Hi everyone! It’s September 23, 2021, and this link is a little dated now that I look at it! But it’s also one for the history books. COVID (or Stupid COVID as I have taken to calling it lately out of supreme frustration that it’s STILL here) isn’t what it was back on March 15, 2020, when I originally created this page. That said, many of these resources are still awesome while others are defunct. Skip on over to my newly created link Happy Healthy Kids for updated ideas and activities for keeping those kiddos busy and keeping your own oxygen mask on! For a March 2020 view of the world, read on:
Okay, take a big, long, deep breath. Then take one more. Wew. You got this!
This is a crazy time and anxiety is running rampant. It’s an unspecified but very real symptom of the virus that shall not be named. Normalcy has been back-burnered, most unexpectedly, and for vague durations. That’s a recipe for serious mental angst.
Our family has been keeping to ourselves – call it quarantine, call it social distancing – completely officially since Thursday, March 12. Since then I have been gathering resources to keep my elementary- and middle school-aged kids busy, active, and engaged – and to keep me sane.
After we caught our breath on Thursday from our dramatic exodus from our regularly scheduled lives, I created a daily schedule for them. Routines are really good for kids. Now, when there is so much uncertainty in their lives and days upon days of “free time,” routines matter all the more to quell their anxiety, keep them busy, and to prevent them from interrupting every second of every one of your waking hours. Here is an example of the schedule we made:
I spent this morning organizing all of the great web sources I have collected. As my oxygen mask moment of the day for all of you, I compiled them here to share. I continue to update this list. I am sorting them, loosely, into those for elementary/middle-school ages with a couple near the bottom that might interest teenagers. Basically, we have enormous amounts of free time suddenly so if there is anything in particular you ever wanted to explore more deeply, now is the moment.
Take a deep breath, create a routine, be creative, and stay well.
For Elementary and Middle School Ages:
60+ Websites for Teaching Math
Scholastic Learn at Home Resources
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems OR if the link is too busy just google it on youtube
San Diego Zoo Tour and Activities
National Geographic Funny Fill-Ins (Like Mad Libs!)
Coloring Pages (for Kids and Adults)
Collection of Digital Games For All Ages
Tweens and Teens:
Collection of Digital Games For All Ages
You can also write to the elderly who are now quarantined in nursing homes across the country without access to any visitors.
Or plan a trip – even if it’s just a dream! Part of the fun of travel is dreaming about and learning about places you want to go.
And don’t forget all the incredible online resources from our public libraries. I remain in awe that libraries let you have their stuff for FREE. There are journals, newspapers, movies, and, of course, books! Many libraries let you access all of those things – for FREE – right from their websites. So much opportunity! So much to do!
Happy St Patty’s Day! We are making Irish soda bread and doing an all-things-green scavenger hunt today. Just something different.
Be creative, take lots of deep breaths, get some exercise, and be well.
Before masks were a required, commonplace thing and well before we had access to high quality surgical masks for everyone in the US, the MAIA Impact School teamed up with Humans in Action for a triple impact. Buy a Mask and Donate Three: make masks for those in the U.S. who need them; for every mask purchased THREE are donated to rural Guatemalans who otherwise would go without; AND create work for now unemployed garment industry workers within Guatemala. It’s incredible and so amazing they could pull all of this together! Awesome example of a pivot and innovation under duress, as well as MAIA’s signature out-of-the-box thinking even as the Coronavirus impacted lives across our worlds.
Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First 