Looking for ways to keep your kids busy while they're home from school during the COVID-19 outbreak? Check out our list of free educational resources and activities from the Chicago area and around the country.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Kids' activity sheets from Tracy Butler's Weather Sketchers' Club
Virtual Field Trips
Brookfield Zoo's "Bring The Zoo To You" broadcast, each weekday at 11:00 a.m.
Virtual Museum: Chicago's Adler Planetarium
Virtual Museum: Chicago's Shedd Aquarium
Virtual Museum: Chicago's Field Museum
Virtual Museum: The Art Institute of Chicago
Virtual Museum: DuSable Museum of African American History
Virtual Museum: National Museum of Mexican Art
Virtual Museum: IIT Institute of Design
Oriental Institute Museum at University of Chicago
Studs Terkel Radio Archive
Pre-School and Early Elementary School
Illinois State Board of Education resources for parents
Chicago Public Schools' educational resources to support students during coronavirus school closings
Chicago Public Schools' virtual library
Chicago Public Library e-books and audiobooks
Burst into Books is offering parents a weekly game plan they can follow whether or not their children have laptops or tablets
BrainPop Junior - Learning tools for STEM, social studies, reading/writing, health and arts for grades K-3
The Space Foundation Discovery Center - STEM lesson plans for ages PreK-20
Mystery Science - Science lessons for grades K-5
Learning Resources - Activities in reading, language, social studies and STEM appropriate for toddlers through 3rd grade
Elementary, Middle School and Above
Chicago Public Schools' educational resources to support students during coronavirus school closings
Chicago Public Schools' recommended reading list and podcasts for high school students
ABCYa - Reading and math games and activities for grades PreK-6
Zearn.org - Math lessons for grades K-5
Disneynature - Movies and complimentary educational materials for grades 2-6
Scratch - Interactive story, game and animation design from the MIT Media Lab, designed for ages 8 to 16 but available for anyone
STMath - Math lessons for grades PreK-8
Prodigy Math - Math programs for grades 1-8
Curriculum Associates - Math and reading activity packs for grades K-8
DK Find Out! - Lessons in subjects such as history, science and coding
Listenwise - Non-fiction audio stories covering ELA, social studies and science for grades 2-12
CommonLit - Reading and writing lessons for grades 3-12
Codecademy - Data science and coding lessons for high school and college students
All Ages
Weather experiments, activities, lessons from the ABC7 AccuWeather Team
Disney Theatrical Productions - Downloadable creative activities for parents and educators from their shows including The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Frozen, and Aladdin.
National Geographic Kids Science Lab - Science experiments, videos and articles
National Ocean Service (NOAA) Kids - Science activities and resources for kids and educators
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems! - Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems explore ways of writing and making with kids of all ages
Scholastic Learn-At-Home Resources - Learning experiences for K-9
Greg Tang Math - Math games and resources for all ages
SciShow Kids - Videos explaining scientific concepts for young, curious minds
Frontiers for Young Minds - Science articles written by scientists and reviewed by kids
The Kid Should See This - STEAM, history, and culture-focused videos for kids of all ages
Imagineering in a Box - Lessons on theme park design and engineering via Walt Disney Imagineering, Pixar and Khan Academy
BBC Bitesize - Lessons covering math, English, science and more for ages 3-16+
BrainPop - Learning tools covering a variety of subjects
BreakoutEDU - Immersive learning games for grades K-12
Wonderopolis - Educational articles for grades K-12
XtraMath - Math programs for students, parents and teachers
How Stuff Works - Educational videos exploring the world around us
Code.org - Computer science lessons for grades K-12
Typing.com - Keyboarding, digital literacy, and coding lessons for all ages
IXL - Lessons in math, language arts, science, social studies and Spanish for grades PreK-12
Greatminds.org - Math, ELA and science for grades K-12
KCET At-Home Learning - Educational resources from PBS SoCal | KCET, in partnership with LAUSD and in collaboration with California PBS stations for grades PreK-12
California Academy of Sciences - Apps, immersive interactives, and engaging videos covering a variety of science topics
Bill Nye the Science Guy - Educational videos covering life, physical and planetary sciences
NASA STEM @ Home for Students - STEM articles and activities for grades K-12+
PhET Interactive Simulations - Interactive simulations for science and math
Khan Academy - Lessons on grammar, science, history and math for grades K-12
Professor Egghead Science Academy - Interactive lessons on science and engineering
Quill.org - Writing and grammar activities for grades K-12
Quizlet - Flash cards, quizzes and games for languages, arts and humanities, social science, computer skills, science and math
Duolingo - Language education for 35 languages
Arbol ABC- Bilingual Spanish games
Additional Resources (may require purchase or subscription)
SkyART - a wide variety of content for at-home art making activities such as portraiture, watercolor, collage and even cooking or sharing art.
Pre-school Inspirations - Lesson plans for toddlers
Other Goose - Lessons for ages 2-7
ABCmouse - Reading, math, science and art curriculum for ages 2-8
Reading IQ - Books for kids of all reading levels, ages 2-12
Raz-Kids - Literacy and reading comprehension at various levels in English and Spanish for grades K-5
Epic! - Books, learning videos and quizzes for ages 12 and under
Amplify - ELA, math and science curriculum for grades K-8
Adventure Academy - Reading, math and science games and videos for ages 8-13
Vooks - Read-aloud animated books and complimentary lesson plans
Book Creator - Creative book builder for students and teachers
Conjuguemos - Language education for Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Korean and Latin
Mango - Language education for 70 languages
PandaTree - Spanish and Mandarin Chinese language education for ages 2-17