No question, these are unprecedented times. A lot of us are feeling uncertain, stressed, and to be honest…sick and tired of being cooped up. We get it. But here are over 50 fun and safe activities to do at home during the quarantine…
Live Streams from Zoos & Aquariums
Nothing says calm, positive energy like animals. Just because these places are closed to the public doesn’t mean you can’t get in a healthy dose of the wild. Zoos and aquariums all over the world have free live streams so you can enjoy these amazing creatures from the comfort of your couch.
Live cams from the San Diego Zoo: Watch koalas, polar bears, tigers, giraffes, and many more! https://bit.ly/2WL0tLI
Experience the tranquil waters and the animals who live there with live cams from Monterey Bay Aquarium: https://bit.ly/33N7E7B
Chillax in real-time with the Panda Live Cam from the Smithsonian National Zoo: https://s.si.edu/3bvs9If
Go on “safari” with the Cincinnati Zoo (home of Fiona the Hippo!) live on their Facebook page, airing every weekday at 12 pm Pacific Time: https://bit.ly/2UFMYtO
See creatures great and small, from a hummingbird cam to a Bald Eagle’s nest with the wide variety of live nature streams from Explore.org: https://bit.ly/2WJ3nAw
The Elmwood Park Zoo in Pennsylvania is offering Zoo School on Facebook Live on weekdays at 8 am Pacific Time: https://bit.ly/2UALMrM
The Houston Zoo has live cams in several of their animal habitats, from giraffes and gorillas all the way down to the Leafcutter Ant: https://bit.ly/2UEpYLE
Bonus: The Houston Zoo also has Facebook Live videos on weekdays at 9 am Pacific Time: https://bit.ly/3duAZIh
Wild Earth can take you on a sunrise or sunset safari via their live streams all the way from South Africa: https://bit.ly/2QNbVT1
Penguins, jellyfish, sea otters, and more, oh my! Check out the live streams from the Georgia Aquarium: https://bit.ly/33LNVF1
Swim with the fishes (and sharks!) via the live cams from the National Aquarium in Baltimore: https://bit.ly/2UzKw8o
Tours of Museums and Interesting Places
Whether you’re looking for something educational to share with the kids while they’re home from school, or you just always wanted to see the Louvre, check out one of the many live streams offered by these world-famous locations.
Take a virtual tour of the bizarre Winchester Mystery House: https://bit.ly/3dsCUgp
Tour the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam: https://bit.ly/2xpfFDo
Go on a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Queen of England: https://bit.ly/39pKu8w
Take a tour through time with the British Museum in London, England: https://bit.ly/39eWGbP
Enjoy several different virtual tours inside the National Museum of Natural History: https://s.si.edu/3dsKJCM
Explore the Guggenheim Museum in NY with several tours: https://bit.ly/2wu0OYt
The National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C. offers two online exhibits, Fashioning a Nation, and Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: https://bit.ly/3bqOnev
Visit Paris for lunch! Explore the Musée d’Orsay with their virtual tour: https://bit.ly/2Ul8J3f
Journey to Korea and explore the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art: https://bit.ly/2Uj39hN
Visit the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam via a Google street view from the inside: https://bit.ly/3aqe3YU
Art lovers can see two exhibits, “Vincent van Gogh’s love life,” and “Which Books did Vincent van Gogh Read?” from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: https://bit.ly/39ly6Gp
The titles alone have us curious about two exhibits you can see from The Getty Museum in LA. Check out Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well and Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: https://bit.ly/3anmuE0
Show some love for the country of Italy when you tour exhibits from Uffizi Gallery in Firenze: https://bit.ly/33K8Msq
See six different online exhibits, from Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, in São Paulo, Brazil: https://bit.ly/3brSqHz
And finally, see the Louvre in Paris, France: https://bit.ly/2WJFcC3
Ride Disneyland and Disney World Rides–Without Leaving Home!
Bring the Disney magic to your home with virtual rides you can go on again and again. No need to wait! Just hit refresh and you’re at the front of the line again.
Splash Mountain https://bit.ly/3dqTeye
Pirates of the Caribbean https://bit.ly/2QODRpM
Peter Pan’s Flight https://bit.ly/2y4rXRT
It’s a Small World https://bit.ly/3aj2zWN
The Seas with Nemo and Friends https://bit.ly/2JhrUEU
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway https://bit.ly/2UxNl9Q
The Jungle Cruise https://bit.ly/3akTJYM
Expedition Everest https://bit.ly/33KcJgV
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye https://bit.ly/2xpg9cG
Free Online Cooking Lessons
One of the best DIY projects is one you can eat! Tantalize your tastebuds with these free cooking lessons. Just think about how you’ll be able to impress your friends when we can all go visit again…
Chef Massimo Bottura is offering a free nightly cooking lesson on his Instagram page: https://bit.ly/39kez9t
Learn to bake bread with your kids via King Arthur Flour: https://bit.ly/3dqTE7M
Delish is offering free daily digital cooking classes for kids at 10 am Pacific Time via Instagram Live: https://bit.ly/2UlCAZw
Learn how to recreate your junk food favorites like Twinkies, Cheetos, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and more from Bon Appetit Pastry Chef, Claire Saffitz: https://bit.ly/39eH740
Milk Street is offering their online cooking classes for FREE through the end of April. You’ll learn recipes, and new ways to approach food and cooking: https://bit.ly/33KehY0
Don’t Forget the Library!
Get an Electronic library card from the OC Public Libraries and start downloading content such as EBooks, EMagazines, music, and more.
The Internet Archive opened the National Emergency Library allowing you to virtually borrow over 1 million titles, while schools and libraries across the country are closed. https://bit.ly/2wvl9fY
Free Online Fitness Classes
With gyms closed, many of us are re-inventing our fitness routines. These free online classes can help…you might just find something new you love!
YMCA is offering 60 free fitness classes ranging from Tai Chi to Bootcamp, Barre, Yoga, and more: https://bit.ly/2Ji5Lq2
Core Power Yoga is offering free classes: https://bit.ly/2QIucRh
Free at-home workouts from OrangeTheory Fitness: https://bit.ly/2wF1fPr
Twice daily intense Cardio Dance live stream workouts from 305 Fitness: https://bit.ly/2UDVPw6
Gold’s Gym is offering free virtual workouts: https://bit.ly/39japhR
Planet Fitness is offering Facebook Live at-home workouts daily at 4 pm Pacific Time: https://bit.ly/2wDTZTV
Lifetime Fitness is offering its most popular classes for free on-demand, including cardio classes, yoga classes, strength classes, and more: https://bit.ly/2Jlh2FL
Art & Cultural Activities
Art and drawing are perfect activities for when you’re enjoying the great indoors. Hone your drawing skills, take in an opera, or even do a little singing yourself!
Kids (and grownups too!) can learn to draw cute characters with illustrator Rob Biddulph, with new videos posted every Tuesday and Thursday: https://bit.ly/2WNcU9B
The Metropolitan Opera is offering daily opera streams: https://bit.ly/2UzLqBO
Join the OCEvents “Quarantine Karaoke Challenge” Facebook Group and post a video of yourself, or your kid singing a song. Just for fun! https://bit.ly/2Uk8aGS
Kids can take drawing classes via Instagram Live with illustrator Wendy MacNaughton weekdays at 10 am Pacific Time. Classes stay live on her IG stories for 24hrs: https://bit.ly/2UhhgUT
Take a live stream dance class, or enjoy a dance performance with “Dancing Alone Together.” Multiple activities daily: https://bit.ly/2QL1Nu2
Kids can take drawing classes with illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka via YouTube. New classes daily! https://bit.ly/2UCCGuv
Free Virtual Learning
Try your hand at something new, or improve upon your skills in an area you already love. You never know, you could unlock a hidden talent!
There are hundreds of courses currently available for free if you’re interested in learning something new, such as “Improving Communication Skills”, “Hollywood: History, Industry, Art”, “Wonders of Ancient Egypt’, and more: https://bit.ly/39iLFGw
How many languages can you say “awesome?” Learn a new language for free with Duolingo, including High Valyrian for all you Game of Thrones fans out there: https://bit.ly/2vOvzqu
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