Running out of ideas to keep kids busy this summer? Here are five amazing online ways to keep them engaged and educated.
But wait! Do your eyebrows furrow at the idea of kids having screen time? Or do you secretly feel relieved at the downtime that follows? The good news is you are in good company either way.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! That is exactly what I love about this time of the year. Why do I say that? Here’s why:
Kids are drawn to screens like bees to a flower if I may say. So why not make use of that semi-natural attraction? And even better, what if it can be an enriching experience?
Technology to the rescue!!! With apps, and web-based as well as mobile friendly interfaces, here are five amazing online ways to keep kids busy this summer:
- ABCmouse.com: Age group: 2 to 8 years;
- subscription based all-around educational program created by a team of educators
- for pre-K, kindergarten, and early elementary school
- activities include reading, math, science, music, social studies and art (kids will love the virtual numbered color-in and the click-n-fall-in-place jigsaw puzzles 🙂 )
- promotional limited-time free offer
- Splashlearn.com (earlier Splashmath.com): Age group: K to grade 5
- subscription based fun way to learn math; keyword: “fun”
- guided interactive math lessons aligned with school curriculum
- Prodigy math game: Age group: Grades 1 to 8
- game-based math learning: homework but in a fun video-game format; kids become wizards who defeat monsters by answering math questions
- your child can invite friends to log-in from their own homes to play together on the platform (who said social distancing and play dates do not go together 😉 )
- virtually almost free (except membership options and pet upgrades)
- iD Tech virtual technology camps: Age group: 7 to 19 years
- live instructors from Stanford, Caltech, and UCLA
- kid-favorite topics like Roblox, Minecraft, Python, and creative arts
- various courses to choose from based on age
- Simply piano: Age group: beginner to pro. For the musician in your house, all hope is not lost when it comes to taking piano lessons this summer.
- fast and fun way to learn piano (I mean literally fast: in two days our seven year old went from keying with one finger of each hand to playing a simple song with all fingers while reading off sheet music)
- iphone app with a note recognition feature that offers live feedback as the student plays the music
- promotional limited- time free offer.
6. Bonus point: You may be thinking the title says 5 ways, so what is point no. 6? This is a bonus point from my family to yours: if your family is bilingual or even otherwise, this is a great way for kids to learn a foreign/ second native language(s):
- We need a willing grandparent/ family member who speaks the chosen language to telecommute, and the ability to do a google-meet (optional: ‘sketchpad’ as below) or zoom-meet, to set up shop.
- Google-meet: For younger kids, they could set up a virtual classroom on google-meet: the grandparent could use ‘sketchpad’, a virtual touch-sensitive drawing and painting application, and broadcast the screen to the learners. Kids can see the alphabets drawn by grandma live. Virtual blackboard, wouldn’t you say? My son learnt the alphabets, words and grammar this way in no time.
- Zoom: Alternatively, if they choose to use ‘zoom’-meets, they could use the ‘whiteboard’ feature where each participant can share one touch-sensitive writing interface (aka white-board) with the rest of the group as the lesson takes place. They can also use individual whiteboards per person but sharing that with the group would need more monitors for display etc., so in attempts to make it easier, let’s leave the more complex way to another post.
- For older kids, the lessons can graduate to books and more advanced literature as the teacher deems appropriate.
- If one or more cousins want(s) to join the call, all the more fun for the kids. Did I forget to say everyone gets to see grandma/ grandpa? Win-win for the teacher and the student(s)!
So here’s to some fun in the sun and some online one-on-one :). Hope you have a fabulous summer! Please do share your experiences and comments below.