If you have kids and don’t homeschool I know it’s starting to feel real. With many schools closed for the next two weeks, some closing for the month, and a few closing indefinitely, you may be wondering how you’re going to cope with being shut in during the quarantine.
Mark Starling asked me to compile a few online spots you and your rugrats can enjoy, and not drive each other crazy. (Each Thursday at 6:43am, listen to me talk trash about tech on First News 570 or stream using the iHeart Radio app)
Before we get into the tech. Many of our public libraries have outstanding digital resources at your disposal. Many libraries feature digital checkout for ebooks, audiobooks, and games you can play while trying to maintain sanity.
Doodle
When I was a young lad in school, Hell, as an older lad now, I’d find myself drawing in the margins and daydreaming of space travel and fighting dragons. If you want to learn how to doodle the right way, the Kennedy Center’s Artist-in-Residence, Mo Willem, hosts Lunch DOODLES. It’s a video series hosted in the Kennedy Center’s new community studio and your kiddos can learn to sketch, draw, and make something new. New episodes are posted at 1pm, Monday through Thursday.
Netflix and Chill, with Friends?
Brand spanking new on the Innernets, is Netflix’s new product, Netflix and Party. NnP is Netflix, except with inline group chat. (An idea I came up with about 13 years ago during out LOST chats) You login, invite your friends, and you watch a movie. While you watch, you can chat in real time with the chat feed streaming alongside the movie. I know Mark asked me to exclude streaming, but I think this is a great idea. Especially, since many birthday parties, sip and paints, and get togethers have been canceled. This is an opportunity for friends to connect virtually and enjoy something many of us like. Watching movies. I just wonder if there’ll be much live “chillin'” during these watch parties.
Keep Your Kids Smart
A lot of parents are fretting that their kids’ IQ will take a nosedive during the quarantine. I, for one, have noticed my kids reverting. Keeping your kids sharp can be fun with quiz apps. My friends have been using Kahoot! to create mini quizzes they can throw onto their kids. You can make impromptu quizzes and spring them on your kids using their homework assignments for material.
Learn a New Language
All of this in the house time is the perfect opportunity to learn a new language. MANGO Languages is a top rated app many people have used to learn a new language or brush up their skills on one they already know. The interface is colorful, and there are hundreds of lessons you can take. Instead of playing Facebook group games using predictive text, you could actually communicate with someone a world a way.
Be Scholarly
Back in the day, nothing beat getting that Scholastic Book Club catalog and begging my parents to buy me $100 worth of books that were available nowhere else. Actually, I just wanted the Madlibs and stickers to give girls. Fast forward, and Scholastic has gone digital, baby! Scholastic has a Learn at Home with grade appropriate content for your youngin. The site is easily navigable and includes a mix of super simple interactive content and stories your kids can read online.
Make Something!
Yesterday, I was on a call with one of the designers with my company, and we were talking about kids driving us nuts, and he said something really profound, “I’ve been telling every kid I know to go out and make something.” This is truly a great time to make something. My wife made some dope beats for her podcast using Garageband. You can make a new song, and possibly sell it. Or you could produce a podcast yourself and publish it on Buzzsprout or Podomatic. Download a trial edition of Scrivener and begin pinning your novel, why wait until NaNoWriMo. Take a class at Coursera. They have a phenomenal subscription program and you can learn something new in weeks. Download Virtual DJ for free and learn how to own the crowd.
Go Outside
Actually, just plain go outside. Many of us are working from home these days, and our kids are driving us nuts. We’re telling our kids to go outside, you should too. Adding a daily, mid-day walk is a great way to get exercise and add depth to your routine. The temperature is getting warmer, trees are budding, and the birds are singing. Just don’t congregate with 250 of your friends. Law enforcement is taking social distancing seriously.