Dotted Orchid

My kid has been a bit of a history buff lately -- the U.S. Presidents in particular. I was looking for some age-appropriate sites and stumbled on the Smithsonian Kids site . The site has MANY things for the kids to see or do with categories such as: Art, History, and Culture light painting, the Post Office, the Civil War, coloring sheets, robots, etc! Science and Nature animal cams, geography, weather, food, outer space and more! Art Meets Science in the Collections birds, horses, tigers, elephants, and other animals in art. Art, History, and Culture in the Collections super heroes, Egypt, cats, art, Star Wars, skateboarding, music, outer space -- the list goes on! Science and Nature in the Collections  gems, insects, and plants

Lovepop has created some printable coloring pages for the kiddos featuring all kinds of critters. They also have a 3D paper flower pot and a couple of quick find & seek puzzles kids can do online.

Notable Children’s Digital Media 2020 provides a list of notable websites, apps, etc for kids 14 and under. As stated on their site: The Notable Children’s Digital Media list includes real-time, dynamic, and interactive media content for children 14 years of age and younger that enables and encourages active engagement and social interaction while informing, educating, and entertaining in exemplary ways.  To find out about more great digital media for children, visit the page for ALSC's Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award .

Primary posted a how-to for a 3-ingredient mug cake on their blog.

Adobe has been releasing new coloring books every week. These coloring books can be done in Photoshop or printed and colored on paper. The graphics are meant to appeal to both adults and kids. View the coloring books hhere.

Instructions from Good Housekeeping on how to have a Netflix Watch Party and watch movies together. You will all need to have your own Netflix account.

Good Housekeeping has some ideas on how to celebrate kid's birthdays at home during this time.

Make your own robot hand craft at home with Kidsburgh using simple supplies such as paper, drinking straws, strings, and beads.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has free online courses and guided activities for kids PreK to 12th grade.

Watch LEGO minifigures being put together and learn why there is a black square on their necks in this video tweet from LEGO .

View the San Diego Zoo Penguin Cam You can also view the San Diego Zoo's other webcams here . They have an archived panda cam, baboons, polar bears, apes, giraffes, koalas, platypus, elephants, tigers, burrowing owls, and condors!

People Magazine: Disney Parks Shared Their Official Churro Recipe So You Can Make Them at Home

View the video on YouTube: A Special Performance of "Rainbow Connection" from Kermit the Frog | The Muppets

Planet Pizza, dumplings with Bao, and other recipes are included in a series of short cooking videos for the kids. The Scary Mommy article has links to some of the measurements that the videos don't include. Cooking With Pixar YouTube Series

A new painting idea for the kids -- painting dandelions using empty toilet paper rolls .

The EQT Children's Theater Festival is going virtual May 14th to May 17th, 2020. Read more about the virtual festival and their full letter to the community here. They've included a Frog Stop Virtual Scavenger Hunt with submissions due May 17th. Each participant will be entered to win a FREE Milkshake voucher from The Milkshake Factory and could be featured on Pittsburgh Cultural Trust social media channels.

Visit boston.com to learn about the free online theater and history program through the link below: Boston.com: Rejoice, ‘Hamilton’ fans: Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his student program free online Theater meets history. Like theater? Hamilton fan? Check this out! Visit Eduham Home

1,000 ideas for entertaining kids while working from home. Click here to visit VFH + Kids.

Having been married at Fallingwater I am all for this. My kiddo isn't old enough to go on the tour yet, but we walk the grounds and retake some of the photos every year so I'll definitely be showing him the inside of the house using this! Click here to view the list of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings with virtual tours.

From Random House Parents - 23 Reading Games To Keep Kids Entertained If you're on Instagram check out @RandomHouseKids for more ways to keep the kids entertained. The latest schedule I saw in an e-mail is below. Sunday, 4.19: Sunday Activity Swipe Up Celebrate Earth month with these fun Lorax-inspired activities! Monday, 4.20: Book Recs Roundup Featuring books about Earth and all its creatures! Tuesday, 4.21: Virtual Storytime Join our virtual storytime, featuring The Lorax. Wednesday, 4.22: Trivia with Random House Kids Happy Earth Day! Our trivia will put your environmental knowledge to the test! Thursday, 4.23: Learn from Home Rob Franek, editor in chief of The Princeton Review, shares tips on this year’s upcoming AP exams. Friday, 4.24: #AuthorFeatureFriday Bug out with Bug Boys by Laura Knetzger, featuring a downloadable Bug Boys Diary! Saturday, 4.25: Saturday Snapshot We’re highlighting some of our favorite images and memes of the week!

Dolly Parton Will Read Children’s Books Online Every Thursday Night at 7PM as part of her Imagination Library invitiative. Read more about it here. View the Goodnight with Dolly videos here.

Phipps Conservatory Virtual Story Time Phipps Conservatory will be hosting a 15 minute virtual story time using Zoom every Wednesday starting April 22, 2020. Stories are read twice a day from 10-10:15 AM and 1-1:15 PM. Follow the link above to R.S.V.P.

Educational Resources while Social Distancing A blog post listing educational resources during our time social distancing by Beyond The Office WordPress development.

Relive your childhood and listen to LeVar Burton read stories to your kids. 'Reading Rainbow's' LeVar Burton To Livestream Readings Every Friday He'll livestream readings on Twitter at twitter.com/levarburton

The Pittsburgh Zoo is hosting a Virtual Wild Earth Day to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The Facebook post (linked above) reads: "We’re still celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with you virtually! Join us on Wednesday, April 22 as we celebrate Wild Earth Day with educational animal videos, downloadable activities, and more. Just visit our event page on Wednesday, April 22 to access the special Wild Earth Day content. 🌏 https://www.pittsburghzoo.org/event-wild-earth-day/ "

Moon Child Adventures has posted an idea for homemade projectors using your empty toilet paper tolls and saran wrap. Toilet paper projectors

Nickelodeon has produced a Paw Patrol Earth Day coloring page for the kids.

Travel & Leisure's list: 100+ Fun Things to Do at Home Right Now, From Virtual Tours to Animals Cams and More https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-tips/fun-things-to-do-at-home-during-coronavirus-quarantine Everything from landscapes to architecture, museums, theater, art, food & drink, Disney sites, and many other things all over the world along with some TV shows and movies.

Ford Coloring Pages Ford has created a coloring and activity book for the kids including connect the dots, trivia, a word search, etc.

PBS Kids Read-Along with Angela Sontomero My child is a bit old for this one, but today I saw a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Facebook post for PBS Kids Read-Along with Angela Sontomero. I didn't know they had these.

Go Noodle Get your kids moving with free videos from Go Noodle. My kid uses this at school, but you can also use it at home on your computer or stream to your TV. Go Noodle even has its own channel on Roku which is how we use it at home.

The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh is posting weekly schedules of virtual activities for kids including things such as crafts, story time, and dance parties. Some activities you do on your own and others you watch live on video with everyone else. Tonight, Friday, April 10th, there will be a DJ Dance party. Your kids can watch and listen and dance along with other kids through Google Meet. https://www.pittsburghymca.org/ywithfamilies

Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History has been posting links to activities for the kids to do at home all week. Today's is hatching your own dinosaur egg. Have you ever wanted to hatch your own dinosaur? With everyday household ingredients, you can conduct your own at-home science experiment by making and hatching a baking soda Dinosaur Egg! #MuseumFromHome https://carnegiemnh.org/super-science-activity-dino-hatch/

My mom saw this on Facebook and sent it to me. Get those kids outside on a sunny day! The photo shows a girl outside on a wooden deck with toy dinosaurs setup on the edge of a piece of paper so that they cast a shadow across the paper. She is creating a drawing by tracing the outline of the shadow.

Join the Houston Zoo for a Cheetah Check-In via Facebook Live Monday-Friday at 11 AM Central Standard Time.

Scholastic Learn At Home Projects for PreK to grade 9.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems! Daily online art sessions at 1 PM Eastern Standard Time

10 Historic Homes You Can Virtually Tour Buckingham Palace, Museums, Jefferson's plantation Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon, and more.

Live Video Streams From the Monterey Bay Aquarium While the aquarium is closed, the live video streams continue to run.

Carnegie Museums From Home View the museum's collection, connect via social media and the #MuseumFromHome and #MuseumMomentsOfZen hashtags, explore lesson plans and more.

Pittsburgh Pirates Printables The Pittsburgh Pirates have posted four printables if you need 5 minutes to yourself.

Listen to Betty White read "Harry the Dirty Dog" It's A Southern Thing has posted a video of Betty White reading the classic book "Harry The Dirty Dog"

Audible Stories Did you know? Audible Stories is offering free access for as long as schools are closed. Stories are offered in 6 languages.

Painters Tape Obstacle Course A Facebook video of an indoor obstacle course with painters tape.

Color a wooden fence with chalk. Here's an idea to get a little art time in -- use painter's tape to make a design on your old wooden fence and color it in with chalk.

Apps for Students With Special Needs—As School Buildings Shutter The coronavirus creates a unique challenge for students with special needs—educators share recommendations for apps to support learning at home.

25+ Fitness Studios and Gyms Offering Live-Stream Workouts During the Coronavirus Outbreak These free classes are available to anyone.

Common Sense Media: Free Online Events and Activities for Kids at Home Provide some structure and schedule to your family's day (updated regularly).

Stuck in a cramped space? This astronaut has some advice. Chris Cassidy is about to spend six months on the ISS. He knows a thing or two about living in a small space.

Can computers ever replace the classroom? With 850 million children worldwide shut out of schools, tech evangelists claim now is the time for AI education. But as the technology’s power grows, so too do the dangers that come with it.

During this time of change and a need to come together online more than we ever have I have been sharing links to various online resources for keeping younger kids busy and educating them. I decided to post them here so they are all in one place rather than scattered throughout bookmarks, Pinterest, and various Facebook pages and groups. Enjoy. I hope this helps even just a little bit.