Take your school into space with these off the wall home learning activities

WHILE crisis talks between Qld Teachers Union and the State Government are underway parents are grappling with the likelihood of schools closing down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some online and offline activities to keep your children engaged and learning from home.

WHILE crisis talks between Qld Teachers Union and the State Government are underway parents are grappling with the likelihood of schools closing down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there are some great online and offline activities to keep your children engaged and learning from the comfort of home. Here are seven activities to check out.

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1. Author of the much-loved Don’t Let the Pigeon … series Mo Willems shares some lunchtime doodles. All your children will need is paper and pencils.

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems – from YouTube channel

2. Take your imagination into space with Story Time from Space. Astronauts on the International Space Station read stories to your children from space. There are also activities to do.

Story time from Space – astronauts reading stories for children.

3. STEM Punks, a southeast Queensland-based business offers online classes for children, focusing on robotics, coding, space science, 3D design and more. The classes are led by professional teachers and help to create a mindset of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Small girls cooperating while repairing a robot in laboratory.

4. Hunt for teddy bears. It’s an idea that’s catching on for younger ones, where residents in neighbourhood communities are hiding teddies around their properties (visible from the footpath) for little ones to spot while they are out for a walk (maintaining a social distancing of 1.5m of course).

Two Young Girls Walking Through Summer Field Carrying Teddy Bear. Childhood innocence. Thinkstock

5. Have a crafternoon! It’s almost Easter and it’s not too tricky to whip up some craft activities for the kids, and it’s good for them. Craft is a great screen-free activity that allows self-expression and connection according to craft expert Shannon Wong. She has some egg-cellent templates you can download here.

Easter craft activities help kids with self expression and fine motor skills.

6. Baking a cake. It’s maths equations, science experiments and delicious. Australia’s Best Recipes has some great kids’ baking activities. Click here to see the collection and plan out your baking day.

Cooking at home can be a learning experience for children.

7. Daily PE lessons with Joe. He has his own YouTube channel in the UK and his daily PE lessons for kids in shutdown has gone viral. It’s a 30-minute daily live workout for kids, to “get everybody at home, get your trainers, jump up” and get moving. There are also shorter ones for the younger kids. Yesterday’s workout has had almost 3 million hits. Check it out here.

Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, teaches the UK's schoolchildren physical education live via YouTube on March 23, 2020 from his home in London, England.