How to Keep your Kids’ Minds Active while they #StayAtHome

After almost a month of school on pause due to COVID-19, parents have been looking for alternative ways to keep their kids engaged, while they stay at home. Look no further, our team at The Steam Project has put together a list of amazing resources that you and your kids can engage with online. We picked these online resources for their accessibility, ease of use, free content and opportunity for children to learn and practice important educational concepts at home. From our STEAM focused challenges to online educational games to online storybooks, these resources will bring you, your child and your family closer together, while keeping your kids making, playing and learning.

1. #StayAtHome STEAM Bingo x The Steam Project

This STEAM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Arts and Math) inspired game of bingo is a really fun way to engage kids with unique challenges that keep kids learning and making while they stay at home

• Win amazing prizes & engage with our community virtually.

• Runs March 30th – April 30th, 2020

• How to Participate: Register through Eventbrite, and you will receive instructions on how to join our Google Classroom.

2. #HackAtHome Design Challenge x The Steam Project

The STEAM Project is hosting free design challenges for students across York Region! Design challenges will feature the learning and use of new technologies such as 3D design and printing, laser cutting, vinyl cutting and T-shirt design, & more!

How to Participate: Register through Eventbrite, and you will receive instructions on how to join our Google Classroom. This will give you access to all of our challenges!

3. Toddlers to Kindergarten (Ages 1.5 – 6 years)

• Challenge your child with engaging activities that help them learn, grow and thrive

• Activities brought to you by experts in child development at McMaster University and The University of Toronto

• Activities organized by age group and various topics: (Ex. Pre-School Topics: Thinking & Learning; Social & Emotional; Movement; Language)

4. Scholastic Learn at Home — (Pre-K – Grade 9)

• Free resource full of exciting articles, stories, videos and fun learning challenges that children can complete at any time in any order

• Active learning journeys available on any device and provide your child with up to three hours worth of exciting learning experiences per day

• Choose a grade level (Pre-K & Kindergarten, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-9)

• Weekly Updates: Every Monday, the Learn at home page is updated with five more days of learning journeys/new content

• Daily Reading Quests: Learners at all levels can choose a story or article and complete a reading challenge, such as talking to a grown-up about one new thing they’ve learned or retelling the beginning, middle and end of a story using emojis! Sign-up for updates on the link to the page above.

5. Scholastic Home Base (Grades 3-6)

• Merges educational content with fun activities for kids to do online

• Safe and fun digital community for kids

• Trivia games, live chats with authors, etc.

6. Free Teachable Worksheets and Activities (Pre-K – Grade 8)

• Teacher-created free worksheets, activities and resources for parents at home

• Keeps kids engaged and learning at home

7. TrueFilx (Grades 1-8)

• Explore people, places and history or science and nature

• Free online books and videos that correspond to various topics in social science

8. ScienceFlix (Grades 1-8)

• Browse different topics in science, learn about experiments, instructions for diy experiments, learn about careers in science and read science news

• Dive into different topics about Earth Science, Space Science, Life Science, Health & Human Body, Physical Science, Tech, Math & Engineering

• Read and watch videos about the different topics

• Adjust content to different reading levels: Level 1, level 2, level 3

9. Audible Stories (All ages)

• Free stories for kids of all ages!

• Audible Stories is a free website where kids can listen to hundreds of audible audio titles across six different languages – English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese

10. Wonderopolis (All ages)

Wonderopolis is a fun-filled destination that provides a fascinating outlet for curious kids of all ages

• Learning, discovery, and curiosity, as well as the concept of sharing the experience with family members, are strongly encouraged throughout.

11. Starfall – Learn to Read (K – Grade 3)

At Starfall, have fun while you learn – specializing in reading, phonics & math educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for children K-3.

12. Unite for Literacy (All ages)

Unite for Literacy provides free digital access to picture books, narrated in many languages.

13. Storybook Online (All ages)

• Available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide

• Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners

• The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning children’s literacy website.