Need some resources to keep your young child occupied during social distancing? Try these.
March 20, 2020 | Emily Ford Sytsma
You’re making a heroic effort to balance work, distance learning, and family life. And sometimes you just need resources to keep your young child occupied so that you can take that Zoom meeting, clean up after the constant meal prep, or catch your breath for a minute. Teachers in the Mustard Seed School Early Learning division have compiled this list of websites that you can try.
And let us know if you have anything to add to the list!
Name of Website/App |
Info |
Notes |
| Wet-Dry-Try | Handwriting Without Tears app teaches proper letter formation and coordinates with curriculum for preschool and K | Only for iOS. Costs $4.95 App and other resources are being offered for free from the company |
| Epic! -Kids Books and Video | Subscription-based ebook service for kids age 2–12. Kids and parents can choose from more than 35,000 books to explore online or offline, on the Web, or on mobile devices. | iOS and Android
Free 30-day membership but will cost after that. |
| Jr.BrainPop.com | Offering free access to games and activities for K-3 that children could click through by themselves. (Some preschoolers could manage this as well). | Free registration required. Parents sign-up and make a password in one step. |
| StorylineOnline | Celebrities and authors read favorite and current children’s books aloud. | |
| Khan Academy Kids | Fun academic-based games. Individualized to meet your child where they are academically. | iOS and Android, free
Parents do need to log in, quick and easy set-up |
| Duck, Duck, Moose Math | Math practice app used in kindergarten classroom so K students will be familiar with the format.
Actually, most Duck, Duck. Moose apps are great. |
iOS and Android, free |
| Duck Duck Moose Reading | Basic phonics skills are practiced in a fun and child-friendly way. Actually, most Duck, Duck. Moose apps are great. | iOS and Android, free
You can turn off the background music. |
| Study Clerk | Website required a quick, free sign-up. Very engaging dance-long activities and other physical activities (mindfulness and brain-body challenges included). | iOS and Android, offered free by the company during the COVID-19 crisis |
| A Big List of Podcasts for Little Kids | Setting up your podcast app with a playlist for your child is one great way to keep them engaged while they play or color. Wow in the World is especially recommended by Ms. Sytsma’s daughter! | It will take a few minutes to set this up and to teach children how to listen but there are so many podcasts with engaging stories and STEM facts presented in fun ways. |
| Scratch, Jr. | Coding app: “As young children code with ScratchJr, they learn how to create and express themselves with the computer, not just to interact with it.” | iOS and Android, free |
| Highlights Magazine apps and online | Several of these free apps would interest children who are 3-6 years-old.
Online games are available. As well as informational videos at a young child’s level. Also videos of jokes for those who need a laugh! |
|
| Bugs and… apps by Little Bit Studio | Playful games including pre-academic concepts (numbers, letters) geared toward preschoolers. | iOS and Android, $2.99 each |
| abcya.com | Available as an app or web format | Separated by grade level and curriculum focus. Great math and phonics games that are engaging and fun for kids. |
| Storytime from Space | NASA astronauts read STEM-centered picture books from the international space station! | Some have better quality than others. |
| 30 Days of Legos Calendar | Downloadable Lego challenges for 30 days. | Not screen-based after downloading. Must have Legos at home. |
| Scholastic Learn at Home | Scholastic is providing daily activities for PreK-K level students. A different theme every day. | This does require a little adult help to maneuver. |
| Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood | Videos, stories, songs, games. Covers topics like friendship, feelings, self control, routines.
Sign up for daily free newsletter with activities and tips for play and learning at home. |
Free website
Many PBSKids Apps for Andoird and iOS – $2.99 each |
| EduPrintables | Thousands of free printables, games, quizzes and fun stuff | For PreK & elementary |
| Enchanted Learning | The Enchanted Learning website has over 35,000 K-12 pages (with a focus on elementary school) covering a wide range of topics — information pages, printable worksheets, crafts, coloring pages, etc. | They are providing temporary free subscriptions to teachers whose school is closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. |
| eSpark Learning | eSpark differentiates instruction in reading and math with activities kids love. | Recommended by Ms. Postema who is home-schooling the grandkids in Michigan! |
| Beanstalk | Beanstalk Interactive, a Denver-based interactive educational pre-school children’s content company, announced today that it will be offering free membership during the Coronavirus outbreak. | Free membership
20-30 min long videos of activity |
| Bedtime Math | Bedtime Math is a national nonprofit that ignites kids’ curiosity and learning by unleashing the fun in math. It offers playful online math problems for parents to do with their kids every day, as well as lively hands-on games. Research has shown that both offerings reduce kids’ math anxiety, increase their love of math, and lay the groundwork for greater math achievement. | Good site for K and up
Great activities without screen. |
| Activity Village | Activity Village provides thousands of colouring pages, crafts, puzzles, worksheets and more, for parents and teachers. | Free themed bundles of printable activities for children – including puzzles, coloring pages, fun worksheets and more. |
| ABCMouse | ABCmouse.com is a subscription-based, educational for children ages 2 through 6 years. | Children learn about a variety of subjects through online books, games, songs, puzzles, online art projects, and printables that cover six different academic levels. |
| Anywhere Teacher by School Zone Publishing | Online Education Learning App (Ages 2-8) – 2,000 Activities, Preschool Learning Path, Playzone | One-Month Free subscription with code ATHOME |
| broom | We’re a multi award-winning network of play libraries empowering families to connect, talk and play together at home | Early childhood
Needs to sign up but free |
| BrainPOP | BrainPOP’s animated movies, creative thinking tools, interactive quizzes, and playful assessments have made a difference for millions of students. | K-12
Videos of emotional support |
| Breakout Edu | Math, science | k-2 |
| Club SciKidz | Daily free science or cooking experiment to do at home | K-2 video lessons and experiments |
| Coloring Nature | Attractive line drawings (including scientific, artistic, whimsical) for coloring | Printable coloring pages of the natural world |
| Lakeshore Free Resources | Lakeshore Learning offers TONS of free craft and activity ideas, worksheets, lesson plans and more. Many printables. | This free resources area is available to all. The rest of the website is fee-based. |
| Libby App | Download digital books and audiobooks from local libraries. Anyone with a library card (at least in whatever cities/states use Overdrive) can access it. | Always free
Need to have a library card to use |
| Little Twisters Yoga & Emotional Wellness | Free at-home kids yoga lesson plans | 100% discount for coronavirus time |
| Madeleine Editions | Madeleine Editions presents beautiful, immersive story experiences for modern families. Their mission is to help children ages 3~8 cultivate an ear for languages and a taste for the creative arts | We’ll be offering the entire Madeleine Editions of multimedia, multilingual stories for children 3~8 completely FREE until March 27th. (Books are in english-chinese or english french) |
| Kids Do Piano | Online piano lesson | Free month of lessons with coupon code PIANOATHOME |
Related Stories
June 5, 2023
35+ summer activities for you and your preschool student that don’t involve screens
Learn More