden (indoor or outdoor)
30. Go fishing (just stay six feet from others)
31. Try a household or road-trip scavenger hunt
32. Play hide-and-seek with objects (one person hides them, others have to find them)
33. Make your own musical instruments
34. Use FaceTime, Skype, Google Hangouts or another platform to video chat with a friend or family member
35. Learn how to draw at Art for Kids Hub
36. Brainstorm and start your own YouTube channel
37. Play dress-up
38. Mystery Doug helps answer young students’ questions
39. Program your own interactive stories, games, and animations with Scratch
40. GoNoodle provides free movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts
41. Learn how long viruses live on surfaces (timely, eh?) and more at How Stuff Works
42. Explore “The Earth’s most detailed globe” at Google Earth
43. The Happy Scientist helps kids explore Life, Earth, Chemical, Space and Physical Science
44. Discovery, create, share and learn at the Smithsonian Learning Lab
45. Hang out with the Cat in the Hat at Seussville
46. Check out the games, videos and art on Sesame Street
47. Here are some Ted Talks you can watch with kids
48. Try a science project courtesy of San Francisco’s Exploratorium
49. PBS Kids hosts educational videos and games
50. Starfall is a free public service to teach children to read
51. The Old Farmers Almanac for Kids is fun for animal lovers and night-sky watchers
52. Not spaced-out enough yet? Join the NASA Kids’ Club
53. Fuel the Brain provides free and inexpensive resources to educators — and parents can benefit, too
54. Remember Highlights Kids? They’ve got activities, jokes, recipes and more
55. Scholastic is offering free online courses so your kids can keep learning while schools are closed
56. BBC History for Kids has a wide selection of historical games and activities
57. BrainPOP prides itself on making rigorous learning experiences accessible and engaging for all
58. Mystery Science provides School Closure Planning lessons
59. GregTangMath.com features a number of teaching games
60. Illuminations (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) has a bunch of bright ideas
61. Math.com has games and resources for keeping young brains active
62. Prodigy offers a math game
63. You can browse by grade for books and enter the Math Zone at Funbrain.com
64. National Geographic Kids has educational games, quizzes and more
65. Write a letter or make thank you cards for a community hero
66. Duolingo can help you learn any language
67. If you need a study break, Disney+ is now streaming ‘Frozen II’ for housebound families
68. Farm Food 360 offers 11 virtual tours of pig, cow, sheep, grain, apple, and egg farms, among others.
69. These 12 famous museums offer virtual tours you can enjoy from home
70. Join a local coronavirus closure-related Facebook group to share new ideas
71. Learn how to improve your chances against coronavirus
72. Science Mom is offering live, weekday science and math lessons, crafts, and games
73. Turn lemons into lemonade; learn how to create positive outcomes for kids during this situation
74. Montessori Northwest is sharing resources and ideas:
75. Create a booklet that summarizes content from research or lessons
76. Create a poster
77. Create a diorama
78. Make a paper-mâché model
79. Write a play or a script
80. Create a puppet show
81. Design a board game
82. Write a song
83. Complete a drawing or a painting
84. Design/create a timeline
85. Create a dance
86. Make a comic strip
87. Create a collage
88. Create a sculpture
89. Direct a cell-phone-produced movie
90. Write a story
91. Write a poem
92. Construct a mobile
93. Create some jokes
94. Produce a PowerPoint
95. Construct a Venn diagram
96. Interview an expert
97. Make a sewing activity
98. Create a slideshow
99. Create a scrapbook
100. WASH YOUR HANDS!

Here are 100 more indoor ideas from The Best Ideas for Kids Facebook page:

Is your business being affected? The Governor’s Office for the State of Washington has put together a list of resources to support Washington businesses impacted by COVID-19, including information related to financial, export, employer and employee, and insurance assistance. Member care line: 509-777-2727 | membercare@aiin.com.

*Note: If your business has had to change these plans, please contact the author for removal

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