With all that is going on, I paused updates to “Stuck at Home Doesn’t Have to Mean Bored at Home.” But, now that I am going to resume, I want to take a moment before I do to acknowledge the pain and suffering around our country and to express my solidarity with those standing for equal rights for all.
In that spirit, I urge everyone to take a moment to focus on President Obama’s June 1 statement, “How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change.” I also provide this link — How to support racial justice in Massachusetts — to assist others to find ways to help in whatever way they feel appropriate.
If, after reading those, you wish to continue to the updates, below are the latest.
Home Not Alone (with Kids)
If you’re still looking for some more things to do with your kids as school winds down, The Wall Street Journal has “20 Ways Tech Can Keep Your Kids Engaged and Learning This Summer.”
And, Mommy Poppins has a terrific “Stay-at-Home Guide: 100s of Activities and Resources for Families on Pause.”
Education
MoMA (New York’s Museum of Modern Art) is offering free online courses. Here’s how MoMA describes them:
Immerse yourself in ideas and see your world in new ways through art. In MoMA’s free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on Coursera, you will hear directly from artists and designers, look closely at works in our collection and exhibitions, and join a community of learners unlike any other. Enroll any time and complete the course at your own pace.
Music
If you are looking for something fun to do this Friday night (June 12), folk singers, Heather Quay & Jon Svetkey a.k.a. The Yellow Room, will be playing a virtual concert for the Second Friday Coffeehouse, starting at 8:00 PM EDT. Any tips/proceeds will benefit Belmont Against Racism.
Cooking, Cookies, and Other Food Options
Once again, Nicole Daly came through with a cool cooking recommendation: Prepdeck, which “brings chef-approved mise en place techniques to the home cook so you can prep ahead, stay organized and enjoy a stress-free cooking environmentorganizes.”
Love Borough Market in London? (I do.) Well, check out their cooking club! (Thank you Travel & Leisure!)
Photography and Video
We’ve looked at various ideas for projects and other other interesting works that people have put together, but we haven’t looked at tools for making them yourself. Here are two:
- The first is Moovly. I have used it to make a video that will be coming soon. It has tons of excellent resources and is easy to use. The rendering is a bit spotty, but the service team is terrific.
- The second is PicsArt Online Video Editor and Maker. In contrast to Moovly, PicsArt’s editor seems more focused on pictures and using your own materials. (It was identified to me by the staff at PicsArt, and while it looks promising, I have not yet tried it.)
Travel (Virtually)
An African safari is on a lot of people’s bucket list. Well, wait no more. WildEarth is live streaming – on a daily bais – safariLIVE, “an award winning, expert hosted LIVE safari, broadcast directly from the African wilderness into your home.” Those on the west coast may enjoy the sunrise safari at 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT, while those on the east coast can enjoy the sunset safari from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon EDT.
Or get lost in hours of 360-degree virtual, guided tours of five national parks: Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Kenai Fjords in Alaska, Hawai’i Volcanoes, Bryce Canyon in Utah, and Dry Tortugas in Florida.
Travel and Leisure shares “Hotels Around the World Are Live Streaming Their Views to Make You Feel Like You’re on Vacation.”
Travel and Leisure also has a list with quick links to “Bucket-list Attractions Like Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.”
And, don’t forget: English Heritage will be live streaming “Summer Solstice at Stonehenge: Live!” on Saturday, June 20 at 8:30 PM – 5:30 AM UTC+01. That’s 5 hours ahead of EDT, which means that it starts at 1:30 in the morning for those on the U.S. east coast.
If you’ve got 2 hours for a train ride, get on the Unesco World Heritage Bernina Express from Switzerland to Italy. Need more? Check out Travel and Leisure’s “13 Virtual Train Rides From Around the World That You Can Experience Right Now.”
Random / Other Lists
A site called “Hunker,” describes itself as follows: “Hunker believes good design should be a part of everyday life—and that you don’t have to be an expert to make it happen.” They’re right, and they have some great articles. Take a visit! (Thank you Travel and Leisure, which explains that Bombay Sapphire created “‘a multi-platform learning experience’ called Create-From-Home in partnership with several other online brands to inspire at-home learning as coronavirus-sparked quarantine rules across the U.S. and the world are keeping everyone indoors.”)
To add to our on-going collection of other sites we’ve found with additional generalized lists of things to do …
- Travel and Leisure recently posted “100+ Fun Things to Do at Home Right Now, From Virtual Tours to Animals Cams and More” (updated June 10).
Finally,
Gotta love Walibi in the Netherlands (and simplemost for finding and posting it)!…