What’s On at Your Place

With the changes to events and activities in public spaces we came up with a list of things you can do at home to connect and have fun!

WAYS TO GET ACTIVE INDOORS/YOUR OWN BACKYARD

Try GoNoodle www.gonoodle.com it’s a great online resource with movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. Enjoy Free at-home kids yoga lesson plans with www.littletwistersyoga.com Harness the power of YouTube by learning new skills through tutorials. For example: You could try learning specific stances and basic positions for karate, Taekwondo or another martial art (supervision required.) Create an obstacle course. You can gather up old toys and things you find in storage or your garage and get creative. There’s lots of ideas online too if you’d like some suggestions. Create a fun age-appropriate ‘circuit workout’ for the family Try online workout videos or maybe you’ve got some DVD’s you can try together. You could even design your own exercise class and take turns teaching them. Don’t forget to create a music playlist of your favourite tunes. Set up a tent in your backyard and go camping. Sneaky Cleaning; have a competition to see who can pick up the most dishes/clothes/ socks/Legos/etc laying around the house (and putting them back where they belong). The winner gets to pick the next board game or activity you play. Dance. Pick a favourite song. Choreograph a dance routine to it. You could also try having a disco in the dark. Cover all the windows, turn off the lights, turn up the music and literally dance like no one is watchingcause they can’t see you! Have a Nerf battle.

FUN THINGS TO DO AS A FAMILY

Board games to bust the boredom! If the kids don’t know the joy of ‘Passing Go’ and collecting $200, now’s the time to introduce them. Bust out the paint, glue sticks and the pipe cleaners - it’s craft time! There is limitless online resources to give you ideas; but one of our favourites is: www.allkidsnetwork.com for crafts, activities, mazes, dot to dots and more. Learn the Japanese art of paper folding: Origami. Have a toddler? Keep them busy with these indoor activities www.busytoddler.com Storytime done differently – check out Storytime from Space- hear real Astronauts read books in orbit at www.storytimefromspace.com or head to www.storylineonline. net to hear kids’ books read by famous people. Use that pile of unmatched socks next to the drier to create Puppets! You can also use paper bags or stuffed animals with their stuffing pulled out. Great ideas and resources on how to create your own puppet show can be found at www.micheleepuppets.org Do your kids love comics? Why not help them create their own comic book. Check out www.comiclife.com

Hit the Kitchen; bake a cake, cupcakes and cookies. Try your hand at making pickles and jam (yum). Get competitive: have an untimed Iron Chef/ Masterchef style contest with the whole family. Choose an ingredient, and everyone makes a different dish (and dinner). Card Games; play games you know and learn new games. If you haven’t heard of ‘spoons’ it’s awesome. Once you’ve mastered the standard version of ‘Spoons’ try ‘Ultimate Spoons’ you place the spoon across the room, or at the end of an obstacle course. You can also try building a house of cards.

Get old school with salt dough. Recipes to make your own are easily found online.

LEGO ® !!! Search ’30-day LEGO ® Challenge’ online - there are tonnes to choose from. You can also play a modified version of Pictionary with LEGO ® . Make a list of animals and objects, write them on individual pieces of paper, place them in an empty box and draw out one when it’s |your teams turn. Set a 5-minute time limit per creation, see if your partner can guess it before time runs out. 1 point scored per correct guess. Upcycled Art; find broken toys or things that need to be thrown away around the house. Get out the sticky tape and glue and challenge the kids to create a sculpture. (This is a fun way to spring clean). Word Scrambles; pick a sentence from a book. See how many words the kids can make from the letters in the sentence. Create a secret code. Once you’ve got the symbol key, write a letter to someone in code and get them to decipher the message. Have a backyard pool? Why not have a paper boat race? Try making your own musical instruments (there are hundreds of ideas online), then make your own band and create some songs. Read books. Have a prize for the family member who reads the most books during a set amount of time. Did you know your local library has online resources like e-books, audiobooks and online magazines too?

Love to act? Why not put on a family play? You could stream it to family and friends. Or you could create a home movie with your smartphone video. You’re probably thinking about all the adventures you’d like to be having, so why not use this time to plan your next family holiday? Watch a favourite movie or cartoon on mute and make up your own dialogue. Put that pen to paper; everyone loves to receive a handwritten card or note. Take the time to write a letter to your grandparents or other relatives or friends. You could even make and send a Thank You card to a Community Hero. The classics: puzzles and wordfinds. You can even create your own or play online at www.jigsawexplorer.com Play dress-ups. Play traditional Hide and Seek or change it up with Hide and Seek with objects: One person hides the object in the house, and everyone else tries to find it. Try fostering an animal from your local shelter. Animals are a great way to reduce stress and maybe you’ve been thinking about getting a furry family member for a while and this is a good opportunity for your children to learn responsibility for a new pet. Get creative: Learn to sew or knit or try making jewellery. Order a kit online or use materials from around the house. Start a home garden (indoor or outdoor)

THINGS TO LEARN ONLINE

The World Wide Web gives a window to the outside world when we need to stay inside. Here’s some of the best resources we have found to help you keep exploring and learning;

ABC Education brings you thousands of free, curriculum-linked resources for Primary and Secondary students and teachers www.education.abc.net.au you could also try www.scholastic.com/learnathome or the www.khanacademy.com

Everyone loves Dr Seuss. Read, play games, and hang out in www.seusville.com

Learn a language with Duolingo www.duolingo.com. You could then watch your favourite movie or cartoon in the language you’ve been learning. (Most DVDs have other language options.)

Get musical; lessons and exercises for all abilities at www.musictheory.net and www.sightreadingfactory.com Don’t have an instrument? Play online with a virtual guitar, piano, drums and more at www.virtualmusicalinstruments.com

Space science for kids www.nasa.gov/kidsclub

Learn to code with www.codeacademy.com or, www.kodable.com or even Star Wars www.code.org/starwars

Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with people from around the world. www.nitrotype.com

Take a trip to a museum:

Head to London and explore Egyptian mummies at the British Museum www.britishmuseum. withgoogle.com

Love art? Head to the world famous Metropolitan Museum of Art with Metkids www.metmuseum.org/art or the Louvre in Paris, France where the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci calls home www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

TRAVEL THE WORLD (AND BEYOND) ONLINE

Explore the arts, history and foreign places with Google Arts & Culture.

Explore geography and animals with National Geographic www.kids.nationalgeographic.com and watch animals (in real time) with www.earthcam.com The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games. Enjoy the tour! www. kids.sandiegozoo.org Tour Yellowstone National Park www.nps.gov/yell Travel along the Great Wall of China www.thechinaguide.com/ destination/great-wall-of-china

Explore the surface of Mars with the Curiosity Rover.

www.accessmars.withgoogle.com Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? You loved playing it as a child; introduce your kids to the fun www.carmensandiego.com

Have an Idea you’d like to share? Let’s create an ‘ideas collective’- if you have a fun activity that’ll benefit other parents, hit us up on our socials or email your ideas to admin@pakmag.com.au if you do one of these activities, snap a pic and use the hashtag #pakmagshare so we can see you having fun.