With the Covid-19 pandemic upon us, Americans and Canadians from coast to coast are facing the very real prospect of having to spend at a minimum, two weeks at home while keeping themselves and their children educated and entertained…
Luckily, being stuck at home doesn’t need to feel like a jail sentence: Gen’s Delights is happy to present a compiled list of fun activities and websites to explore during self-isolation :
Explore over 300 unique Museums, Exhibits, Points of Special Interest and Real-Time Journeys :
http://www.virtualfreesites.com/museums.museums.html
These sites offer online multimedia guided tours on the Web. Most offer descriptive texts and pictures, others in addition, transmit sound and occasionally movies.
For fans of Downton abbey or British Royalty, consider taking a Royal Visit of Buckingham Palace !
https://www.royal.uk/virtual-tours-buckingham-palace
Own a VR set ? Explore some of these Virtual Field trips:
– Six Flags are happy to present on You Tube a vast selection of 360 VR POV Roller Coaster rides ( Superman ride below:)
– Explore the surface of Mars :
https://accessmars.withgoogle.com
Access Mars lets you explore a 3D replica of the Martian surface, exactly as it was recorded by the Curiosity rover.
Whip up a dish and learn from some of the best culinary experts :
– Easy and quick recipes by : Rachael Ray, Gordon Ramsay, Paula Deen, Bobby Flay and many more celeb chefs: https://www.recipe-free.com/celebrity-chefs.php
Arts Aficionados
Numerous local and international artists have pulled together to present numerous FREE, live-streamed online concerts !
The National Arts Center have selected numerous Canadian artists to perform 45 to 60 minutes sets to livestream as part of their #CanadaPerforms series – enjoy a selection of dance, theatre, classical and popular music!
For more information about #CanadaPerforms or to apply for a 1000$ grant, please visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/canadaperforms/apply.
Love Opera or Ballet ?
For Opera lovers The Regent Centre is delighted to be able to offer free online screenings ( such as Don Carlo above) in collaboration with one of their broadcast partners. Screening unlocked between 11.30pm on April 2nd and 10.30pm on April 3rd here : https://www.metopera.org/season/on-demand/opera/?upc=811357013984
The Royal Opera House will also stream free operas and ballets during the coronavirus outbreak :
As part of their #OurHouseToYourHouse initiative, visit their Facebook page or YouTube channel where a major opera or ballet will be streamed every Friday at 7 pm for a month,
March 27 – ‘Peter and the Wolf’ (Royal Ballet, 2010)
April 3 – ‘Acis and Galatea’ (Royal Opera, 2009)
April 10 – ‘Così fan tutte’ (Royal Opera, 2010)
April 17 – ‘The Metamorphosis’ (Royal Ballet, 2013)
Let the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra come to you – in your own home:
Watch and listen to FREE pre-recorded concerts diffused three times a week on their official website: https://www.osm.ca/en/watch-and-listen-2/
Elton John will be emcee for the upcoming “Fox Presents The iHeart Living Room Concert for America,” An hourlong special airing commercial-free this Sunday on Fox (9 ET/6 PT), as well as on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and the iHeartRadio app.
This unique remote concert will feature some of music’s biggest stars as they perform (while social distancing and staying home) from their own living rooms and cellphones!
Recently, publishers and audio entertainment companies have offered a deluge of free e-books and audiobooks for readers of all ages to enjoy on their platforms:
Audiobooks and E-books links :
– Audible: stories.audible.com.
– Penguin Random House Audio: The “Listen at Home” collection is accessible through the Volumes app, available free for iOS and Android users.
– LibriVox: Visit librivox.org.
– Spotify: Sign up for an account at spotify.com. Click on “Browser” (in the upper left corner), scroll all the way down to “Word,” and enjoy.
Open Library: Visit openlibrary.org to sign up for a free account.
ManyBooks: Go to manybooks.net you can search by title, author or keyword.
Sonnet a Day: Patrick Stewart, star of “X-Men” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” has been reciting Shakespeare on his @SirPatStew Twitter account!
Never Stop Learning !
Educational links : The transition to at-home learning can be difficult…
Above is a guide to all of our PBS Kids programming to help make time in front of the television both fun and educational!
While Mountain Lake PBS prides itself on offering a gold mine of quality educational programs and resources for kids, these additional links below may also prove to be quite useful while school is out:
Elementary :
– http://www.learnquebec.ca/early-literacy
– http://www.poissonrouge.com/fr/
– GoNoodle® engages 14 million kids every month with movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts. https://www.gonoodle.com/
– As part of their #Wereheretogether program, the San Diego Zoo recently launched Free Online Education Programs on their main website. You can also enjoy Live Cam footage of several of their residents and enjoy archived footage of Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu the incredibly cute pandas. https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams
High School :
– http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
– http://www.learnquebec.ca/home
– Learn dozens of languages for free, including Spanish, English, German, Greek, French, Italian, Hebrew, Chinese, and many others, even sign language !
In addition to these websites, there are free mobile language learning apps, which are great for learning a new language while you’re away from your computer.
Graduate School:
Ivy League Free online courses from Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale:
https://www.classcentral.com/collection/ivy-league-moocs
Yale’s most popular ‘happiness‘ course is free online:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
Do Arts and Crafts and Participate in a Social Movement project :
– The #wewillgetthroughthis / #cavabienaller rainbow art project has been taking the world and front windows by storm !
– Flash your lights ! This movement encourages all residents to turn their lights on and off repeatedly at 8:30 p.m. every night for one minute to show solidarity with each other and appreciation for healthcare workers.
Decorate Easter Eggs :
During these trying times it is important to remember that :
– FAMILY NOT CANCELLED
– READING NOT CANCELLED
– FRIENDS NOT CANCELLED
– SINGING NOT CANCELLED
– LAUGHING NOT CANCELLED
– KINDNESS NOT CANCELLED
– HOPE NOT CANCELLED