Resources for Families in Times of Covid-19
With the decision to close K-12 schools in many places, this can be a stressful time for kids and families. Following the advice of Mr. Rogers to “look for the helpers” in times of uncertainty and fear, many individuals, agencies, and businesses have stepped forward to provide FREE resources for their communities. We decided to begin collecting these resources here. Some of these–like food assistance–will be specific to Lane County, Oregon, and some will be for families anywhere. Resources are arranged by topic. Click on a topic to go the list.
Online Resources
- KITS’ very own Coach Livia will regularly post a new drawing prompt to @amalg_imals. Draw your own picture and see other’s wacky combinations, post with the hashtag #amalgimals.
- Check out these cool art mini lessons, one about dinosaurs and making your own dino out of recycled materials, and this one on creating your own portrait while also learning about presidential portraits and the most recent presidential portrait by artist Kehinde Wiley.
- Many artists are doing free art tutorials for kids and adults. Learn to draw a pot bellied pig with artist Eileen Murphy, or Wendy MacNaughton who is doing a live drawing class for kids each day this week on Instagram.
- Draw every every day on YouTube with Jarret J. Kroscoczka author of “Hey, Kiddo” and the “Lunch Lady” graphic novels.
- Mo Willems, author of the The Pigeon series, has videos of draw-alongs, activity sheets, and more.
- Draw with illustrator Matt Tavares on his Facebook page.
- Online games involving art and works of art from the Getty Museum.
- Try some new maker projects with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, as well as a section called ‘Museum at Home‘ with activities and DIY shows.
- KITS’ very own Coach Livia will regularly post a new drawing prompt to @amalg_imals. Draw your own picture and see other’s wacky combinations, post with the hashtag #amalgimals.
- Scholastic is offering free lesson plans for Preschool through Grade 9 for teachers and parents.
- Khan Academy has many FREE resources for parents and teachers on remote learning as well as lessons for kids.
- Free worksheets for students from toddlers to teenagers from 123homeschool4me.
- A Family Staycation Kit with activities and sample schedules for younger children.
- Tip sheets on helping young children to learn at home with suggested activities.
- Free educational games on a range of subjects from e-Learning for Kids and TurtleDiary.
- Free lesson plans on history, social studies, literature, arts, foreign languages, and culture from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- Learn about a new wonder every day at Wonderopolis.
- Learning activities for a month in the 30 Days of Families Learning Together Calendar from the National Center for Families Learning.
- A great list of activities for kids and teens that don’t all require screens.
- Check out these 24 learning activities for young children from Brookes Publishing.
- Scholastic is offering free lesson plans for Preschool through Grade 9 for teachers and parents.
- Language Sprout offers story times and lessons in a variety of languages including Spanish, French, and Chinese.
- Learn Spanish with games from Rockalingua.
- Language Sprout offers story times and lessons in a variety of languages including Spanish, French, and Chinese.
- Cool math games for free from MathGameTime.
- For older kids, a fun, hands-on activity for learning about platonic solids from Babble Dabble Do.
- This tip sheet features all sorts of ways to have fun with math at home.
- Visual explanations of many math concepts for older students
- Cool math games for free from MathGameTime.
- Read Alouds
- Children’s storybooks read by famous celebrities (including Oprah!)
- Children’s book author Oliver Jeffers reads his books and records to video for stay at home story time.
- Peter Reynolds, author of such children’s books as The Dot, has videos of his books read aloud on his Facebook page.
- A great list of over 100 FREE videos of read alouds online featuring all sorts of children’s books.
- Children’s storybooks read by famous celebrities (including Oprah!)
- Reading Resources
- A range of free books (narrated in multiple languages) are available from Unite for Literacy.
- NASA has great information and learning activities. Check out free STEM activities you can do at home (grades K-12), and ways you can solve problems and be a citizen scientist! Like this call to action: “use your geography skills to geolocate astronaut photography of Earth“
- Get outside and become a citizen scientist in your own backyard, park, or on a hike. Ideas for citizen science projects from the National Geographic. The iNaturalist app allows you and other naturalists to record and share organism encounters around the world. Identify the organisms you encounter, help scientists understand when and where organisms occur, and build your own knowledge by helping others. Get started on the how-to here.
- The Science Mom offers daily science lessons on Facebook Live at 8-10 AM PST, 11-1 PM EST.
- Mystery Science is offering free access to their most popular science lessons.
- Free science projects and games from Science Kids.
- A great list of do-at-home science projects for all ages from Science Sparks.
- NASA has great information and learning activities. Check out free STEM activities you can do at home (grades K-12), and ways you can solve problems and be a citizen scientist! Like this call to action: “use your geography skills to geolocate astronaut photography of Earth“
- Kid friendly and educational shows on Netflix
- Thousands of free educational videos are organized by subject at watchknowlearn.org.
- Where to get free meals for kids in Lane County during Summer and Fall 2020
- Lane County Winter Holiday Resources
- To find out if any school district in Oregon is offering free meals, and where and when, check out the ODE’s resource page.
- Laughing Planet cafes: “From now until further notice Laughing Planet will be providing a free kids meal to kids who qualify for Meal Assistance Programs.”
- The Burrito Brigade has little free food pantries in Eugene, Springfield and Junction City.
- If you need resources, 211.org can help.
- FREE INTERNET for qualifying families from Comcast.
- FREE ACCESS to wi-fi hotspots for everyone from Comcast. Check out their other resources for all families here.
- More information about ways families can receive free internet services.
- Children with reading difficulties (including learning disabilities, visual impairments, and physical disabilities) can access books in readable formats for FREE at Bookshare.
- Find daily activities posted on the Differently Abled Mothers Empowerment Society Facebook page.
- Information on improving children’s experiences with online learning.
- Two research-based resource toolkits for learning at home.
- Free access to a range of close-captioned videos on all sorts of topics.
- See the “Talking with Children and Teens About Covid-19” section below for social stories about why kids need to stay home from school right now.
- Check out these adaptations of board games by Julie Braden to get some physical activities into your day: Chute and Ladders PDF and Fitness Memory.
- Need ideas for games to play? Check out this Play at Home Playbook and videos from Playworks.
- Keep active with the Seahawks Weekly Challenge.
- Fitness activities for different levels and abilities.
- Local yoga studio Common Bond is offering free classes on their Youtube channel.
- This is a stressful time for parents and kids. Mindfulness and meditation not only help with stress and anxiety, but may help your immune system. Try free apps like, Headspace for kids with cute, kid-friendly animation, Breathe, Think, Do from Sesame Street (bilingual app but only available for iPhone/iPad unfortunately), or Insight Timer.
- An great infographic to remind parents how to handle challenging behavior which might be more likely when everyone is feeling stressed about being at home so much.
- A wide range of mental health resources from the Child Mind Institute including tip sheets, videos, and online consultations.
- A factsheet for parents and caregivers on helping families cope in times of Covid-19 with useful tips on handling stress and anxiety.
- Great suggestions on how parents and kids can de-stress from PBSKids.
- A resource guide during times of Covid-19 for survivors of domestic and family violence.
- A Safe Space offers coping tips and resources as well as a place to chat with a professional.
- A comprehensive list of mental health resources focusing on many topics from general mental health and well-being to resources for specific groups such as those experiencing OCD, eating issues, and substance use issues, and LGBTQ youth.
- A nice explanation of why handwashing works for elementary and older kids.
- Great infographic for reminding kids (and adults) how to make the most of Healthy Handwashing.
- A nice explanation of why handwashing works for elementary and older kids.
- Great explanation from PBSKids on how to talk with kids about the Coronavirus and ways to protect against germs.
- Resources from the CDC for talking to children about Covid-19.
- An easy to understand explanation for young children about why schools are closed right now.
- Another social story about why schools are closed right now.
- Helpful tips on talking with anxious children and teens about Covid-19.
- Great explanation from PBSKids on how to talk with kids about the Coronavirus and ways to protect against germs.
- Can’t go browse for books at the St. Vincent DePaul stores? You can shop online and still help your neighbors.
- Volunteer to help a local foster family in Oregon through My NeighbOR.
- Museums & Zoos
- Guide to virtual tours of museums online.
- A great list of virtual tours of art museums around the world.
- Check out this guide to Cool Online Museums for Curious Kids.
- Fun digital resources from the Smithsonian Museum.
- The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is offering free online biology classes daily.They also have a resource library with free lesson plans for teachers and parents, and their “Ask a Naturalist” series on their site and on Facebook live, Fridays at 1 pm.
- Explore the Metropolitan Museum of Art with MetKids.
- Learn about wildlife from the keepers at Wildlife Safari every day at 11 am PST on Facebook.
- Take daily safaris at 11 am EDT/8 am PDT at the Cincinnati Zoo on Facebook.
- The Detroit Zoo has videos and livecams on their website.
- The National Aquarium offers many educational videos on their Facebook Page.
- Learn about aquatic creatures with the Shedd Aquarium’s video series.
- Check out the live webcams from various zoos and aquariums to watch all sorts of different animals, fish, birds, reptiles and insects:
- Guide to virtual tours of museums online.