30+ FREE Virtual Learning Resources That Kids Will Love

One of the benefits of children learning from home is that parents can control the curriculum. You can adjust each activity to best suit the needs and interests of your child to provide optimal learning and fun. As long as your child is learning the necessary skills, how you cover the subject matter if up to YOU. 

We’ve compiled a list of virtual resources that will both entertain and educate your kids, giving you options as you navigate this brave new world of homeschooling. Don’t want to fight your kid to complete another math worksheet? Check out the games on CoolMath. Does your child hate drawing but love history? Take a virtual and interactive tour of the British Museum of the World, which teaches art from a historical perspective. The options are endless! 

ZOOS & ANIMALS

  1. LOCAL: Join the Toledo Zoo for live creature features on Facebook live!
  2. Take a no-cost virtual field trip of a variety of places with Discovery Education
  3. Get a closer look at some of your favorite animals at the San Diego Zoo live cams. 
  4. Immerse yourself in Canadian farms with virtual food and farm tours from FarmFood360.

ART, MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT

  1. LOCAL: The Toledo Museum of Art offers TMA At Home, full of ideas for family-friendly art projects.
  2. LOCAL: Toledo local, Andrew Martin Magician, hosts magic shows on Facebook live! Follow him to keep updated on upcoming shows.  
  3. LOCAL: Children’s Theatre Workshop (CTW) has adapted some of their programs to a new online format, offering several online-only theatre classes for existing and new students.
  4. Travel through time by viewing artwork and listening to experts with this interactive tour at the British Museum of the World.  
  5. Take a trip to Paris, France and visit the Louvre with free online tours in English. 
  6. Virtually meander the iconic Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and all its artwork with this virtual Google tour
  7. Similar to the Guggenheim virtual tour, virtually explore the Boston’s Children Museum with this embedded Google tour of each floor. 
  8. Detroit Symphony Orchestra provides free, live-streaming replays of past concerts here
  9. Expose the kids to their first streaming opera from one of the most famous opera houses in the world: The Metropolitan Opera
  10. University of Toledo Theatre and Film faculty, Dr. Matt Foss, translates his play “Faithful Friends: An Adaptation of the Two Gentlemen of Verona,” to the online world, creating an interactive theatre learning experience for elementary students. 
  11. MindTravel offers a free downloadable “Create & Color Guided Meditation” for kids ages 5 – 12.  The 30-minute meditation can be done anytime, anywhere with the availability of a smartphone and coloring supplies. 

SCIENCE & MATH

  1. LOCAL: Join Imagination Station Toledo for Stay at Home Science experiments that entertain and educate.
  2. LOCAL: Directions Credit Union is offering a free online financial literacy program designed for educators and parents, covering topics such as understanding debt, charitable giving, bankruptcy, investing, and teaching that money is a limited resource.
  3. LOCAL: Experience the SciDome at Home and watch solar super storms. Hosted by The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology.
  4. Visit the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama as you follow along with Flipped Lifestyle in this YouTube video.
  5. Access the real surface of Mars as recorded by NASA’s Curiosity rover here
  6. As CoolMath.com knows, there is no better way to trick kids into learning than with games. 

HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY

  1. Virtually explore some of the main attractions at Yellowstone National Park
  2. Feel like you’re walking along the Great Wall of China thanks to this virtual tour

LITERACY

  1. ABCya, used by educators in the classroom, teaches common core literacy through fun, online games. Choose your child’s grade level: preschool through sixth grade. 
  2. LOCAL: Risa Cohen, M.S.Ed., offers a free kindergarten class that combines music, movement and literacy in Sing Into Reading. Follow Risa at Sing Into Reading to discover the next opportunity. 
  3. Candlewick Press is offering Where’s Waldo? At Home, providing free worksheets and activities centered around the Where’s Waldo? books. 
  4. Highlights@Home provides parents and kids with fun learning activities while sequestered at home: stories, puzzles, videos, games, creative activities like crafts or recipes, physical activities and suggested acts of kindness. 

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

  1. Sign up for PBS KIDS daily newsletter for connection questions that are geared toward one of the PBS shows of the day, as well as educational game suggestions from PBS GAMES. Episodes are on live TV and online
  2. LOCAL: Great Wolf Lodge has provided a round-up of activities for family fun at home.
  3. Starfall offers interactive games on math, reading, music, and seasonal learning from pre-k through third grade. 
  4. The Hayes Presidential website has been updated regularly with fun and engaging activities that will keep the kids entertained and learning. From cooking to history to literacy, this website has it all.
  5. Learn the ins and outs of cooking with Spoons Across America. This program teaches culinary skills and food literacy to children ages 6 and up.
  6. UpgradedPoints lists 100 world-famous places for kids to virtually tour, such as LEGOLAND, the Colosseum in Rome, the National Aquarium and more.

Erin Schoen Marsh
Erin Schoen Marshhttp://www.erin-marsh.com
Erin is a writer/editor, yoga teacher, and mama to two little ones.

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