Resources for Education and Entertaining Children while in Lockdown

We have put together a number of ideas and pieces of inspiration for making entertaining and educating your children at home easier during lockdown.

The UK went into lockdown back in march, with all schools closing and the majority of children being educated from home. For many parents - particularly working parents - balancing home schooling, working from home, and family life has been difficult at times. 
 
Many parents are struggling in regards to how they can amuse, entertain and educate their children while stuck at home with limited resources and limited outside involvement. By this point, most parents have used their arsenal of rainy-day entertainment such as baking cookies, painting, salt dough, homemade playdoh, and hide and seek.
 
Lots of parents are struggling in their new roles as teachers, housekeepers, home-based workers, and entertainers. To help lighten the load and make staying at home with your children a little easier, we have created a guide to all of the best resources for education and entertainment while in lockdown. 
 
Joe Wicks (The Body Coach) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo5DyRzH6Mc: At 9am daily, Joe is doing PE lessons, live, for everyone to join in, totally free. The best bit about this, is that they are all stored on his YouTube channel so if you do end up having a lazy morning, you can start it whenever you wish. He is also doing classes for older adults and people with mobility problems too. 
 
The BBC - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize: The BBC are running daily education activities for all ages covering all aspects of their daily learning, from Geography to Religious Education. A couple of lessons are set a day on your chosen subjects, with an informational video and then activities to complete online or via a downloaded spreadsheet. 
 
British Sign Language – www.british-sign.co.uk: Their online course has been discounted to £3 for a year's access, This course contains 10 lessons and covers: Fingerspelling, Numbers, Colours, Deaf Awareness, Introductions, Family, Relationships, Descriptions, Hobbies, Time, Money, Days, Months, & Seasons, Food & Drink, Emotions, Relationships, Animals, Clothing, and Conversation. Also specialist vocabulary for education, medical, retail, transportation and home settings. 
 
Twinkl - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/: Twinkl is an online resource centre, which have set up a specific section for home learning due to the Coronavirus., free of charge. It has various printable worksheets and activities for all ages and subjects. They also provide links to daily online classes, including phonics, PE and Maths. It also sets out weekly planners and timetables, including activities for children to do during their lunch break. 
 
YouTube: YouTube is one of our most amazing free resources that all parents should be taking full advantage of, if you ever wanted to know how to make a monster out of toilet roll, which clearly we all do, then YouTube will have a video of it. Crafting is a great way to keep the kids entertained and to use up that ever mounting bag of recycling. Try going to YouTube and typing in any of the following into the search box:
 

• Toilet Roll Monsters 
• Moving Paper Fish 
• DIY Princess Crown 
• Toilet Roll Ladybug 
• Plastic Bottle Rocket 
• Egg Head Cress Heads 
• Glitter Sensory Bottle 
• Bird Feeder  
• Paper plate Jellyfish 
• Tissue Box Monster 
• Paper Bread Necklaces 
• Thumbprint Family Tree 
• Fairy Jar 
• Foam Paint 
• Bug house 
• Multicoloured Flowers 

 
Some of our carers have been keeping busy with these activities which can all be found on YouTube.
 
Hopefully, the above guide will help to make entertaining and educating your children at home, a little easier and more enjoyable.