Wellness & Fun Activities
Virtual Field Trips: are a great way to expose kids to new places from all over the world. We’ve rounded up some virtual field trips that you can take with your kids. There are also lesson ideas, activities and book suggestions to extend the learning for each type of destination.
ART MUSEUMS
Visit some of the best art galleries in the world virtually. From Paris to New York to Amsterdam, kids can see priceless works of art from the world’s most famous artists.
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Louvre Museum, Paris https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne
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National Gallery of Art, Washington DC https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-gallery-of-art-washington-dc?hl=en
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Metropolitan Museum of Art https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-metropolitan-museum-of-art
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Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/van-gogh-museum?hl=en
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Uffizi Gallery, Florence Italy https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/uffizi-gallery?hl=en
ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
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Choose a favorite painting or sculpture and create a copycat piece of art.
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Research an artist. This is a great book about some amazing artists kids should know about https://amzn.to/38QWQGf (affiliate link)
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Choose a piece of art to focus on. Describe it, tell why you chose it and how it makes you feel.
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Choose 2 works of art to compare.
ZOOS
Zoo webcams have allowed visitors to drop in on the habitats of some of the zoo’s favorite animal exhibits.
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San Diego Zoo https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/videos
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Zoo Atlanta Panda Cam https://youtu.be/_6wbfVWVk8Q
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Smithsonian’s National Zoo https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams
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Reid Park Zoo Lion Cam in Tuscon, AZ http://reidparkzoo.org/cameras/lion-cam/
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Ouwehand Park Polar Bear Cubs Rhenen, Netherland https://explore.org/livecams/polar-bears/polar-bear-ouwehand-twin-cubs-cam-2
ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
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Do more research on your favorite animal and make a guide.
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Research the habitat of your favorite animal. Use at home materials to create a miniature habitat.
AQUARIUMS
Just like with zoos, aquariums have used webcams to let you visit their exhibits virtually. In addition, some aquariums have set up virtual tours led by their staff to give visitors a more in depth look at their facility.
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Monterey Bay Aquarium https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-and-exhibits/live-web-cams
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Georgia Aquarium https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/ocean-voyager/
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National Aquarium Virtual Tour http://samuraivirtualtours.com/example/nadc/index.html
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Virtual Tour of the Seattle Aquarium
ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
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Research your favorite sea animal and make a presentation.
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Watch Finding Nemo or Finding Dory. Identify the types of sea creatures in the movie.
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Watch Disneynature’s Oceans
TRAVEL THE WORLD
In this day and age, it is easier than ever to travel the world without leaving home.
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Google Maps street view will allow you to visit almost any destination around the world. Check out this view from Pompei.
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Visit the Great Wall of China https://www.thechinaguide.com/destination/great-wall-of-china
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Virtually discover Yellowstone National Park https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm
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Tour England through this 360 video.
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Take a live look at Colonial Williamsburg.
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Go on a virtual field trip to Ellis Island.
ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
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Plan a trip to a new destination. What would you do, see, eat?
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Make a travel brochure for the destination you visited.
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Write a postcard from that destination. Include details about the place and what you can see there.
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS TO DO ON YOUR OWN
SPACE
NASA makes their entire media library publicly accessible and copyright free. No matter if you enjoy taking or just watching images of space, NASA has a treat for you. They have made their entire collection of images, sounds, and video available and publicly searchable online. It’s 140,000 photos and other resources available for you to see, or even download and use it any way you like. Read an artcile that explains what's available here, or go to this link to start exploring immediately: https://images.nasa.gov/
MUSEUMS
Google Arts & Culture teamed up with over 2500 museums and galleries around the world to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits!
British Museum, London
This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on the museum’s virtual tour.
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Google’s Street View feature lets visitors tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase without ever leaving home. From there, you can discover incredible works of art from the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary eras.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
This famous American art museum features two online exhibits through Google. The first is an exhibit of American fashion from 1740 to 1895, including many renderings of clothes from the colonial and Revolutionary eras. The second is a collection of works from Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
You can virtually walk through this popular gallery that houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914. Get a peek at artworks from Monet, Cézanne, and Gauguin, among others.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
One of Korea’s popular museums can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Google’s virtual tour takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin
As one of Germany’s largest museums, Pergamon has a lot to offer – even if you can’t physically be there. This historical museum is home to plenty of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and, of course, the Pergamon Altar.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Explore the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour of this iconic museum, so you can feel as if you’re actually wandering its halls.
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Anyone who is a fan of this tragic, ingenious painter can see his works up close (or, almost up close) by virtually visiting this museum – the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
European artworks from as far back as the 8th Century can be found in this California art museum. Take a Street View tour to discover a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
This less well-known gallery houses the art collection of one of Florence, Italy’s most famous families, the de'Medicis. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 specifically for Cosimo I de'Medici, but anyone can wander its halls from anywhere in the world.
MASP, São Paulo
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a non-profit and Brazil’s first modern museum. Artworks placed on clear perspex frames make it seem like the artwork is hovering in midair. Take a virtual tour to experience the wondrous display for yourself.
National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
Built in 1964, this museum is dedicated to the archaeology and history of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic heritage. There are 23 exhibit rooms filled with ancient artifacts, including some from the Mayan civilization.
The Louvre also offers virtual tours on its website.
NATIONAL PARKS
Below is a list of the national parks that are currently offering exiting video tours.
Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
This virtual tour lets you explore glaciers, fjords, and icebergs located in the Alaskan wilderness. Descend into an icy crevasse, kayak through majestic icebergs, and even see how a glacier melts and the effects that climate change has on this frozen terrain. Kenai Fjords has over 40 glaciers in the Harding Icefield, according to the National Park Service website, and the tour begins with a peek into Exit Glacier, one of the only accessible glaciers by road within the national park. https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/kenai-fjords/exit-glacier-tour
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
One of the most popular national parks in Hawaii is now totally accessible online. This virtual tour lets you explore the Nahuku Lava Tube, which is a cave formed by flowing lava, which can drain lava from a volcano during an eruption. On the tour, you can also enjoy the stunning view from the volcanic coastal cliffs, “fly” over an active volcano, and see the effects of an eruption from 1959. https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/hawaii-volcanoes/nahuku-lava-tube-tour
Mexico
Located in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, this popular park has over 100 caves. On this virtual tour, you can take a walk through the fascinating caverns, view incredible rock formations, and even see thousands of bats who live in the cave system. You can even “experience” life as a bat thanks to this park’s impressive simulation. https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/carlsbad-caverns/natural-entrance-tour
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
The beautiful, red and orange hoodoos of this famous desert landscape are now on full display, even if you’re in your living room. This virtual tour centered on Sunset Point lets you enjoy the star-filled night sky from this Dark Sky certified national park, get up close and personal with the park’s unique rock formations, and even take a horseback ride through the canyon from the comfort of your own home. https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/bryce-canyon/sunset-point-tour
Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
This remote and severely underrated park is located 70 miles west of Key West, according to the National Park Service website. Thanks to this virtual tour, you no longer have to book a seaplane or boat to get there. Visit the Civil War-era Fort Jefferson, swim through the third largest coral reef in the world, and even take an exploratory dive into a shipwreck from 1907. https://artsandculture.withgoogle.com/en-us/national-parks-service/dry-tortugas/near-little-africa-tour
Zoos with Webcams
Select a zoo to view its live cameras:
Here's a List of Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions Due to School Closings
Below we have the entire list of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings. We’ve provided direct links for you below. All you need to do is click the name and follow the instructions on that website to sign-up.