Every month, at the beginning of the month, I have a calendar spreadsheet for what I’m going to post each day. It has different tabs for each section on my blog with brainstormed ideas to write. I color-code it red for not written or planned, yellow for planned, and green for written.
When I planned my month, I had the topic “10 Side Gigs for Busy Parents” planned for today’s post. I have been researching it and planning it. I’d spent over a month collecting information and data. It was a topic that I’m relatively passionate about because, let’s be honest, kids are expensive. They have clothes and toys and sports and education and daycare and medical items and more. The list is endless. So which of us parents couldn’t use a little side gig to help ease that burden while still being able to enjoy our kids.
And then March entered like a lion.
My mom used to always tell me that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I know the proverb has nothing to do with Christianity (although the use of the lion and lamb during what is typically a season of Lent is suspect), but rather it has to do with the weather.
Because March straddles the seasons, it often has harsh, cold weather at the beginning, and then by the end, it feels like beautiful spring has sprung. I remember many a year when there was a snowstorm the first weekend in March.
But I’m not talking about the weather. March entered with a much more menacing, panicked entrance. Media outlets began spreading the information about the novel virus COVID-19 and, on March 5, we had the first case of the novel virus in the United States.
Within 10 days, less than two weeks, every store was out of stock of hand sanitizer, Clorox and Lysol wipes, paper towel, and toilet paper. On the 10th day, most school districts had either extended spring break or suspended school through at least the end of the month. A few days later, many school districts reported that the students would not be returning for the remainder of the year.
In addition to that, with added recommendations of no gatherings larger than 10 people, restaurants no longer allow dine-in and all of the places we love to go – museums, arboretums, zoos, and more – were closed indefinitely. It seems surreal. It is unprecedented. At times it’s even a little scary. And with all of this, my entire plan for what my post this week would be changed.
Now, unless you haven’t been on social media, haven’t heard the news, or have otherwise been preoccupied, everything I just told you already know and are currently dealing with. You have your child at home, trying to figure out how to fill their time. Maybe you’ve created a color-coded chart to plan your day. Maybe you’re just trying to figure out how to keep them entertained while you work from home. Maybe you’ve already surrendered to letting them have screen time. No judgement. You handle this situation the best you can. There is no written example on how we handle this. There is no precedent.
But…
If you find you want some variety. If you find you’d like some ideas of things to do with your kids. If you find, in the next 8-10 weeks that you need to shake things up a bit from your color-coded schedule or need something else to fill a spot, I’ve spent the last several days collecting information for you. I have collected activities, live streams, deals and more, and divided it into sections for your easy reference.
Some may only be for a limited time or some might start for a limited time and continue dependent on the situation here in the United States. I’ve tried to provide links where I can. Continue to check their schedules and offerings where applicable.
We will get through this. At some point, March will leave like a lamb and life will continue. We will be more experienced and we will have spent just a little more time with our kids. What a lucky chance to learn with them!
Activities
- Shaving Cream Colors – Reinforce how primary colors combine to create new colors in this fun tactile activity. There is something calming about squishing colored shaving cream in a bag.
- Top Toddler Science Experiments – Be sure to check out our post of the collection of some of our favorite experiments appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers!
- Activities to do inside during the Winter – One of my first posts when I started the blog was activities to do inside during the winter. It may not be as cold anymore, but these are still fun activities to do inside – some may even use materials you have around your house!
- Chromatography Hearts – Though this activity specifically makes the coffee filters into hearts, this isn’t necessary to do the actual experiment. This is easy and fun and provides a cool demonstration of how colors separate.
- Walking Water Science Experiment – Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any day, create a rainbow of colors and see how water helps the colors move!
- Sensory Bags – These are great for keeping little ones occupied, especially if you need to spend some time working from home. They are easy enough to store away as well. We keep ours on our art cart so Little Miss or Little Mister can go and grab it when they want to play with it.
- How to Create Tactile Letters – Tactile letters can reinforce learning to recognize the letter as well as writing the letter.
- Snap, Crackle, and Fizz Hearts – We did this as our activity this past Valentine’s Day, but who says you need to do it on a heart or that you need the watercolor paper at all? Make mounds of baking soda and let your kids go to town with vinegar in a variety of colors!
- Clothing Fashion Show – Seasons are changing and it’s time to pack away winter items and bring out the short sleeves! Maybe it’s also time to sort through what no longer fits. Have the kids plan out a fashion show with music, and runway, and clothing pieces that will show off their style.
- Plant an herb garden – Find some pots, purchase some seeds, and start planting an herb garden. Bonus – not only will the kids get to watch their plants grow, but they’ll get to use them in recipes!
- Take a walk – If the weather is nice enough, take a walk around your neighborhood. Count the trees, use fallen acorns to do math, or collect some items to make cool artwork once you get home. No matter what you do on the walk, the fresh air will help relax that cooped up energy.
- Create Bath Bombs – If your kiddos liked the science of the snap, crackle, and fizz hearts, they’re going to have a blast making and using the bath bombs. And extra bonus – they get clean while using them! Fun Easter tip, since that’s right around the corner – if you don’t have a bath bomb mold, you can use an empty plastic Easter egg!
- Create Chalk Art – Whether it’s on your front side walk or on your back fence, get all your chalk out and let the kids go to town. I did see a cool activity on Facebook where you tape angles and boxes on your fence using painter’s tape like a wall-sized Mondrian and then the kids use chalk to color the different sections. Then take the paint off and enjoy their artwork!
Educational Resources
- Scholastic Learn At Home – This is a free resource with 20 days worth of themed activities for grades PreK through 12th. Each day has book and video recommendations as well as a fun activity to accompany the theme.
- Teachers Pay Teachers – This is an amazing site filled with resources created and provided by teachers for teachers! They have resources both at a cost as well as free resources. If you have some time to just explore and see what is out there, you will find a plethora of activities and worksheets you can use.
- Fluency and Fitness – This resource is typically used in schools, but they are giving a free 21 day trial for you to use at home! They review K-2 reading and math topics while incorporating a fun movement break. This is an amazing resource if you have a tactile learner like my Little Mister!
- Prodigies Play Music – Typically $13.39 a month, they are currently offering their resources for free for 21 days! This group is passionate about teaching music and theory to kids as young as one year old. No need to have a music degree, this system is meant to help introduce music topics to young kids.
- Play to Learn Preschool – Play to Learn Preschool is hosting a free virtual preschool everyday at 11 AM EST. She sings songs, reads books, and provides additional resources for you to use at home!
- Khan Academy Resources – I love Khan Academy to begin with. They have amazing apps and games for kids, but right now they are offering tons of great resources for parents.
- Imagineering in a Box – Speaking of Khan Academy, Disney Imagineers have paired up with Khan Academy to create this awesome series for free! There are videos, lessons, and activities to bring engineering and design concepts to your kids. These are great for older kiddos.
Live streams and Videos
- Story time from Space – This is a collection of Youtube videos created by the astronauts at the International Space Station. Watch the videos and enjoy children’s stories about space, being an astronaut, and following your passions.
- TED Talks for Kids – Check out some of these awesome TED talks that are perfect for all age levels. Some are even by kids!
- Cosmic Kids Yoga – This is an app that provides fun yoga sequences based on books and movies for kids. They have a variety of ages and difficulty levels. It is subscription based, but they have a free two week trial and then it is $10 per month after that. My kiddos did the Frozen one and Little Mister LOVED it. I can’t wait to see which one he wants to do tomorrow.
- Lunch Doodles with Mo Williems – Mo Williems is the artist-in-residence at the Kennedy Center and author of the Pigeon presents children’s book series. Episodes are posted daily at 1 PM EST and remain on the Kennedy Center’s webpage for streaming. They also provide links to activity pages.
- Story Time with Josh Gad – True story, I watched his first video and almost woke up Little Mister from laughing so hard. Josh Gad, voice of our favorite warm hug-loving snowman, is posting nightly videos of him reading children’s books on Twitter. All you have to do is search #GadBookClub on Twitter to find the videos. He has hilarious commentary and does amazing voices for the characters. It is true Josh Gad style.
- Library Story time – Several local libraries are doing story time live streams! Plano Public Library and Frisco Public Library are local systems that are doing them, but I bet a library near you is doing it as well!
- Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari – Every day at 3 PM EST, the Cincinnati Zoo is live streaming on Facebook a different animal at their zoo, introducing all about the animal, and then encouraging those watching to do an activity themed on that animal. Because it is through Facebook live, they are also answering questions during the stream, so you and your kids can take part!
- GoNoodle Dance Videos – So. Many. Videos. GoNoodle has a Youtube channel with fun music and dance videos geared to get your little ones moving and dancing. The Koo Koo Kangaroo appears to be a common favorite, so be sure to check them out!
- #OperationStorytime – This hashtag movement organized by Romper is available on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where authors are reading their favorite stories. Search the hashtag and find some of your favorite authors and stories!
Deals
- Michaels Crafts is currently running a BOGO 50% off all of their kids activity kits PLUS an addition 30% off a regular item 30MAR1620W. You can buy online and pick up in store or your order will ship free over $49. Definitely worth stocking up on a few of these for the coming weeks!
- Little Passports is doing 15% off everything with the code SPRING2020 and, if you sign up for a 6 or 12 month subscription, you can sign up to get the first month free! We LOVE our Little Passports subscription and have received some really fun things like stamps of space, a fishing toy that works on fine motor skills, and a food matching game.
- Green Kids Crafts is doing 10% off any subscription with the code HOMESCHOOL. These are awesome themed STEAM kits packed full of activities, books, and more for kids of all ages.
- Raddish is a themed cooking club for kids that teaches them cooking skills and introduces them to new flavors. Because of the school shut down, they have started a page that has tons of digital recipes that are kid friendly to make AND they have cook along videos. All for free!
More
- Custer Road UMC Christian Resources for Kids – CRUMC has created daily activities and videos for you to do with your kids to connect with God, showing that church is not a building. Everything from crafts to story time, memory verses to experiments, they’ve been working hard to provide the resources for your to continue your faith at home.
- Best Apps for Kids – If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my post on the best apps for kids. There are some amazing apps, both free or have a small cost associated with them, that can stimulate and support your little one’s learning.
- Met Opera Live in HD – This one is more for the adults than kids. Ever since the Met Opera announced their closure, they have announced that they will be streaming some of their operas straight from their website metopera.org as well as through their on demand apps on Apple, Amazon, and Roku devices and the Samsung Smart TV!
This list is already huge, but as I find more, I’ll add them here. So bookmark, share, and spread the resources! Also be sure to follow us on Instagram to see our daily log on the “Escape from Covid-19” and the activities we are doing.
Let’s make sure all of us have resources to make the most of the time we have at home with our little ones!