Need to entertain the kids during the school break without spending too much money? There are loads of free educational resources online, from ebooks and singalongs to colouring pages and games. Here are 20 to get you started!
#1 Learn and laugh
Get your hands on engaging and educational videos through Izzit, which offers everything from maths and science to music and history. They come with handy guides, activities, quizzes and other great resources.
#2 Music maestros
Introduce young ones to classical music on Classics for Kids. The site has a variety of lesson plans, podcasts, articles, activity sheets and games to make learning fun.
#3 Spoken books
Got little bookworms at home? Change things up by listening to stories being read at Storyline Online. There are loads of free storytelling videos by popular personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Kristen Bell.
#4 Weather report
At We Love Weather TV, you can learn interesting facts about weather phenomena through interactive videos. There are also fun experiments to try out at home.
#5 Keep it colourful
SuperColoring offers a great collection of free colouring sheets, featuring cartoon characters, animals, flowers, dinosaurs and more. Choose to print them out, or save the trees and colour online!
#6 Get reading
Access more than 3,000 kid-friendly titles on Rivet. The free reading app’s books have all been reviewed and kids are motivated by points and rewards for reading and completing activities. Download the app on Google Play or the App Store.
#7 Great gaming
Minecraft: Education Edition offers lesson plans for your little gamers from age three. While having fun, they’ll pick up knowledge about different subjects including maths, languages, music and even history.
#8 Shoot for the stars
Head to the NASA Kids’ Club, which offers educational online games for children as young as pre-kindergarten. The site also has a gallery of cool photos by NASA that can be used to discuss STEM-related topics.
#9 Caring kids
Got little fans of Sesame Street at home? Get your hands on all sorts of online learning activities, from games, singalongs, colouring and activity pages to free ebooks. It’s all part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative.
#10 Crayons and beyond
From paper crafts to free colouring pages, Crayola has a great selection of resources for families to use at home. There are also detailed lesson plans to tap on and weekly activity videos to check out.
#11 New from Nat Geo
The National Geographic Kids website is filled with fun videos, quizzes and fact sheets on animals, science, space, countries and more.
#12 Famous stories
All ages can enjoy free ebooks and audio stories (with titles in over eight languages) on Audible by Amazon. They include the likes of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Jungle Book. Stream them on your laptop, phone or tablet.
#13 A project a day
Get access to daily courses for children from prekindergarten ages on Scholastic Learn At Home. They include educational games that you can play together.
classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
#14 Art activities
Keep the kids busy with the fun colouring sheets and activity packs available from the Affordable Art Fair website.
#15 Create code
Dabble with coding this summer break on Scratch, part of the MIT Media Lab. Kids aged eight to 16 will explore interactive stories, games and animations, while younger ones can try out ScratchJr, a special version designed for ages five to seven.
#16 World of wizards
Head to the Harry Potter At Home hub for fun activities to keep young ones entertained, from craft videos and articles to quizzes and puzzles.
wizardingworld.com/collections/harry-potter-at-home
#17 Join Hogwarts
You can also excite your little Harry Potter fans with the online courses on Hogwarts Is Here. All courses are free and topics include astronomy, potions and the history of magic.
#18 Print some puzzles
Download free printables from HP for different age groups. They include colouring and dot-to-dot activity sheets, crafts, origami and puzzles.
8.hp.com/sg/en/printers/printandplay
#19 Building blocks
LEGO has launched #LetsBuildTogether, which offers a variety of resources for parents. You’ll be able to find play ideas, projects, games and creations to keep the kids entertained at home.
lego.com/en-us/letsbuildtogether
#20 Start your engines
Find colouring pages, games, puzzles, quizzes, virtual tours and other fun free activities on Porsche 4Kids. Choose to navigate the website in English or German.
This article first appeared in the July 2020 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase a copy or subscribe so you never miss an issue!
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