PBS Virtual Field Trips

Also look at the menu on the web page for more K-12 materials!

Teach your kids about COVID-19

PebbleGo COVID-19 Article and Activities

Kids authors reading their own books!

Here are some links for kids authors reading their own books aloud. Great fun for kids!

https://www.weareteachers.com/virtual-author-activities/

NASA STEM resources for families

Nasa STEM resources

Fun Things to Do While Quarantined

Things to do while you are social distancing besides games

Live webcams:

My favorite is Africam http://www.africam.com/wildlife/index.php.  You can watch real African animals. Check in often. I’ve seen lots of elephants and different kinds of grazers (wildebeest). But also lions, warthogs, giraffes, baboons, and lots of other things.

Another good one is the National Zoo webcams: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams. 

Cornell Bird Cams https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/

Coral reef webcams: https://explore.org/livecams/under-the-water/bonaire-underwater-coral.  Scroll down to find the live ones.

My favorite https://explore.org/livecams/under-the-water/pacific-aquarium-tropical-reef-habitat-cam

Other sciency things

The Oklahoma City Zoo is closed but every day at 2:00 they are doing a live show online. https://www.okczoo.org/default.aspx?p=164942&naid=26822

Virtual field trips:

Lots listed here!!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vb8Lgy_OI_HLWBuV480H56mVk5VfEl6BXwYL1LkEVLY/edit

Read a book. The library is closed but there is an awesome resource where you can get free ebooks (or very, very cheap ones). https://landing.bookbub.com/covers_ext_scrolling

If you don’t read, it’s time to start! Reading is not only for learning. It also helps your brain develop and retain other information. It adds to your writing ability and creativity too.

Learn to cook something! And guys, this means you too. The best cooks in my family are the guys. So are many of the best chefs. And all cooks make mistakes (like I did yesterday when I let the stew boil over and it started a fire under the pan. Luckily covering it with the pan lid worked like a charm). If you already cook, try something new. My grandmother could go to an almost empty cabinet and make something wonderful. You don’t have to go to Trader Joe’s to find ingredients. Try the kitchen.

Do some crafts. I make beaded bracelets - mostly to use with essential oils. I also crochet. Cut up old junk mail (like catalogs from Ulta) into tiny pieces and make a mosaic. If you don’t have glue here’s how to make some: https://www.thoughtco.com/homemade-glue-recipes-607826

Make Oobleck and play with it. It’s pretty awesome and actually scientifically cool. It’s a substance known as a non-Newtonian fluid that exhibits something called “shear thickening”.  https://www.instructables.com/id/Oobleck/

Make milk weird stuff. I don’t know what this is called but it’s pretty awesome. If you have whole milk (fat free or 2% won’t work) pour some in a bowl. Add about 4 drops of dishwashing liquid to it. Then drip on a few drops of food coloring and watch it. Sounds weird but try it.

Paint the walls. My daughter and grandkids decided this was a great time to paint their walls.

Do your laundry. I know some of you have never done laundry. It’s time you learned.

Clean out the closet and under your bed. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Then you might need to do your laundry.

Take a nature walk. There are many local natural areas to enjoy. Even small city parks have nature. Even studying ant colonies or watching squirrels can be educational and fun.

Enjoy the many birds we have this spring. Yesterday we had a robin, a cardinal, a mockingbird, a bluejay and a sparrow in our yard all at once. You can learn to identify birds by their sounds or looks by going to the Cornell birding site: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/.  You can also learn there how to build a birdhouse or bird feeders. If you do ever put up a hummingbird feeder don’t buy that red stuff. The color isn’t good for them. Use ¼ cup of sugar in 1 cup of water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. You can buy a hummingbird feeder at Walmart for as little as $6.00.  My friend in an upstairs apartment has one.

Make a habitat. Biology classes did this. I can send you instructions if you want. All you need is two empty 2 liter pop bottles or one bigger empty plastic (or glass) bottle with a lid, dirt, some weeds you pick from the yard, and a little water. Worms or roly polies are good to add too.

Do some exercises and workout stuff at home. If you aren’t fit or don’t know where to start try googling yoga for beginners or simple at-home workouts.

Help an older person. Call your grandma or neighbor and ask what you can do for them. Don’t ask if there’s anything they need. They will say no. Ask “What can I do for you?”

Help a little kid. Many of you have younger siblings. They are probably crazier than you are with all this. Calm them and then read to them, play with them (I had to be the dogs in the playhouse the other day. I got put in time out because I kept barking).

Help your mom or dad or guardian. They probably need help right now. Be the calm.

Color. If you have a printer there are awesome pictures you can download and print. Google “adult coloring pages to print”.Or even color with a kid.

Learn a new art. Learn to draw something. Just don’t draw on the toilet paper. :D

Do a webquest on something interesting to you. For instance, if you are interested in ping pong google it and then google links you find in those places. Pretty soon you will know a lot of stuff.

Call your grandparents. Some of them have health issues. Some may be scared. Most are probably lonely. If they have a smart phone use face time or Skype. Let them see your face. It really makes them feel good.

Write a letter. Yes, a real old-fashioned letter on paper. Fold it up, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it (you have to have stamps - they are 55 cents) and mail it.

Make a notebook you can carry with you. I found a Facebook page called Raptor ID. Since I am passionate about raptors (birds of prey) I decided to make a notebook (like you would if you were taking a class. Hubby suggested I do it online so I can carry it with me. Thus, I am. 
I like Evernote. I use it for checkbox lists, recipes, and bookmarks. The best part of bookmarking there instead of using the browser bookmark is that the links are searchable. So say the title is this blog but you want to know about Oobleck you can link to the blog and search Oobleck in Evernote and it will find it.