Virtual travel & from-home/at-home activities – PAGE 5
(for this time of isolation due to the coronovirus pandemic)
Zooniverse – People Powered Animal/Nature Research
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Take part in animal and nature research projects: from counting penguins to watching water holes or classifying manatee calls. This is People Powered research where anyone can take part in real cutting-edge research covering all sorts of fields, a chance to help unlock answers and contribute to real discoveries.
Natural History Museum – Virtual Museum
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Visit London's Natural History Museum from home with virtual tours, an interactive experience about Hope the blue whale and audio guides narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Or join their Nature Live Online team (live on Tuesdays 12:00 & Fridays 10:30 BST) for interactive talks with scientists and cutting-edge research.
Chris Packham – Self-Isolating Bird Club
visit Twitter page»
visit Facebook page»
Live weekday mornings at 9:00 am (BST) on Twitter, conservationist and TV wildlife presenter, Chris Packham, is hosting a live wildlife watches and nature chats; often joined by guests via video. Also running the Self-Isolation Bird Club which encourages members to share bird sightings from windows and gardens at home.
Virtual International Wildlife Film Festival
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Enjoy the International Wildlife Film Festival from the comfort of your own home! Screen 50+ wildlife films and documentaries free to stream for the week of the festival (April 18-25th).
Sir David Attenborough – Great Barrier Reef
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A fabulous interactive journey through Australia's Great Barrier Reef in the company of Sir David Attenborough. There's also interactive maps and some great infographics to help you understand the corals. This wasn't created for lockdown but is a great way to (virtually) get away from it all for a while!
British Trust for Ornithology – Garden Bird Watch
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The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) are giving everyone free access to their Garden Bird Watch during the COVID-19 lockdown; iinviting everyone with a garden to connect to nature, learn about their garden wildlife and contribute to important scientific research without leaving home.
Steve Backshall – Live Wildlife Homeschool
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Live lessons every Wednesday (9:30 am [BST]) from naturalist and TV presenter Steve Backshall. Or catch-up later on YouTube.
WWF – Wildlife Origami Patterns
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Free wildlife origami patterns from the World Wildlife Fund; printable step-by-step instructions include: whale, bison, jaguar, giant panda, marine turtle, gorilla, whale, polar bear, elephant , snow leopard ...
Wildlife webcams
Live animal and bird action; a chance to do actual birdwatching or wildlife spotting from the sofa:
Wildlife Trusts webcams»
Badgers, opreys, puffins, peregrines, owls... from webcams provided by Wildlife Trusts across the British Isles.
A feast of webcams! An amazing selection of animals and birds live streamed from across the globe.
Scottish Wildlife Trust webcam»
Osprey webcam live from Loch of the Lowes.
Georgia Aquarium: Beluga Whale webcam»
Beluga whale webcam; also jelly fish, barrier reef, ocean voyager and sea lion, penguin (and more) webcams.
Watch elephants+ live from a busy watering hole in South Africa.
Streaming live footage of breeding ospreys (Louis & Aila) from the heart of an ancient Caledonian pine forest.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust wildlife cams»
From garden birds to seals, watch wildlife action in real-time as it happens around the county.
africam.com: Africam Channels»
Live African wildlife safaris, live animal action from eight locations.
International Wolf Center: Wolf-cams»
Live cameras following the International Wolf Center's ambassador wolves. Also hosting free Zoom based wolf webinars.
Salisbury Cathedral: peregrine falcons»
Peregrine Falcon live cams from the nest, these powerful birds of prey have made the Cathedral their home.
More to come, watch this space ...!
Virtual Zoos & Wildlife Parks
Visit zoos, wildlife sancturies, safari parks, city farms and aquariums from home:
Live virtual tours of the zoo, with fun facts and behind the scenes info from the keepers. Or catch-up with the action on their YouTube channel.
A virtual safari using a mix of audio commentary, video (including drone footage) and still photos, the tour follows the Safari Park drive-through route.
Bringing the zoo to you live every weekday (11:00 am CST) on Facebook Live, plus fun at-home-learning activities.
Live animal cams and recorded footage from Sandiego Zoo.
Safaris from South African game reserves in real-time. Twice daily two guided game drives (each approx 3-hours) will be streamed.
Watch Sumatran Tigers live or check out their group of Humboldt Penguins in Penguin Bay!
For sea otters, sharks, penguins, a coral reef, an aviary, a kelp forest, jelly fish and an open sea cams. Also live narrated feedings.
Watch live their flamingo cam, the Sulawesi crested macaques, or their cute meerkat cam.
Donkeys on your device 24 hours a day!
More to come, watch this space ...!
Lockdown LitFest
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A free-to-view online literature and culture festival featuring live-streamed and archived interviews with writers, authors, poets, thinkers, scientists ... and covering fiction, non-fiction, children's books and more. These are broadcast live then also archived for watching at a later date.
Big Book Weekend – Virtual Book Festival
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The Big Book Weekend (8th-10th May) is a 3-day, virtual festival bringing together the best from British book festivals canceled due to coronavirus. It will feature big names in books, together will unknown debut authors and rising talents in interviews, panel discussions, debates, performances & interactive sessions.
King Lear Prizes – Over 70's Creative Arts
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National creative arts competition (with prizes!) for people over 70 stuck at home because of coronavirus; it aims to encourage ordinary people to create new works of literature, poetry, music and art. Categories include: short stories, poetry, short drama, art & solo musical composition.
Audible – Free Audio Stories for Children
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While the schools are closed kids of all ages, everywhere, can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories. Categories include: Littlest Listeners, Elementary, Tween, Teen, Literary Classics, Folk & Fairy Tales and stories in French, German, Spanish, Italian & Japanese. All stories are free to stream to desktop computers, laptops, phones or tablets.
Harry Potter At Home
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Wizard, magic and Potter related fun and games to keep everyone occupied for hours on end. The Harry Potter at Home hub is packed with free online child-friendly activities, articles, videos, quizzes, puzzles, illustrations & creative ideas.
Book Trust – HomeTime & Pyjamarama
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Reading for kids taken up a notch; fun at home with authors and illustrators including: readings, games, drawing, competitions, rhymes, printable activities. Plus Pyjamarama on Friday 1st May; a festival of story-filled fun; packed with activities, favourite authors and illustrators – to be enjoyed in the comfort of your PJs!
Goodnight with Dolly – Bedtime Stories with Dolly Parton
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Dolly Parton is reading a series of bedtime stories starting April 2nd. She'll read a new children's story each week, two of her own works and eight others carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this time.
Oxford OWL – Free eBook Library
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For the duration of the UK school closures Oxford Owl are making eBooks for children available for free. Their collection has been developed for children aged 3–11 yrs, and all their eBooks are tablet-friendly.
Walker Books – Stay at Home with the Walker Bear!
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Pages packed with free kids activity sheets and videos for all ages from 6-months to 12+ years. Includes mazes, clouring sheets, picture book videos and book trailers, writing exercises and games.
Penguin Books – At Home with Penguin
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An opportunity watch our most loved and well-known authors talk about books, show how they are spending lockdown and answer questions from readers. It's a rare chance to connect with writers and fellow readers. Streaming every Tuesday at 5pm (BST).
Faber – Online Programme
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A weekly schedule featuring the company's authors and their work via Twitter and their own free-to-join Faber Members Programme. Covering: poetry, fiction, children's, non-fiction, arts and music via audio, visuals and text.
Authorfy – 10 Minute Challenges
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A new challenge added each day, these ten-minute creative writing challenges for children are set by bestselling authors and illustrators such as Anna James, Abi Elphinstone and Nicola Skinner. There are also author videos, fun downloadable activities and other free resources on their classroom pages.
WHO – Children's COVID-19 Story-Book
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The World Health Organisation has released an online illustrated story Book to help kids understand how to protect themselves and their amily and friends from Coronavirus as told by Ario, a kind orange dragon with a horn like a unicorn.
Nosycrow – eBook Explaining-Coronavirus
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Axel Scheffler (Gruffalo illustrator) has illustrated a free digital book explaining the coronavirus to children; for reading on screen or to print out.
World Book Day – Book Ideas Hub/Free Resources
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The Book Ideas Hub is packed with book related stay-at-home ideas and free resources for children and young people. World Book Day is a charity (sponsored by National Book Tokens) celebrating authors, illustrators, books and reading.
Hay Festival – Podcast
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The famous Hay Festival of Literature & Arts doing weekly podcasts of remixed conversations with the world's greatest writers and thinkers from their festivals around the world; released every Thursday during lockdown. They will also be providing additional digital offerings for families at home.
BBC – CBbeebies Bedtime Stories
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A different story read each night just before children's bedtime. There are dozens of episodes of CBeebies Bedtime Stories on iPlayer and for more, check out the CBeebies Storytime app.
Readly – 2 Months Free Online Magazine Reading
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Get two months free unlimited magazine reading; access to 4,864 magazines (free for 2 mths then £7.99 mth; but you can cancel anytime). Promising current and previous issues, offline reading on any device, family sharing, no contract, cancel anytime.
DC Comics – Free Comics
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Until Monday 8th June you can have free on-line access to DC Essential Reads comics including: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Also check the Free Comics section for more freebies.
evice, family sharing, no contract, cancel anytime.
Project Gutenberg – Free eBooks
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Discover the world's great literature, with over 60,000 free eBooks (epub & Kindle eBooks) to download or read online, with a focus on older works for which copyright has expired.
Open Library – Free eBooks
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Lending ebooks worldwide, for free. With over two million ebooks available and many more in their lending library covering every subject under the sun. The Open Library aims to produce a web page for every published book.
Many Books – Free eBooks
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Many free and discounted eBooks here too, including digital archives of classic novels (many from the Project Gutenberg archives) and eBooks from self-publishing authors.
Atlas Obscura – Libraries to Visit From Home
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Amazing libraries you can explore from home; a global collection of libraries with 360-degree tours of their spectacular interiors.
BookBound2020 – Online Literary Festival
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A new free online literary festival running from From 27th April to 3rd May and raising funds for the mental health charity Mind. Features a host of well-known and new authors from around the globe, for conversations, readings and much more.
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