It's Going To Be A Long 3+ Weeks

All (in-person) schools have been shut down in our state, starting this week, for three weeks (at least for now, although they implied it might go longer). We are doing home based schooling with online materials and worksheets provided by school. It's been a challenging couple of days trying to get the kids on a schedule and working on school work. Since they are home, they see it more as a break from school instead of home schooling. Eventually we will get into a good routine.

They may also be going a little stir crazy since we have been not going out with them since Friday to maintain social distancing and kids are super germ carriers. Yesterday we at least got to take a bike ride/walk when we took the dog out. There was no one else out. Today it is raining, so I need to find some physical activity for them to do indoors (maybe pushups and jogging in place?).

I'm making a list below of some ideas to help keep the kids busy. If you have any other ideas or links, please let me know in the Comments and I'll add to this!

I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

WORD FINDS/CROSSWORD PUZZLES:

• Here is a complete (I think) list of my Word Finds/Hunts/Crossword Puzzles. I also have some of the more popular ones down below.
• Rainy Day Word Find (Because it's supposed to rain for the next 3 days. Yay.)
• Spring Time Word Find (Even though it had hail just a couple of days ago, my daffodils are coming up and I am really looking forward to warmer weather. Just not the pollen allergies.)
• Back To School Word Find
• Sharks Crossword Puzzle
• Dr. Seuss Books Word Find
• Read a Book Day Word Find (better for older kids/teenagers/adults)
• Dog Themed Word Find (towards the bottom of the post)
• Dinosaurs 
• Summer Time Crossword Puzzle  I know it's not summer yet, but could still be fun.
• Kids and Babies Crossword Puzzle
• Doctor's Office: Word Find 

SCAVENGER HUNT:

• Indoor Scavenger Hunt 
• Summer Scavenger Hunt (can probably be done from your own yard) 

BAKING: My kids love helping in the kitchen, although it's mostly the taste testing part. I have lots of recipes on here that can help make something delicious and use up time in the day!

YOU TUBE ART VIDEOS: (My youngest loves to draw and we found these the other day.)

• Mo Willems
• How To Toon

MOVIES: Movie theaters are also closed near us, but Universal is going to have some in-theater movies available for rent during this time. Here is a link to the article on CNBC.

SCHOOLING AT HOME: Many places are offering free videos or online options during school shut downs. I'm sure you have seen some of these before, and if you have any new ones, please let me know in the comments and I'll add them!

• Scholastic
• Khan Academy
• Museum Tours
• Educational Resource List
• Explore the National Parks with Google
• Online story times. Some libraries and/or authors are having online story times.
• Go Noodle (physical activity)
• eBooks: Our library is currently closed. However, many libraries offer ebooks through different apps (overdrive, Libby, hoopla, or cloud library, etc.). Amazon also occasionally has free books for the Kindle (device or app) as well.
• Shell-less Egg Experiment. We did this several years ago and it was really fun to do, even for me!
• Invisible Ink 

LOOK AT THE CLOUDS. I know we used to do this as kids, but I don't see as many kids doing it anymore. Find shapes, make stories about the clouds!

CRAFTS: I have a lot of craft ideas on here. Many have supplies you probably already have at home. Here are just a few:

• A-Mazing: Shoe Box Lid Maze
• Feed The Monster Game 
• Coin Toss Game. This was for St. Patrick's Day, but you could use bowls, boxes, etc for the targets and use plastic coins, Legos, or balls. Use a mixture of small and big targets and space them out in different distances to make it harder.
• Monsters In The Bath. Cut shapes out of foam sheets and use in the bathtub.
• Popsicle Fort/Castle 
• Fun Hand Soap Containers
• Make A Tic-Tac-Toe Board 

Update: I will be gathering old posts in themed groups and will be posting under a At Home Activities series. I hope this will help while everyone is at home.