Sites We Like

From around New Zealand:

Storytelling:

RNZ Storytime – free stories for Children and Young Adults written by NZ Authors

Goodnight Kiwi and Cat are joined by celebrity storytellers to bring the magic of New Zealand bedtime stories to life

Games/Activities/Learning Pathways:

WuHoo Timaru - a place to find fun, free family activities to do in Timaru, maybe you can start with a scavenger hunt

Activities by Penguin Books is a must visit! Download activity packs on Hairy Maclary, Granny McFlitter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and much more

Fun art activities from our friends at the Aigantighe Art Gallery

Suzy & Friends suggest you check out their YouTube channel TreehutTV

Wild Eye Missions – get busy exploring your backyard wilderness

Otago Museum @Home – try these museum-inspired crafts

National Geographic Kids offers games, competitions, a Kids Club and resources to keep kids entertained

Studyladder - Mathematics, English, Science and more; online educational activities for students aged 4 to 12, mapped to the curriculum.

Te Papa online jigsaws – select online jigsaws using taonga from the museum’s collections, where you decide the level of difficulty

KiwiKidsnews - try this student-friendly website where you can get the latest news from New Zealand and around the world. It has some really cool areas to explore

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand - explore this guide to the country's people, places, history, animals, plants and much more. It contains over 850 stories arranged into sections, and over 3,000 biographies of famous Kiwis from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.

Global offerings:

Storytelling/Author Websites:

The World of David Walliams is a cool site to read about David and his books, be sure to try David’s activities

Storyline Online sees celebrities read some awesome, illustrated storybooks intended for children aged 4 - 8

Story Time From Space – listen to awesome astronauts on the International Space Station read stories with a ‘space’ theme – find the full list under ‘Story Time Videos’ (and checkout ‘Science Time Videos’ for astronaut demonstrations)

If you’re looking for some Harry Potter magic, be sure to check out J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World or for craft activities, go to Wizarding World’s YouTube channel

The Gruffalo has fun games, activity sheets, singalongs and much more from Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – as read by author, Eric Carle

Zoo/Aquarium Cams:

San Diego Zoo – watch the animals live in their enclosures, or try the games, activities or animal stories on offer

Edinburgh Zoo cams – watch more animals but in a different time zone

Monterey Bay Aquarium – experience the wonder of the ocean with these 10 live cams, from sea otters to African penguins and more

Atlanta Zoo – watch the daily activities of the pandas in the zoo's panda enclosure

Games/Activities/Learning Pathways:

Prodigy makes math fun, the games are so good, the kids hardly realise they are learning, the lessons suit children aged 6 – 14

NASA Kids’ Club offers games and activities kids can independently participate in

PBS Kids has cool games and activities for kids, while PBS Parents offers daily activities and ideas for kids ages 2 – 8, as well as tips on managing learning at home.

Children’s Museum Houston has innovative activities and videos for child-centred learning

Code.org has free computer science classes from kindergarten to high school levels

Tips and Crafts provide creative activities to help caregivers entertain the kids

Overcoming Obstacles offer free life skills tools for parents and teachers to use with children from kindergarten to high school age. There are hundreds of activity-based lessons covering more than 30 critical social and emotional skills, helping children learn to make informed decisions, resolve conflicts, solve problems, respect each other and much more.

Google Arts & Culture – discover artworks, collections and stories from all around the world, and make sure you check out the large array of virtual tours on offer

National Museum of Natural History in New York is pretty cool (this is where the Night at the Museum movies were filmed), so check out their virtual tours online – by the time you’ve finished you’ll feel like you’ve been to New York, well to the museum anyway!

The Museum of the World – A collaboration between the British Museum and the Google Arts & Culture Lab, this is an interactive experience through time, continents and cultures

Metropolitan Museum of Art – This programme offers children the chance to explore the museum through an illustrated map which includes hidden treasures that can be found throughout the museum’s collection of art

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – Explore all of the natural history that the Smithsonian has to offer, with 360-degree views of each exhibition in the museum

Get Moving:

GoNoodle gets kids up and moving to fun dance parties, yoga sessions, mindfulness activities and game sessions

CosmicKids Yoga is yoga and mindfulness for ages 3+