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What To Do With Your Kids While You're Working From Home

What To Do With Your Kids While You're Working From Home

The current coronavirus global health crisis has people around the world adapting to the necessity of working from home. And with many schools and childcare businesses closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, parents are facing the added challenge of having their children home during the day; that is, having kids with them in the workplace.

Working remotely presents its own set of challenges. But challenges for these workers are compounded when kids are added to the mix. So what do you do with your kids while you’re working from home to keep them occupied so you can stay productive? Here are some suggestions offered by members of our team who are currently dealing with this challenge:

How To Keep Your Kids Occupied While You Work From Home

Educational Activities

There is a wealth of online learning platforms out there. And, in response to the current situation, many platforms that normally charge a fee have made educational resources available free of charge.

  • Scholastic — Scholastic’s Learn at Home program offers educational projects for students from pre-K through 6th(+) grade. The platform describes, “Even when schools are closed, you can keep the learning going with these special cross-curricular journeys. Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Kids can do them on their own, with their families, or with their teachers. Just find your grade level and let the learning begin!”

  • Mystery Science — Science lesson platform Mystery Science offers lessons designed to get kids to love science! Responding to the current situation, the platform is offering a free starter list of K-5 science lessons.

  • ASU For You — Arizona State University launched ASU For You to provide learning tools at no cost, including virtual field trips, library access, video lessons, labs and simulations in K-12 subject areas, and more.

  • Outschool — Learning platform Outschool typically charges for its small group video chat classes. But it’s currently offering these for free! The response to Outschool making these classes free was so overwhelming that the company had to impose a limit of $200 worth of free classes per family. This platform has courses ranging from Arts and Social Studies to Coding & Tech!

  • Skillshare — Online learning community Skillshare recently announced that it is making its more than 1,000 classes available for free to high school and college students for two months.

  • Varsity Tutors - Learning platform Varsity Tutors recently added free resources to help students and parents cope with school closures, like Virtual School Day and Virtual Summer Camps.

Video Content

  • PBS KIDS Video — The PBS KIDS Video app provides parents and kids with free access to thousands of videos and full episodes from top PBS KIDS series. As PBS explains, “The app provides a safe, child-friendly viewing experience for all ages.” PBS KIDS also recently launched a new free weekday newsletter that offers activities and educational games for kids ages 2-8.

  • The Kids Should See This — Video site The Kids Should See This offers its collection of 4,300+ kid-friendly videos free of charge. The content is parent-friendly too. The site describes, “TKSST champions smart STEAM, history, and culture-focused content by museums, organizations, and creators who celebrate curiosity, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, kindness, and other essential themes for all ages.””

Virtual Field Trips

  • Yellowstone National Park — The National Parks Service provides a fun way to explore some of its parks, including Yellowstone National Park, with virtual tours.

  • Google Arts & Culture — With Google Arts & Culture, your kids can explore museums around the world!

Other Activities

Lots of media outlets are compiling lists of suggestions for keeping kids busy during the current health crisis. Here is a small selection of those with some pretty good ideas:

It’s certainly an unusual and challenging time for everybody right now. We’re all learning together as we adapt to the situation presented to us. So don’t feel bad if your kids occasionally interrupt your video meetings, and, likewise, don’t judge other parents whose kids interrupt meetings. As we adjust our lives to deal with this global health emergency, have patience with your remote-working colleagues, know that everybody could likely use some extra kindness right now, and remember that we’re all in this thing together.

Have a great resource that didn’t make the list? We’d love to hear it! Let us know on Twitter.

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