100+ Fun and Educational Things To Do at Home

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to spread, we all are grappling with its impact on our local communities and the world. Public health experts advise self-quarantine and, if necessary to go out, to keep six-feet of physical distance from others to help slow down the spread of this disease. This is in an effort to flatten the curve of infection and lessen the impact on our health care systems.

If you are at home and looking for fun and educational activities, check out the below resources.

Use Real Stuff / Make Real Stuff

Make art out of items from your recycling bin, color with chalk, draw, paint, or knit
Play board games and do puzzles
Practice a musical instrument
Cook and bake from scratch, check out Milk Street Cooking School or the ChopChop Cooking Club for Kids

Exercise

Hike or walk in your community
Practice meditation, use an app like Brightmind or Calm if you don’t know where to start
Check out this list from GOOP of the Best Streaming Workouts
Practice yoga with your children using Cosmic Kids Yoga

Entertainment

Watch the D.C Environmental Film Festival online
Host a Netflix Party, which allows friends to have movie nights while social distancing. Here’s how it works
Stream a Broadway hit with a free trial to BroadwayHD.com
Follow your favorite musicians on social media… many are performing free concerts from their homes

Educational

Take the Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Challenge! Build a simple machine that drops a bar of soap in someone’s hands
Check out Nat Geo Wild’s new panda-centric TV series The Hidden Kingdoms of China
Watch Birds and Butterflies in Your Backyard – A Kid-Friendly Webinar
Tune in to Master Classes from Female Filmmakers
Visit the Free Video Library (featuring engaging presentations from some of the most innovative minds in STEM) for Remote Learning from USA Science & Engineering Festival
Discover a wealth of information on plastic pollution and curriculum for children of all ages, including links to show educational videos, music, art projects, and feature documentary films
Take one or more of 20 Virtual Field Trips to zoos, aquariums, museums, and more
Take a class with Coursera
Learn a language with Rosetta Stone, Babbel, or Duolingo
Check out the Smithsonian Learning Lab
Learn to draw via Instagram Stories with Wendy MacNaughton
Watch Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems! a daily art break for ho
me-bound families
Check out The Kennedy Center’s art education Classroom Resources
Scholastic Education Resources
Take free courses from Ivy League schools

Animals

Watch the Otter Cam, from Monterey Bay Aquarium
Or have your Morning MeditOcean — A Guided Meditation with the Jellies!
Play with your pets
Visit the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Animal Webcams
Watch the Puppy Playroom at Warrior Canine Connection

Books

Watch a Live Author Talks from DC bookstore Politics & Prose
Read a book (get digital books from your local library via Overdrive or Kindle Unlimited on Amazon)
Join Plastic Pollution Coalition notable and author of BlueMind, Wallace J. Nichols nightly for the 7th Annual Blue Mind Online Book Club at 5pm PDT on Facebook Live.
Start your own virtual book club with your friends
Watch Storytime with Josh Gad
Learn about Storytime from Space

Give

Donate or online fundraise to support the work of an organization in your community.
Organize a program in your building or neighborhood where less at-risk people get groceries and run other urgent errands for their at-risk neighbors.
Shop local. Many local businesses are struggling, and you can support them by making purchases. Order delivery or takeout from a local restaurant, order books from your local bookstore, toy/games from the local toy store, pet food from your local pet store, and so on.
Spring cleaning! Start a box to donate to a local thrift store of clothes, toys/games, and other household items you no longer need.

Need more resources? Check out the below from the Break Free From Plastic movement: