The Ultimate List of COVID-19 School Closure Activities for Kids

Just when we thought we were rounding the corner and heading for Summer, a new type of school break has been imposed on much of the country. School closures due to COVID-19 (more commonly called Coronavirus) are being announced state-to-state every day. This comes alongside a long list of dining, retail, business and government closures (including Disneyland!). These are unprecedented times in our country and we are all doing our part to hunker down for the greater good of our fellow countrymen.

These closures have parents scrambling to alter work schedules or find care for their children. For parents who suddenly find themselves filling the role of homeschooler, it can be quite a shock. If you find yourself thinking “I am not that type of parent. I can’t keep my kids occupied full-time.”, you’re not alone. To help ease some of your stress, we’ve compiled a huge list of school closure activities you can do with your kids while school’s out.

75+ 88+ School Closure Activities for Kids

**Have an activity to add? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll keep this list current!**

• Get outside. We are fortunate that in most areas of the country, winter is turning to spring. Being outside is a great way to take a deep breath, feel a sense of connection and normalcy with a touch of wild. Keep in mind that even simple neighborhood playdates are not recommended by most experts at this time. Ideas for safe activities outdoors:
  1. Backyard play
  2. Sidewalk chalk
  3. Sports like baseball, soccer or driveway basketball
  4. Gardening and seed starts
  5. Rock painting
  6. Build an igloo if you still have snow
  7. Have a scavenger hunt
  8. Start creating your own backyard movie theater for those long summer nights
  9. Go on a hike or nature walk
  10. Hopscotch
• Try a classic or something new, but get your family together and play a game, such as:
  1. Scrabble
  2. Monopoly
  3. Mexican Train
  4. Guess Who
  5. Pass the Pigs
  6. Sorry!
  7. Sequence
  8. Uno
  9. Apples to Apples
  10. Pictionary
• Learn something new from home. Nearly all of these websites are offering free programs in the face of the COVID-19 crisis and school closures.
  1. Scholastic Learn at Home
  2. ABC Mouse Academy
  3. Discovery Education
  4. PBS Learning
  5. Hippo Campus
  6. Smart Music
  7. Typing Club
  8. FunBrain
  9. Take the learning to the kitchen with kids recipe blog, Spatulatta
  10. Here’s an ultimate list of homeschooling websites blogger provided. Nice!
• Visit the zoo, virtually! The following zoo websites have excellent online content, virtual tours and animal cams, activities and games for kids to learn about animals. Check them out.
  1. San Diego Zoo Kids programs and live cams
  2. Atlanta Zoo panda camera
  3. Houston Zoo animal cams featuring 6 animals
  4. Atlantic White Shark Conservancy is doing a Facebook Live story hour.
  5. Monterey Bay Aquarium live animal cams
  6. Georgia Aquarium underwater cameras
  7. Check out the wildlife cams from the Audubon Society
  8. Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari Facebook Live sessions featuring Fiona the Hippo.
  9. ZooBorns compiles the newest baby animals from all the zoos and aquariums.
  10. Learn about all times of animals on National Geographic Kids.
• Tour our National Parks without leaving your house or dealing with long lines! Over 30 parks are featured at g.co/earth/nationalparks
• Build something, together. Dust off the old Legos and freshen up your engineering skills.
  1. Make something creative from Legos, like a candy dispenser.
  2. Lincoln Logs
  3. Kinex
  4. Dominoes
  5. Make a fort
  6. Try a PVC pipe project
  7. Build a rain shelter for your kids’ figurines and test it out in the next storm.
  8. Create a building using only toothpicks and miniature marshmallows.
  9. Use pool noodles and whatever structures you can find to create a marble race course.
  10. These engineering projects are great inspiration.
• Get crafty. Get our your craft kit or gather supplies and start getting creative.
  1. Make a bird feeder that will be ready for spring
  2. Gather pinecones during outside time and paint them
  3. Create something with pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, glue and other craft items
  4. Try one of these paper plate crafts
  5. Make music!
     1. a straw pan flute with plastic straws
     2. a shoebox ukulele
     3. a coffee can drum
     4. a paper towel roll rain stick
  6. Make natural paintbrushes out of sticks, leaves, branches and more.
  7. Make a wind sock out of an old can or toilet paper tube with some strips of fabric or tissue paper
  8. What kid doesn’t love to glue stuff? Bust out the Elmers and glue anything you can find… old buttons, earrings, beads, shells, cotton balls and more.
  9. Coffee filters make a great, inexpensive craft starter. Create anything from peacocks and butterflies to snails and flowers.
  10. For the big kids, try some origami.
  11. Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
• Science rules. Get your kids thinking scientifically with these science experiments and projects.
  1. Make slime
  2. Make your own play dough
  3. Make crystals with Borax
  4. Turn grapes into raisins
  5. Try the Cola and Mentos trick if you have them on hand
  6. Experiment with bread in different environments to see what creates mold
  7. Make a duck calling device using a straw
  8. Make a solar oven
  9. Build a marshmallow catapult
  10. Find out if oil and water mix

**We’re starting this list with 75 items and will add the ones you share below. Have an activity to add? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll keep this list current!**

Stay safe, everyone.

Even More School Closure Activities for Kids, From Your Suggestions

1. Suessville from Dr. Suess
2. Math instruction & reading at ABCya
3. Practice Math at Mathscore.com
4. Craft ideas and printouts at All Kids Network
5. Kids books read by famous people at StoryLineOnline.net
6. Geometry skills at CanFigureIt
7. Learn about country cultures around the world
8. Spelling Training
9. Online Yoga for ages 3-7
10. Complete list of zoos with live web cams
11. Actor Josh Gad (the voice of Frozen’s Olaf) reading books to kids nightly
12. NASA just opened up their image and video library!
13. SimplyE, the New York Public Library app allows anyone with a library card borrow any of the 300,000 e-books in the collection.
14. Author Read Alouds & Activities with additional educational resources.
15. Khan Academy offers free world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
16. Here’s a blogger who lists online music education games.
17. Try one of these Ivy League courses to learn something new.