Parents are working from home and are growing tired of hearing the same kids movies on repeat playing in the background. Along with trying to maintain a home school calendar, families are looking to bring some normalcy back into their lives. Now that we’ve had some time at home, our daily calendars are being filled up with at-home art classes taught by artists we love, live performances, museum tours, virtual field trips and bedtime stories read by some of our favorite celebrities.
Laurie Berkner – Free Live-Streamed Concerts
Weekdays 10 am ET
Families can join Laurie, direct from her house, for live “Berkner Break” concerts, streamed most weekday mornings at 10 am ET on her Facebook page. Laurie offers an abundance of songs, playful movement activities, stories, and more, performing such well-loved favorites as “We Are The Dinosaurs” and “The Goldfish (Let’s Go Swimming),” plus educational earworms like “Waiting For The Elevator” and “Look At All The Letters.”
Additionally, each weekday on Laurie’s social media, she’s posting a video of one of her songs for a morning Berkner Breakfast (7 am ET), an afternoon Berkner Break (3 pm ET), and an evening Berkner Bedtime (7 pm ET).
Alastair Moock – Virtual Concerts and Writing Contest
Grammy-nominated Boston songwriter Alastair Moock performed multiple online concerts for families and students last week, and he will continue to host shows in the coming weeks for quarantined families.
Tuesday, Mar 24. at 10:30 am ET Family Concert (all ages)
Friday, Mar. 27 at 1:30 pm ET Family Concert (all ages)
Also available for streaming at any time are these previously recorded “virtual assembly programs:”
Playing with Tradition (ages 5-10)
Music and Social Change (ages 11-16)
Finally, Alastair has also announced an essay contest for students in grades K-8 based on a new video for a song called “Be a Pain” from an upcoming album of the same name. For the essay contest, kids are encouraged to pick a name of one of the many historical and present-day leaders featured in the video (from Malcom X and Cesar Chavez to Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai), do some research and write a page about what this person did and how their work affects the world we live in today. Entries are due by Sunday, Mar. 29 and can be emailed to moockmusic5@gmail.com.
Budsies Live Sessions
Budsies is going live on their Facebook page every day this week at 10 am ET.
Join us at 10 am ET:
Mon., Mar. 23: Virtual field trip to learn about monkeys
Tue., Mar. 24: Reading with Molly the Fire Safety Dog
Wed., Mar. 25: Dancing with Ms. Danielle
Thurs., Mar. 25: Learning to paint
Fri., Mar. 26: Yoga for kids
L.O.L. Surprise Boredom Busters
L.O.L. Surprise will be posting #BBsBoredomBusters every day at 1pm PT, to their Facebook and Instagram channels. A tool for parents to help spark inspiration, different activities will include videos, trivia, challenges, activity sheets and more!
Brick Loot – LEGO Challenges
Brick Loot has partnered with Tyler Clites of LEGO MASTERS to bring you a daily build challenge. After you finish the challenge, post a picture to Facebook or Instagram #bricklootchallenge. Winners will be picked randomly every day. Build all the challenges and be entered to win the Grand Prize – the new LEGO Fiat set.
Cincinnati Zoo – Live Safari
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will highlight one of their amazing animals each weekday at 3pm ET. Don’t worry if you can’t tune in every day, all of the safaris will be posted on the zoo’s website and on their YouTube page.
Mo Willems – Lunch Doodles
Every day at 1 pm ET, the Kennedy Center’s official YouTube account will post a new lesson centering on Willems’ beloved characters.
LEGO – #letsbuildtogether
Daily play challenges, new play ideas and live build-a-longs will be shared on social media using the hashtag #letsbuildtogether and at www.lego.com/letsbuildtogether.
—Jennifer Swartvagher
Featured photo: Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
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