TIP Resources to keep you and your children occupied at home

[marsh]

Microsoft and Mojang release free Minecraft Education pack to help kids stuck in quarantine

The lessons will be free until June 30

www.gamesradar.com

Microsoft and Mojang release free Minecraft Education pack to help kids stuck in quarantine
By Austin Wood 2 days ago
The lessons will be free until June 30

 

[marsh]

Announcing a National Emergency Library to Provide Digitized Books to Students and the Public | Internet Archive Blogs

blog.archive.org

Announcing a National Emergency Library to Provide Digitized Books to Students and the Public
Posted on March 24, 2020 by chrisfreeland

To address our unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials, as of today, March 24, 2020, the Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library by creating a National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners. This suspension will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever is later.

 

[marsh]

Bored at Home? Fender Is Offering Free Online Guitar and Ukulele Lessons

Here's how to learn how to play the guitar without spending a dime

peoplem.ag

Bored at Home? Fender Is Offering Free Online Guitar and Ukulele Lessons
Here's how to learn how to play the guitar without spending a dime
By Maria Pasquini
March 23, 2020 02:45 PM

As more and more people around the world are being told to stay at home to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, there’s never been a better time to pick up a new hobby — and thanks to Fender, you can learn how to play the guitar without spending a dime!

Over the weekend, the world-famous company announced a brand new deal that will undoubtedly strike a chord with music-lovers out there: the first 100,000 users who create an account for Fender Play, their online learning platform, will get three months of free online lessons.

While you will need to provide your own instrument, the lessons are available for acoustic and electric guitar, as well as bass and ukulele.

Unlike more traditional classes, Fender Play lets users learn how to play guitar with lessons based around popular songs.

The short “bite-sized” video lessons are all led by professionals and can be streamed anytime — anywhere.

 

[marsh]

Teach Your Monster: Free Phonics, Reading and Mathematics Games

Help children learn with our free, award-winning reading, mathematics and phonics games.

www.teachyourmonstertoread.com

Teach Your Monster to Read

The groundbreaking game that makes learning to read fun

• • Covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences.
• • Designed in collaboration with leading academics.
• • Complements all synthetic phonics programmes used in schools.
• • Computer version is 100% free.

 

[marsh]

Bestselling Children’s Author Mo Willems Is Teaching Kids Drawing On YouTube

Mo Willems⁠—a bestselling author and illustrator⁠—has announced that he will be teaching drawing every weekday on YouTube to kids who are now at home.

www.boredpanda.com

Bestselling Children’s Author Mo Willems Is Teaching Kids Drawing On YouTube

Neringa Utaraitė
BoredPanda staff

At the moment, around 300 million children worldwide can’t go to their schools due to the coronavirus outbreak. So many parents face the struggle of keeping their kids occupied at home. As we’ve already learned before, homeschooling is not as easy as it seems; therefore, for this reason, various educational resources are popping up, making thousands of parents’ lives way easier.
Mo Willems⁠—a bestselling author and illustrator⁠—has announced that he will be teaching drawing every weekday on YouTube to kids who are now at home. Mo will be having sessions called Lunch Doodles where he will occupy the little ones by doodling together with them.

More info: The Kennedy Center | Youtube
Well-known illustrator Mo Willems has announced that he’ll be doing Lunch Doodles for kids on YouTube

Image credits: The Kennedy Center
Numerous parents all around the globe are struggling with their own jobs and homeschooling their kids, so bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems has come to the rescue!

The sessions will take place every weekday at 1 p.m. EST

Image credits: The Kennedy Center
Mo Willems, who is best known for his books “The Pigeon Has to Go to School!” “I Will Take a Nap!” and “Knufflebunny,” has announced that he will be live streaming “Lunch Doodles” videos every weekday at 1 p.m. EST from his own house. The video sessions will be shared on the Kennedy Center’s YouTube account as well as on their website.

The sessions are about 20 minutes long

Image credits: The Kennedy Center

“I know a lot of you guys are not in school,” Willems said in an introductory video this Monday. “You’re at home right now because of all the things that are going on. Well, guess what? I’m at home, too. We’re gonna hang out together.”
In them, Mo Willems will be drawing together with kids

Image credits: The Kennedy Center

The well-known illustrator and author is also encouraging kids to submit questions to LUNCHDOODLES@kennedy-center.org. Later, he will try to respond to them in his videos.

He also encourages children to submit questions, which he’ll try to respond to in the videos

Image credits: The Kennedy Center

“Lunch Doodles” has already shared three episodes, each comprised of somewhere between 20 to 28 minutes. So tune in and don’t forget to also follow Mo Willems’ Twitter, where he announces of any technical difficulties he’s having so that your little ones don’t miss the show!

So far, people are loving the sessions

 

[marsh]

50 Online Art and Music Resources to Help Kids Learn and Create from Home

Engaging in art and music builds creativity, academic skills, relationships & self-confidence. Here are some great online resources to inspire kids at home.

www.boredteachers.com

50 Online Art and Music Resources to Help Kids Learn and Create from Home

by Rachael Moshman

Don’t skip out on art and music while your kids are home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Art and music help kids develop discipline, creativity, confidence, critical thinking skills. It helps build connections with others, improves memory and teaches about different cultures. It strengthens language, reading and math skills. Plus, the arts make us feel better and we could all use a little more of that these days. Here are online art and music resources to inspire kids at home.

For early childhood
1. The Center for Puppetry Arts has workshops, museum tours & live streaming puppet shows!
2. Crayola has videos and instructions for art projects to do at home.
3. Sesame Street has videos, games and activities to make art and music with favorite characters.
4. Kinderart offers info on teaching art to preschoolers as well as a large database of activities.
5. Jumpstart has lesson plans on teaching color through art.
6. PBS Kids has music games and activities.
7. A Place of Our Own will show you how to make musical instruments with your preschooler out of recycled material.
8. Nick, Jr. has a preschool music maker game.
9. Activity Village has instructions for dozens of preschool arts and crafts projects.
10. Daria has fun music videos from around the world.
11. ABC Ya! has drawing, coloring and painting games.
For Elementary
12. Masterpiece Society has free art lessons.
13. Incredible Art has a long list of online art games.
14. San Francisco Symphony has online games and activities for kids.
15. New York Philharmonic has a kid zone with concert videos, games, puzzles and instructions for making instruments.
16. Color with Leo is a collection of online art games.
17. HGTV has instructions for making clay sea sculptures.
18. Columbus Museum of Art lets kids chose a background and build a digital collage with yarn, shells and other scraps. It then encourages them to go recreate it in real life.
19. Scrapcoloring is a digital coloring book where kids can explore colors and patterns.
20. Free printable coloring pages featuring art from 113 museums.
21. Mo Willems, animator, author and voice actor, is doing lunchtime art classes at 1 pm EST.
22. Classics for Kids offers videos, games, quizzes and activities about classical music composers.
23. National Gallery of Art has lessons, online courses, videos, films and activities for all ages.
24. Kennedy Center offers activities and lessons on art, dance, performing arts and more.
25. Toy Theatre lets kids use virtual tools to build, create and animate.
26. #metkids by the Metropolitan Museum of Art is online content made for, by and with kids.
27. Ducksters teaches about artists and art history.
28. Teaching Ideas has fact cards about famous arts, online books with activities and printables.
29 Art Projects for Kids has instructions for projects like drawing a peacock or bubble lettering.
30. Art for Kids Hub teaches step by step drawing.
31. Chrome Music Lab lets users explore musical concepts and sounds.
32. Kids Guitar Zone offers free beginner lessons.
33. Piano Patch has free downloadable lessons to teach your child to play the piano, even if you’ve never played before yourself.
For Teens
34. Pixar in a Box offers behind the scenes looks at animation.
35. Violin Online offers free sheet music and beginner violin lessons.
36. Virtual Drumming turns computer keyboards into percussion sets.
37. Women’s Natural History Museum has an online digital classroom database of lesson plans.
38. Watch Know Learn has videos on artists and art concepts.
39. Google Arts and Culture has a new lesson or activity each day, such as cool things to do with your phone camera or a look into Frida Kahlo’s diary.
40. Creating Music lets users create and listen to their own musical masterpieces.
41. The Smithsonian has oral histories of jazz.
42. BBC Music Planet has videos showcasing music from around the world.
43. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has guides and discussion questions for many pieces of art.
44. The Art Institute of Chicago has free educator lesson plan packets.
45. Crash Course has very informative looks into art topics with authors Hank and John Green.
46. Artsology explores topics like “how do artists portray emotion through their work?”
47. Debbie Allen actress, director, choreographer and dancer, is teaching dance classes on Instagram live. Check out her Instagram page for the schedule.
48. Playbill has a list of Boadway plays you can watch at home.
49. Bomomo is a cool digital drawing website that lets users doodle and create.
50. The National Gallery of Art has interactive activities and lessons.
Use these online art and music resources as inspiration to help kids create something special. Then let everyone show off their work. Transform a room into an art gallery. Have a family talent show. Art and music are great for bonding, creating memories and making the world a little brighter.
Also check out:
+50 Awesome Reading and Writing Websites to Keep Kids Learning at Home

• 40 Science Websites to Keep Kids Engaged and Entertained at Home
• The Best Online Math Resources for All Grade Levels
• These FREE Online Resources Can Help Continue Kids’ Learning From Home
• +100 Totally FREE At-Home Learning Printables Made By Teachers For All

 

[marsh]

Bored Teachers | Celebrating Educators Every Day.

Celebrating Educators Every Day.

www.boredteachers.com

RESOURCES
63+ Websites for Middle School Students To Continue Learning at Home

by Bored Teachers Staff

For the many teachers transitioning to virtual classrooms and the millions of parents looking for resources to keep kids learning in the meantime, this list is for you! Covering all subjects, from math to science, language arts, social studies, art, and music, these are some of the best educational resources you can find on the internet for middle schoolers.

You probably want to add this list to your bookmarks NOW!
1. MATH WEBSITES
1. Khan Academy has videos and lessons for all grades.
2. Hippocampus has pre-algebra and geometry lessons and practice games.
3. Education Possible has a list of over 50 fun and interactive math games for middle schoolers.
4. Math Snacks has games, animation and interactive tools to help middle schoolers with basic concepts.
5. Prodigy offers fun math games for middle schoolers. Many teachers use it in class and report it turns math haters into math lovers.
6. Math TV is like Netflix for math! Videos are broken down by skill.
7. CoolMath offers lessons and games in pre-algebra, algebra, and pre-calculus.
8. Online Math has games broken down by grade level from 1 – 8.
9. Math Is Fun offers lessons, games, worksheets and puzzles on all sorts of math concepts including speed and velocity, money and geometry.
10. Illustrative Mathematics offers problem-based curriculum for grades 6-8.
11. Multiplication.com is great for middle schoolers who are a little rusty on those multiplication facts. It’s designed for elementary – high school students with age-appropriate games so kids don’t feel self-conscious about their skills.

30+ FREE Physical Education Classes & Resources For Kids at Home

2. SCIENCE WEBSITES
12. NASA offers cool space-related videos and activities.
13. The Happy Scientist offers great videos and fun experiments to try at home.
14. Khan Academy has lessons, activities, quizzes and more on a wide range of science topics.
15. PBS has great videos on a variety of topics, including a series on viruses.
16. Worksheetworks has free science printables.
17. Make Me a Genius has cool science jokes, videos, facts, quizzes, and activities.
18. Scholastic has fun lessons like exploring the science behind extreme super sour candy.
19. Science Buddies has over 1,500 experiments.
20. Steve Spangler Science offers hundreds of experiments to do at home with videos explaining why they work.
21. How Stuff Works will keep curious kids entertained for hours.
3. LANGUAGE ARTS WEBSITES
22. Libby allows you to read library books on a phone or tablet.
23. Common Lit is a free database of passages to practice reading comprehension.
24. Soft Schools offers free printable language arts word searches, quizzes and worksheets.
25. Lit2go is a collection of stories and poems in mp3 format. Kids can download and listen while going on a walk, gardening or doing chores.
26. NaNoWriMo will help young writers pen their own books in 30 days.
27. Crash Course offers fun and extremely informative videos on literacy and writing.
28. One Community offers curricula in all areas of language arts, including listening and speaking.
29. Worksheetworks has free grammar printables.
30. Journal Buddies offers a month’s worth of writing prompts.
31. No Red Ink teaches grammar and writing based on each student’s current skill level and interests.
32. Read Write Think has lesson plans, printables, activities and projects for all areas of language arts from k-12.
33. Khan Academy offers grammar lessons, activities and quizzes aligned with educational standards.
34. Read Works platform and materials are completely free. It has great content, curriculum, and tools to power teaching and learning from Kindergarten to 12th Grade
4. SOCIAL STUDIES
35. Thirteen has history videos and interactive games.
36. Teaching Tolerance has lesson plans, articles, videos and activities geared at making us all better citizens.
37. Scholastic has articles on finances, world economy the stock market and more.
38. YouTube Edu has videos on social studies (and every other topic) compiled YouTube itself.
39. Worksheetworks has free geography printables.
40. EdHelper offers printable worksheets and journals on history topics and world problems.
41. Khan Academy offers history videos, lessons and activities.
42. Curriki offers interactive history, government and economics lessons.
43. Social Studies for Kids offers free curriculum in history, economics, geography, government, finance and more.
44. The Library of Congress has videos on topics such as Civil Rights and historical figures including Rosa Parks and Amelia Earhardt.
45. NeoK12 has games, lessons, puzzles, presentations and activities on a wide range of social study topics.
46. Social Studies for Kids has articles on budgeting, economics, cultures and current affairs.

42 Fun Websites to Learn and Teach Social Studies From Home

5. MUSIC AND ART
47. Pixar in a Box offers behind the scenes looks at animation.
48. Violin Online offers free sheet music and beginner violin lessons.
49. Virtual Drumming turns computer keyboards into percussion sets.
50. Women’s Natural History Museum has an online digital classroom database of lesson plans.
51. Watch Know Learn has videos on artists and art concepts.
52. Google Arts and Culture has a new lesson or activity each day, such as cool things to do with your phone camera or a look into Frida Kahlo’s diary.
53. Creating Music lets users create and listen to their own musical masterpieces.
54. The Smithsonian has oral histories of jazz.
55. BBC Music Planet has videos showcasing music from around the world.
56. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has guides and discussion questions for many pieces of art.
57. The Art Institute of Chicago has free educator lesson plan packets.
58. Crash Course has very informative looks into art topics with authors Hank and John Green.
59. Artsology explores topics like “how do artists portray emotion through their work?”
60. Debbie Allen actress, director, choreographer and dancer, is teaching dance classes on Instagram live. Check out her Instagram page for the schedule.
61. Playbill has a list of Boadway plays you can watch at home.
62. Bomomo is a cool digital drawing website that lets users doodle and create.
63. The National Gallery of Art has interactive activities and lessons.

60+ Educational Websites for High School Students During the Quarantine

Also check out:

• 30+ FREE Physical Education Classes & Resources For Kids at Home
• +50 Awesome Reading and Writing Websites to Keep Kids Learning at Home
• 40 Science Websites to Keep Kids Engaged and Entertained at Home
• The Best Online Math Resources for All Grade Levels
• These FREE Online Resources Can Help Continue Kids’ Learning From Home
• +100 Totally FREE At-Home Learning Printables Made By Teachers For All
• 50 Online Art and Music Resources to Help Kids Learn and Create from Home

 

[marsh]

Bored Teachers | Celebrating Educators Every Day.

Celebrating Educators Every Day.

www.boredteachers.com

60+ Educational Websites for High School Students During the Quarantine

For the many teachers transitioning to virtual classrooms and the millions of parents looking for resources to keep kids learning in the meantime, this list is for you! Covering all subjects, from math to science, language arts, social studies, art, and music, these are some of the best educational resources you can find on the internet for high schoolers.

You probably want to add this list to your bookmarks NOW! ️

1. MATH WEBSITES
1. Hippocampus offers free lessons in advanced math subjects including calculus, statistics, and trigonometry.

2. All In One High School is a free curriculum resource for homeschoolers. It’s broken down by subjects, such as algebra or geometry, and links to videos, quizzes, and activities each day.

3. FreeMathapp allows students to enter equations from their textbook or assignment and then helps them break it down step by step.

4. Math2.org has printable reference tables to help with algebra, calculus, trigonometry, etc.

5. Fiveable is an app that live-streams lessons for AP course material.

6. SAT Prep through Khan Academy. Kids can see where they’re at and then immediately get help understanding questions they missed.

7. Online Math has games organized by subject, such as algebra, geometry, and precalc.

8. Dave’s Short Trig Course is from Clark University and offers a basic intro to trigonometry.

9. Purple Math is designed to help the struggling algebra student.

40 Best Online Math Resources for All Grade Levels

2. SCIENCE WEBSITES
10. Fiveable livestreams lessons in AP course material, such as AP chemistry.

11. Bill Nye the Science Guy is cool with teens.

12. Chem Matters has articles and videos searchable by topic.

13. Hippocampus has videos in chemistry, biology, physics and earth science.

14. Fizzics offers 150 science activities for older students.

15. Experiment Monkey offers games, videos, activities and experiments.

16. Virtual Urchin from Stanford University is an intensive study in sea urchins.

17. Anatomy Arcade offers games, interactive activities, flashcards, and videos.

18. Flipping Physics teaches through comedic videos and gifs.

19. University of California Museum of Paleontology has fun, interactive lessons dinosaurs, evolution, geology and more, including “What Did T-Rex Taste Like?”

40 Science Websites to Keep Kids Engaged and Entertained at Home

3. LANGUAGE ARTS WEBSITES
20. Hippocampus has videos in language arts, literature, grammar and writing.

21. Project Gutenberg has over 60,000 free ebooks.

22. Open Culture has thousands of free audiobooks.

23. Literacy Web from the University of Connecticut is a great resource for lesson plans and videos.

24. Poetry Foundation has a vast collection of poetry with info and discussion.

25. All in One High School offers its “easy peasy” curriculum free. It breaks it down by subject daily with exercises, printables, links to resources and videos.

26. Curriki has an expository writing lesson plan, as well as info on grammar and literature.

27. SAT Prep is a productive way to spend hours at home.

28. Turn It In guides high school students to write strong, original essays.

29. The University of North Carolina’s Writing Center has tips and tools for every aspect of writing.

30. Common Lit has essay passages and comprehension questions.

31. Purdue Owl is a great resource for correctly formatting essays. This is a good time for high school students to become familiar with MLA, APA, etc. before heading to college.

32. Good Reads offers reviews of thousands of books. Have kids pick a book to read and then post their own review.

33. English Grammar Online has a great variety of lessons for teaching English as a foreign language, but it also offers great games and activities that can be used at home or in the classroom.

+50 Awesome Reading and Writing Websites to Keep Kids Learning at Home

4. SOCIAL STUDIES
34. Hippocampus has videos in history, social studies, government, economics, humanities and religion.

35. History Matters is filled with great resources and info.

36. Sociology Source offers lessons, discussion prompts and activities.

37. Best History lets you browse by topic and then access lesson plans.

38. Women’s Natural History Museum has an online digital classroom database of lesson plans.

39. Crash Course by John and Hank Green offers videos diving deep into specific topics in sociology, psychology, history, government, etc.

40. Teaching History has lesson plans and materials for a huge range of events and time frames.

41. Historical Thinking Matters offers resources and guidance to help students develop critical thinking about history.

42. Stanford University allows students to participate in free lessons and assessments from their history department.

43. Digital History offers tons of data on events in US History.

42 Fun Websites to Learn and Teach Social Studies From Home

5. ART AND MUSIC
44. Pixar in a Box offers behind the scenes looks at animation.

45. Violin Online offers free sheet music and beginner violin lessons.

46. Virtual Drumming turns computer keyboards into percussion sets.

47. Women’s Natural History Museum has an online digital classroom database of lesson plans.

48. Watch Know Learn has videos on artists and art concepts.

49. Google Arts and Culture has a new lesson or activity each day, such as cool things to do with your phone camera or a look into Frida Kahlo’s diary.

50. Creating Music lets users create and listen to their own musical masterpieces.

51. The Smithsonian has oral histories of jazz.

52. BBC Music Planet has videos showcasing music from around the world.

53. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has guides and discussion questions for many pieces of art.

54. The Art Institute of Chicago has free educator lesson plan packets.

55. Crash Course has very informative looks into art topics with authors Hank and John Green.

50 Online Art and Music Resources to Help Kids Learn and Create from Home

56. Artsology explores topics like “how do artists portray emotion through their work?”

57. Debbie Allen actress, director, choreographer and dancer, is teaching dance classes on Instagram live. Check out her Instagram page for the schedule.

58. Playbillhas a list of Boadway plays you can watch at home.

59. Bomomo is a cool digital drawing website that lets users doodle and create.

60. The National Gallery of Art has interactive activities and lessons.

Also check out:

• +50 Awesome Reading and Writing Websites to Keep Kids Learning at Home
• 40 Science Websites to Keep Kids Engaged and Entertained at Home
• The Best Online Math Resources for All Grade Levels
• These FREE Online Resources Can Help Continue Kids’ Learning From Home
• +100 Totally FREE At-Home Learning Printables Made By Teachers For All
• 50 Online Art and Music Resources to Help Kids Learn and Create from Home

 

[The Mountain]

Intro to Potions (Harry Potter Themed Chemistry)
ages 7-11

https://outschool.com/classes/potions-1-ssqXhY59?signup=true&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=fb_prospecting_selected_20191118&fbclid=IwAR04xPQSWlDVCIkayUx9OzB0DEK7f-5CAcF3ntL5hlTKDs8dwQ2jn_ogrmQ

Just FYI, this one costs money, and is sold out through the end of May at this point anyway.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

my oldest son could read by the time he was five which we were very proud of until he read the word "PULL" on the little red box on the wall at the daycare center and then did, "PULL" the fire alarm.

Ours did it at the hospital. I remember seeing a doctor run out of the ER with a fire extinguisher. Now it's funny. Then I was mortified.

 

[marsh]

45 places you can download tens of thousands books, plays and other literary texts completely legally for free

In an increasingly digital world, literature is evolving. Sales of e-readers continue to rise, yet the cost of digital books and texts has not necessarily decreased to the extent to which many init…

nothingintherulebook.com

45 places you can download tens of thousands books, plays and other literary texts completely legally for free

BY PROFESSORWUJanuary 10, 2017

In an increasingly digital world, literature is evolving. Sales of e-readers continue to rise, yet the cost of digital books and texts has not necessarily decreased to the extent to which many initially predicted. With authors’ incomes collapsing to near “abject” levels, and with public libraries under threat from swingeing public spending cuts, we felt honour bound to provide our fine readers with some valuable resources that could help save valuable money.

While we of course advocate supporting your local independent book store – and independent publishing houses – and would urge you to purchase copies of your books where you can afford to, below you can find a collection of 45 websites where you can download tens of thousands of books, plays and texts for free. Oh, and these sites are also all completely legal, of course!

Browse works by Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Joseph Conrad, William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Edgar Allen Poe and other famous writers here.

1. Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.
2. The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.
3. Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online (in fact, a lot of the books listed in subsequent sites here can be found at PG – yet we list the others as users may prefer different site’s interfaces, while the others below also help tailor searches for specific types of books or plays).
4. Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.
5. Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and children’s literature, but they’re all classics.
6. Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.
7. Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.
8. Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Lawrence to Joseph Conrad.
9. The Spectator Project: Montclair State University’s project features full-text, online versions ofThe Spectator and The Tatler.
10. Bibliomania: This site has more than 2,000 classic texts, plus study guides and reference books.
11. Online Library of Literature: Find full and unabridged texts of classic literature, including the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and more.
12. Bartleby: Bartleby has much more than just the classics, but its collection of anthologies and other important novels made it famous.
13. us:Fiction.us has a huge selection of novels, including works by Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Flaubert, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.
14. Free Classic Literature: Find British authors like Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus other authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, and more.

1. net: Here you can read plays by Chekhov, Thomas Hardy, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and others.
2. Plays: ReadPygmalion, Uncle Vanya or The Playboy of the Western World
3. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: MIT has made available all of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies, and histories
4. Plays Online: This site catalogs “all the plays [they] know about that are available in full text versions online for free.”
5. ProPlay: This site has children’s plays, comedies, dramas and musicals.
6. Public Bookshelf: Find romance novels, mysteries and more.
7. The Internet Book Database of Fiction: This forum features fantasy and graphic novels, anime, J.K. Rowling and more.
8. Free Online Novels: Here you can find Christian novels, fantasy and graphic novels, adventure books, horror books and more.
9. Foxglove: This British site has free novels, satire and short stories.
10. Baen Free Library: Find books by Scott Gier, Keith Laumer and others.
11. The Road to Romance: This website has books by Patricia Cornwell and other romance novelists.
12. Get Free Ebooks: This site’s largest collection includes fiction books.
13. John T. Cullen: Read short stories from John T. Cullen here.
14. SF and Fantasy Books Online: Books here includeArabian Nights,Aesop’s Fables and more.
15. Free Novels Online and Free Online Cyber-Books: This list contains mostly fantasy books.

1. The Literature Network: This site features forums, a copy of The King James Bible, and over 3,000 short stories and poems.
2. Poetry: This list includes “The Raven,” “O Captain! My Captain!” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde.”
3. Poem Hunter: Find free poems, lyrics and quotations on this site.
4. Famous Poetry Online: Read limericks, love poetry, and poems by Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Lord Byron and others.
5. Google Poetry: Google Books has a large selection of poetry, from The Canterbury Talesto Beowulf to Walt Whitman.
6. com: Read poems by Maya Angelou, William Blake, Sylvia Plath and more.
7. com: Rudyard Kipling, Allen Ginsberg and Alfred Lord Tennyson are all featured here.
8. com: On this site, you can download free poetry ebooks.
9. Banned Books: Here you can follow links of banned books to their full text online.
10. World eBook Library: This monstrous collection includes classics, encyclopaedias, children’s books and a lot more.
11. DailyLit: DailyLit has everything fromMoby Dick to the more recent phenomenon, Skinny Bitch.
12. A Celebration of Women Writers: The University of Pennsylvania’s page for women writers includes Newbery winners.
13. Free Online Novels: These novels are fully online and range from romance to religious fiction to historical fiction.
14. net: Download mysteries and other books for your iPhone or eBook reader here.
15. Authorama: Books here are pulled from Google Books and more. You’ll find history books, novels and more.
16. Prize-winning books online: Use this directory to connect to full-text copies of Newbery winners, Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer winners.

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[marsh]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sNPUmZQels&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0Ve80g33nZ_SBky3C_4BzfRnMOPC-aceQs7h7vcdb9rRbwwKSN8kf6YFw
3:49 min

SIGHT WORDS FOR KINDERGARTEN | The Kindergarten Sight Word Dance Song | Sight Words Song

 

[marsh]

An Australian zoo is running a 24/7 koala livestreaming service

It’s fair to say that 2020 has not gotten off to the best of start. Across Australia (and the world) most of us are now sequestered in our homes, doing our best

www.timeout.com

An Australian zoo is running a 24/7 koala livestreaming service
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By Nicola DowsePosted: Wednesday March 25 2020, 1:42am

Photograph: Supplied
It’s fair to say that 2020 has not gotten off to the best of start. Across Australia (and the world) most of us are now sequestered in our homes, doing our best to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 by physically distancing.

While we can’t hit restart on the year, we can make the most of a not-so-fantastic situation by staying indoors and watching flipping adorable koalas snuggle on livestream. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane, Queensland, currently has 15 livestreams running, eight of which are solely focused on its resident koalas.

The koala-ity content includes livestreams of the koala forest, joey enclosure, and the koala cuddle train – so called because the branches in this enclosure are a favourite spot for the koalas to form “cuddle trains” which are literally as cute as they sound.

Koalas are famously sleepy critters (they’re asleep 18 to 20 hours a day) but if you’re lucky you might see them eating, socialising or interacting with keepers.
There are other Australian animals you can stream too, including dingoes, skinks, bearded dragons, birds, platypodes and a perentie (the fourth largest monitor lizard in the world).

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary’s livestreams are available all day, every day – head on over to its website or YouTube channel to watch.

 

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https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/for-educators/learning-at-home

Here are some guided activities for parents and educators to support children’s learning at home.

We hope these resources will help you encourage a sense of wonder and connection to the natural world, even in this time of turmoil.

For students in grades K-12, we offer a week or more worth of daily activities and instructions for parents to facilitate the exploration of different scientific concepts. All of these activities are broken up by grade level and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, so you can be assured that your children are learning content that will help them keep pace academically.

FOR EDUCATORS
Activities for younger learners
Grades PreK–K
Explore three ideas to engage young children — outside or inside with recommended apps.
See activities for younger learners

• 
  FOR EDUCATORS
  Activity plan: Is it alive?
  Grades K–2
  Use this six-day guided activity plan to help your child understand more about living and nonliving things, how living things survive, and what we can do to help wild animals.
  See the activity plan
• 
  FOR EDUCATORS
  Activity plan: Do science!
  Grades K–5
  Help your child think more like a scientist by making observations, asking questions, designing scientific investigations, seeing patterns over time, and exploring the natural world. Includes five days worth of guided activities, plus the option to continue for several weeks.
  See the activity plan
• 
  FOR EDUCATORS
  Activity plan: Kelp forest exploration
  Grades 3–5
  Use this four-day guided activity plan to help your child learn about the interdependence of natural ecosystems, with a specific focus on the kelp forest.
  See the activity plan
• 
  FOR EDUCATORS
  Activity plan: Ocean plastic
  Grades 6–12
  Use this six-day guided activity plan to help your child learn more about plastic pollution and to encourage them to take action to reduce single-use plastics.
  See the activity plan

Online courses and additional resources coming soon
In the coming weeks, we’ll be adding additional resources, including online courses, to this page. Please check back

 

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20 Amazing Places You Can Visit Without Leaving Home

A world's worth of bucket-list experiences to have virtually (for now)

www.travelzoo.com

20 Amazing Places You Can Visit Without Leaving Home

 

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COVID-19 Resources for Schools, Students, and Families | U.S. Department of Education

www.ed.gov

U.S. Department of Education

COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel

 

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Neighborhood 'bear hunts' are an adorable cure for kids' social-distancing boredom

We're going on a bear hunt.

mashable.com

Neighborhood 'bear hunts' are an adorable cure for kids' social-distancing boredom

AMANDA YEOMar 25, 2020

With schools closing and people warned to stay home due to the coronavirus, parents and caregivers are working extra hard to keep their children engaged and not climbing the furniture. Fortunately it's still safe to take brief, socially-distanced walks outside, provided there aren't many others out and it's done responsibly.

Just be careful — there are bears out there.

To heighten the fun of these jaunts, and keep local community spirit alive, people around the world are putting stuffed toys in their windows for children to spot on "bear hunts."

It isn't clear exactly where the trend started, but it's gained momentum over the past few days.

SEE ALSO: Bear cam highlights are the best coronavirus activity

The global hunt appears to have been inspired by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury's 1989 children's book We're Going on a Bear Hunt, with many using the hashtag #GoingOnABearHunt. In the popular story, a group of brave children surmount numerous obstacles in a quest to "catch a big one" on a beautiful day.

Various furry creatures have appeared in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, while CTV News journalist Daniele Hamamdjian's London street became a wildlife habitat after she shared the idea in a WhatsApp group.

 

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Home schooling going great!

 

[marsh]

The Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel Is Absolutely Breathtaking

So beautiful.

www.housebeautiful.com

The Vatican Museums Have Free Virtual Tours, Including One Where You Can See the Sistine Chapel

 

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Mom Creates Periodic Table Battleship Game To Teach Her Kids Chemistry

When they play, they’re in their element.

www.huffpost.com

Mom Creates Periodic Table Battleship Game To Teach Her Kids Chemistry
When they play, they’re in their element.
By
Elyse Wanshel
01/14/2016 04:51pm EST | Updated October 3, 2016

Do you have 2D, or rather, calcium?
KARYN TRIPP
Do you have 2D, or rather, calcium?
Think all creative teaching methods argon? Think again!

A neon light went on over one mom’s head when she thought of a brilliant way to teach her kids chemistry -- a periodic table version of the game Battleship.

“I came up with the idea because we play Battleship a lot at our house,” Karyn Tripp, a mom of four who has been homeschooling her kids for the past seven years, told The Huffington Post. “I was studying chemistry with my kids and we were trying to think of a fun way to memorize them. So it just came to me!”

Turning a game about sinking naval ships into a learning vessel wasn’t a titanium failure, either. Her kids loved playing the game and her oldest son, 11, is now a huge fan of chemistry.

 

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Watch this Forgotten Gem: 'Where the Wild Things Are' as Read by Christopher Walken

We've found a real relic from the time of internet past!

nerdbot.com

What better time to dig up things from the internet past then during a crisis? With everyone volunteering to read stories aloud to families and folk that may find themselves bored, why not one of the originals from the net? Posted in 2011 is an absolute gem where Christopher Walken himself reads to us Where the Wild Things Are.

This reading is not only just unique because of Walken’s very uncommon style, but because he adds descriptive and hilarious commentary to the pictures presented by the popular children’s tale. This reading will have you chortling along as things take a very interesting turn as far as a children’s reading goes.


not for kids -lol

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKNaYlzssbc&feature=emb_logo
9:33 min
Where the Wild Things Are narrated by Christopher Walken

 

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tracing dino shadows

 

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teach the alphabet using sign language

 

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National Theatre Live: updated YouTube streaming schedule for free plays every Thursday

One of the highlights of lockdown (not a phrase we thought we’d ever be saying, tbh) has to have been the weekly theatre dose administered by London’s National

www.timeout.com

The National Theatre is going to stream a free play every Thursday night

By Andrzej LukowskiPosted: Thursday March 26 2020, 12:54pm

Photographer: Johan Persson

As numerous theatrical institutions across the world have opened up their archives in response to increasing lockdown restrictions, all eyes have remained on one organisation: the National Theatre in London, which has the greatest archive of cinema-quality recordings of stage plays of any theatre on the planet, thanks to its formidable NT Live programme. It’s designed to beam productions from the NT into cinemas across the country, but there are of course no cinemas in operation at present. So the NT is switching to its YouTube channel. From April 2, under the banner of National Theatre at Home, every Thursday (7pm GMT/2pm EST) will see a new National Theatre play released – free to watch for one week – along with bonus content including cast and creative Q&As and post-stream talks.

There’s a definite emphasis on family-friendly good cheer for the line-up so far, which kicks off with a big hitter: Richard Bean’s beloved farce ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’, starring a pre-chat-show-days James Corden. Over the next few weeks you can expect a string of family-friendly titles, though naturally there will be those hoping for some of the real NT Live blockbusters, notably ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Frankenstein’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch and ‘Coriolanus’ starring Tom Hiddleston.

The initial programme is:
April 2 ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ by Richard Bean, starring James Corden. Read our review.
April 9 ‘Jane Eyre’, adapted by Sally Cookson. Read our review.
April 16 ‘Treasure Island’, adapted by Bryony Lavery. Read our review.
April 23 ‘Twelfth Night’ by William Shakespeare, starring Tamsin Greig. Read our review.
Additionally, the National Theatre will be rolling out National Theatre Collection study resources to pupils now learning at home.
The NT has also confirmed that live performances won’t restart until at least July.
For more information on National Theatre at Home, click here.
For other ways you can watch plays while London’s in lockdown, click here.

 

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LEGO Stamping: It's Art with Bricks! - Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls

Do some LEGO stamping! Use LEGO bricks as stamps with an ink pad for an amazing art activity that kids will love.

frugalfun4boys.com

I have been wanting to try stamping with LEGO® bricks ever since I saw the idea on Filth Wizardry. Well, I’m glad we finally tried it because it was a huge hit! I would highly recommend this art activity for kids of all ages. My 4, 6, 9, and 11 year olds all enjoyed it, and I had as much fun as they did. This is a delightful way to spend an afternoon at home, but would also work well for an art class or a LEGO® club!



Stamping with LEGO® bricks is super easy, but I do have a couple of important tips.

We used ink pads that I bought at Hobby Lobby. They were $2.99 each, and although they were not the highest quality option in the store, I was really impressed with them!

Build handles onto your stamps.

We wanted to use several of our plates (flat bricks) for stamping, but those are hard to hold onto without getting ink all over your fingers. Attach a couple of bricks to each one to give kids something to hang onto.



Put felt under your paper.

This tip is really important. We put a piece of felt under our paper to improve the quality of our stamps. If you stamp on paper that is on a hard surface, you’ll only get the outline of the brick to print. Putting a sheet of felt under the paper gives it just enough “squish” to make the entire brick come out nice and clear.

Cover your work surface.

I covered our table with paper, which ended up being a really good idea. The kids ended up getting ink on the paper when they set the stamps down between uses.

The ink does wipe up easily off the table, but it was so much easier to just throw the paper away. The paper I used was from a large roll that we bought at IKEA.



Cleaning up was not difficult at all. The water-based ink washed off the LEGO® bricks quite easily. I would recommend not using yellow or white bricks, however. I chose to use some light colors just to see what would happen! These were the only two colors that showed some ink residue after washing.

What can you create with LEGO® stamping? All kinds of things!



The boys had fun creating spaceships, buildings, and random patterns. I made the robot one! And the circular pattern.



One of the boys figured out how make a millennium falcon and some tie fighters.

 

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[lonestar09]

Thanks to all who have put the time into finding these sources. Several of them are interesting to me. Thank you!

 

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This startup from a small city in Oregon wants to revolutionize the metal processing industry

Disruptive technology is embraced in sectors where customers are eager to tear up and replace old models for doing business. That’s not so much the case in the metals industry,… Read More

www.geekwire.com

Whale experts launch free, virtual marine biology camp to entertain and inform kids
By Lisa Stiffler on March 19, 2020 at 10:44 am

Oceans Initiative marine biologists Erin Ashe and Rob Williams with their daughter Clara and their dog aboard their research vessel. (Oceans Initiative Photo)

The scientists running Seattle-based Oceans Initiative more typically apply their marine mammal expertise to research on endangered orcas or conservation of white-sided dolphins in Washington’s Puget Sound.

But the upside-down world of the new coronavirus and the closure of their nearly 6-year-old daughter’s school inspired them this week to launch what they’ve dubbed their Virtual Marine Biology Camp.

Tune In: Oceans Initiative’s virtual marine biology camp streams Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. PST

“We thought maybe it would be fun for a group of us to be able to hang out online and talk about whales and dolphins and other marine life,” said Erin Ashe, executive director and scientist with the nonprofit institute.

Absent skilled tech support or a communications team, Ashe and her husband Rob Williams, who is chief scientist with the organization, used the tools they had available. They’re live streaming their camp on Facebook and Instagram, responding to questions sent in ahead of time and during the session.

They expected a half dozen kids to tune in.

Oceans Initiative’s Williams and Ashe. (Oceans Initiative Photo)
Instead, some 1,500 viewers nationally participated in their initial session on Monday.

“Since we’re all stuck in our homes and isolating, this is a way to bring each other together,” Williams said.

The PhD-holding whale scientists readily acknowledge that they’re not professional educators or media producers, but are thrilled with the chance to share information about the Northwest’s rich marine ecosystem and help kids feel more connected to the environment, wherever they live.

“Our community has really stepped up and actual teachers are sending us tips,” said Williams, and others are giving pointers about how to set up their cameras to better effect. “People are helping us fill this void while kids are stuck at home.”

With their initial success, Ashe and Williams are hoping to host the camp every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. PST to help families occupy some time while kids are out of school due to the coronavirus.

Upcoming broadcasts include a conversation with an Oceans Initiative scientist who’s studying orca poop to see if it contains parasites that could sicken the region’s struggling orcas. They’ve scheduled a shark expert to join them next week. They’re planning to talk to a wildlife photographer colleague who uses images to find unique, identifying features on marine life in order to count and track individuals. The scientists want to help kids think about how they could apply that tool to photographing their own cats and dogs.

In their normal day jobs, Ashe and Williams have done research to help inform Gov. Jay Inslee’s orca recovery task force. They’ve published scientific papers examining the effects of vessel noise on orcas and their ability to hunt salmon. The nonprofit has studied the inadvertent killing or “bycatch” of local porpoises and dolphins in salmon gillnets. Farther afield, the organization helped develop a low-cost, animal counting tool kit that can be used in developing countries to tally populations.

Families shared drawings inspired by Oceans Initiative’s initial camp on Monday. (Oceans Institute Photo)

The scientists are excited to connect more broadly through the daycamp. Williams is already thinking about outfitting their research boat with a camera that could capture the action in the field.

“It would be so fun to go out looking for whales and dolphins out in the Salish Sea,” said Williams, using the name for the stretch of inland water that runs from Puget Sound up into British Columbia.

For kids and adults living anywhere, he said, “it would be fun to see in real time, this is what a day in a marine biologist’s life looks like.”

The scientists are delighted by the positive response to their camp. Through it, Ashe said she has a new appreciation for how hard it is to be an educator.
“It underscores how incredibly valuable teachers are,” she said.

 

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HOW TO MAKE A CARDBOARD DOME

This is so cool!!!

www.smartschoolhouse.com

You’ve come to the right place!

18 crafts for kids

Amazing Ideas for Kids to Try
1. Microwave a Bar of Soap
This is what happens when you microwave a bar of Ivory soap! Then you can tear it up, color it, and mold it into shapes! It’s not wet and messy, either!

2. Calm Down Glitter Bottles
Fill them with water, fine glitter, and glue! So mesmerizing. Great for calming kids down.

3. Glow in the Dark Bubbles
Break a glow stick and make glow in the dark bubbles – must try!

4. How to make HUGE bubbles
6 cups water, 1 cup corn syrup, 2 cups of Joy dish soap. My kids LOVE these – definitely saving this! (source unknown).

5. How to Make Microwave Playdough
Definitely saving this! Source Unknown.

6. Bubble Refill Station
How to make a bubble refill station using an empty laundry detergent bottle – so smart!

7. Homemade Paint Recipe
We tried this and it works! Check it out here. Source unknown.

8. How to make cloud dough
We love this stuff!

9. Make a garden outside of a playhouse
So fun! Let children tend to their own landscape Source unknown.

10. Kids Stained Glass Art
Watch our video for how to make stained glass art with glue & food coloring:



11. How to Make Chalk
Check out this homemade chalk recipe. It works! Source Unknown

12. Paint a picture on a picnic table
This is a great idea for kids during the summer! Source unknown.

13. How to Make a Dome Out of Cardboard
This is so cool! Kids will love playing in one of these.



14. How to Make Floam
How to make FLOAM using styrofoam cups. Super easy and inexpensive way to make this fun play floam!

15. How to make a solar lighthouse
Use terra cotta pots, a small lantern, and a flameless candle. Neat!

16. Painted pineapples
A fun DIY idea for kids or even a DIY summer party decor idea. So colorful, so creative, and so easy!

17. Turn a tent into a sandbox
Buy a kids tent and fill it with play sand. The kids can stay our of the hot sun and then you zip it up to keep animals and rain out. Win win! (source: Linda Caouette on Facebook)

18. How to make a Flip Flop Wreath
Get sandals from the dollar store, glue them together as shown, add WELCOME letters and other embellishments, then hang it as a summer wreath. Love this easy DIY wreath idea (source: Facebook).

19. Garden Hose Flowers
Make this DIY fence decor using supplies from the dollar store! Pick out various cups, bowls, plates and platters. Attach them together to create pretty flowers then hang them on the fence. I recommend using Goop marine glue because it is heavy duty and UV resistant (find it here for a few dollars). Use a green hose to make the stems. GREAT idea and easy to do! Source Unknown

20. Washcloth Butterflies
Step by step visual instructions teaching you how to make washcloth butterflies. This is an adorable and easy craft idea for adults and kids too!



21. Tissue Paper Flowers
Tissue Paper Flowers are simple, quick, and inexpensive. They are also a fun craft idea for kids! They make great decorations and party décor.



22. Dish Soap Silly Putty
The easiest silly putty recipe that my kids can’t get enough of! You only need 2 ingredients and you most likely have both in your kitchen already.

 

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Daily Crossword

Your free daily crossword puzzles from the Los Angeles Times. Follow the clues and attempt to fill in all the puzzle's squares. Check back each day for a new puzzle or explore ones we recently published.

www.latimes.com

L.A. Times free crossword puzzles

 

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Home | Quarantain.me

www.quarantain.me

Free resources list

 

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7xXZxRDFUU&fbclid=IwAR0ftiD_jCkdpXzNzlIunaqFwNHQmtR1CdptMogGAP1fpnr3DCDChyUGJ8M
5:59 min


Zoom for Kids: How to Set Up the Zoom App for Students and Parents
•Mar 15, 2020


Scattered Solutions
For parents, teachers, and children to learn how to set up Zoom for your student to ease the transition to a Zoom classroom for online learning lessons.

 

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGXI0KpkR50&fbclid=IwAR3GDR343X3bEaacNfngQBnL0KlDunjGx0_X-ZqBu9INBCmR7-98plRWo9o&app=desktop
1:42 min

How to Use Google Meet - Detailed Tutorial

•Mar 24, 2020


Teacher's Tech

This video tutorial will show you how to use Google Hangouts Meet. Learn to communicate in Google Meet through text video conferencing, screen sharing and chat. Use Google Hangouts Meet across all of your devices to effortlessly communicate learning or business. Get started with Google Meet today! Google Hangouts Detailed Tutorial: https://youtu.be/DPZb3D0500I

 

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(Just click on the blue words and then click on the link that appears below the words.)

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
3/23 San Diego Zoo SPRING BREAK FUN	3/24 The Louvre in France - Egyptian Antiquities SPRING BREAK FUN	3/25 The Great Wall of China SPRING BREAK FUN	3/26 Boston Children’s Museum SPRING BREAK FUN	3/27 Canadian Egg Farm SPRING BREAK FUN
3/30 Guggenheim Museum, New York	3/31 Live Webcams from the Georgia Aquarium	4/1 Mars (Google) Mars (NASA)	4/2 Yellowstone National Park - visit several locations in the park.	4/3 Hubble Control Center - Lobby Hubble Control Center- Operations Room (NASA)

**Want to add a LEGO engineering challenge each day, too? Please CLICK HERE for the 30 day LEGO challenge from Free Homeschool Deals: Affording the Homeschool Life.

 

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1 box of gelatin mix, unflavored. 10 cups bird seed, we use Pennington birders blend. You prepare the gelatin as directed on the box (the one I get calls for 1 cup cold water and 1 cup hot water). Then mix in your bird seed. We usually do 1/2 of it at a time, so half the gelatin and 1/2 the bird seed. I spray cooking spray in the eggs so they come out easier and then pack with the mixture. Put in fridge to let set up (I put our in a glass container as some of the gelatin might come out the holes in the eggs).
10 cups makes 3-4 dozen normal size eggs.

 

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Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

www.artsyfartsymama.com

Kids will love this Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion!

We have always enjoyed making different slimes and play dough throughout the years. My daughter especially loves getting her hands dirty and learning the science behind it all. With only two ingredients, this play dough is simple to make and has a pillowy-soft texture that kids of every age will love squishing and molding.

The main ingredient in this play dough is Johnson's® Baby lotion. It's great to use in this play dough for those with sensitive skin, because it's clinically proven to be gentle and mild, as well as being hypoallergenic and paraben-free. You can find a variety of baby lotion scents and formulas at Walmart in the baby products aisle.

In a mixing bowl, add in two cups of cornstarch. You could use a flour instead, but the cornstarch is a lot finer and will help give the dough an extra soft texture.

Next, add in one cup of baby lotion. Any variety of Johnson's Baby lotion will work great for this project, and will leave your hands feeling baby soft! Depending on which lotion you use, your play dough will have a different scent. The Honey Apple is one of my favorites! We also use the Bedtime baby lotion for a play dough that's great for calming before bedtime.

Stir the ingredients together until it combines and starts to thicken up. The dough will be crumbly.

At this point, use your hands to knead the dough and help the ingredients to combine evenly. The more you knead it and heat it up with your hands, the dough should become less crumbly and more soft and pliable. If the dough seems to be a little too dry, you can work in a small amount of lotion. If it's too sticky, add in a little more corn starch.

Now the play dough is ready to be molded, squished and played with for hours of fun!

Just for fun, you can also add in glitter to create a sparkly play dough! Any kind of glitter will work: fine, chunky, multi-colored, holographic, iridescent, or even all of those glitters combined can be used for a bit of glimmer and glam!

Flatten the dough out and sprinkle as much or as little glitter as you'd like in the center.

Fold the dough over and knead it until all of the glitter has been distributed. You can flatten it out and knead in more glitter at any time if you want more sparkle.

To color the dough, I first split a batch into small balls. Flatten out a ball, and add in 2-3 drops of food coloring into the center.

Knead the color into the dough. The coloring will get on your fingertips while kneading, so wear gloves if you are worried about it.

Once the color has been mixed in, the dough is ready to play with! Combine different colors of dye to create a rainbow of colors, and know that the food coloring doesn't rub off onto little hands while playing. Gel food coloring colors are more vibrant, but the dye seemed to come off more on my hands every time we played with the dough, so I don't recommend them for this project.

Kids are going to love this play dough! It smells fantastic, feels super soft, and is sure to keep them entertained for hours. When it sits out or gets cold, the dough becomes crumbly. However, if you work it with your hands and warm it up, it seems to go back to normal after a few minutes. When the dough isn't being played with, keep it in a sealed plastic bag or container for a few days.

 

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Free Cirque Du Soleil Shows Online Are A Breathtaking Escape From Your Couch

Bring the magic of cirque to your living room.

www.narcity.com

Free Cirque Du Soleil Shows Online Are A Breathtaking Escape From Your Couch (VIDEO)
Stephanie White4 days ago
Updated on March 27 @ 09:21 AM

Escape and join the circus — without ever leaving your living room. For all of you going stir crazy at home, we found the most magical experience you need to try. You can now virtually watch free Cirque du Soleil shows right from your home.

Due to COVID-19, the circus company had to suspend many of their shows temporarily. But they just announced some good news for all of us practicing social distancing: you can watch shows for free thanks to their new CirqueConnect online hub.

On March 27, starting at 3:00 p.m. EST, you'll be able to watch a 60-minute special featuring moments from their popular shows Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities, O, and Luzia.
Right from your screen, you'll be able to enjoy a first-row seat experience that is sure to leave you dazzled.

Sheila Morin, CMO of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, said that "now more than ever, our fans need the distraction that spectacle brings, a break from the chaos. We want to do our part to spread joy, even from afar, directly to them."

Plus, you'll feel like you are part of the show, through the new virtual reality app. It makes you feel like you've stepped onto the stage, and the performers will seem so close that you can nearly touch them.

virtual reality aspect, you'll also need one of the supported devices like an Oculus Rift.
There will also be extra multimedia footage to enjoy, too. For example, you'll be able to sit back and learn how the performers do their wild make-up looks.

@cirquedusoleil
embedded via

Or you can join for a free at-home workout. Artists Elizabeth and Guilhem Cauchois will lead you in a fitness class of their weekly workout program.

There will be music soundtracks to enjoy, animated series and much more. Who else knows what they will be doing with all their spare time now?

Cirque du Soleil
Price: Free
Why You Need To Go: You can watch Cirque du Soleil for free.

There will be music soundtracks to enjoy, animated series and much more. Who else knows what they will be doing with all their spare time now?

Website

 

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Webcams, The Houston Zoo

www.houstonzoo.org

Tune in to the Houston Zoo Webcams and enjoy a live look at animals that call the Houston Zoo home! See the herd of Asian elephants wander through their enormous habitat. Watch as giraffes nibble lettuce fed to them by guests at the feeding platform; you could join them on your next visit. See the rhinos roll in their mud puddle or the flamingos float next to a waterfall. See the chimpanzees interact with guests at their window or snooze in a hammock.

 

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Dolly Parton will be reading bedtime stories for your kids on Thursdays

Calling herself "the book lady," Dolly invites everyone to join her for "Goodnight with Dolly."

www.9news.com

Dolly Parton will be reading bedtime stories for your kids
Calling herself "the book lady," Dolly invited everyone to join her for "Goodnight with Dolly."

Author: WBIR Staff
Published: 11:28 AM MDT March 30, 2020
Updated: 3:00 PM MDT March 30, 2020

Want someone new to help entertain your kids while we are all staying at home?
Dolly Parton posted on Facebook Monday that she will start reading to kids every Thursday night for the next couple of months.

Calling herself "the book lady," Dolly invited everyone to join her for "Goodnight with Dolly."

"I want you to join me April 2 when I start 'Goodnight with Dolly.' I'm going to be reading some stories from the Imagination Library," she said.

You can join the event here.

That will be a treat for the kids who love getting their book from Dolly every month in the mail and to be honest, many adults will love it as well!!
________________________________________

Zoo Knoxville is "Bringing the Zoo to YOU!" during coronavirus closure

You can visit with the animals and keepers at Zoo Knoxville even while they're closed due the coronavirus pandemic

www.9news.com

Zoo Knoxville is "Bringing the Zoo to YOU!" during coronavirus closure
You can visit with the animals and keepers at Zoo Knoxville even while they're closed due the coronavirus pandemic

Author: WBIR Staff
Published: 12:37 PM MDT March 18, 2020
Updated: 3:16 PM MDT March 26, 2020
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — While we can't visit our animal friends at Zoo Knoxville during its closure because of the coronavirus pandemic, we can still see how everyone's doing!
"We would like to use this time to take people behind the scenes with our staff to keep you connected with your favorite animals. Our team will be here providing the excellent care that they do every day," the zoo posted on Facebook.
The zoo is also asking for financial help right now. Being closed means they are missing out on thousands of dollars of revenue a day that they use to help feed the animals. If you can help, please click here.
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Its "Bringing the Zoo to YOU!" programs started on Tuesday with a little St. Patrick's Day party for the gorillas:video!

On Wednesday, zookeeper Charlotte showed us how the staff cares for some baby birds! They have 19 cockatiel and budgie fledglings in the flock with four brand new chicks and six eggs waiting to hatch!video!

African elephants Tonka and Edie have a playdate. Zookeeper Rachel will join us to talk about the elephants socializing while we are not!video!

Zookeeper Madison is in Kids Cove to talk about Silver laced Polish chicken “Phyllis” while she takes a dust bath!video!

DId you know--- Zoo Knoxville has one of the most successful red panda programs in the world? Here's how curator Sarah takes care of them!video!

You think your kids are messy? Try feeding a bunch of chimpanzees?!video!

We're getting some giraffe and tiger love in this video!!! Check it out!

Here's a visit with Al the Aldabra giant tortoise,video!