The best FREE activities for children to do during lock down
Here are our recommendations for the very best FREE online resources and activities for children during lock down. We’ll keep adding more to this list as we discover them.
The Show Must Go On!
Check out The Shows Must Go On the channel bringing you showtunes, backstage access and full performances from some of the best loved musicals in history! Featuring melodic moments, show-stopping solos and high notes for the history books. A new musical will be released every Friday at 7pm BST, for 48 hours only, so make sure you don't miss out! On Good Friday, join them for Jesus Christ Superstar Live Stage Show starring Tim Minchin, Mel C and Chris Moyles! Join in right here to sing along!
Write your own Love Song
Know any children 6+ who might like to share what they love in a little song?
The Ark need their help to create an online version of our Love Song installation which was due to take place as part of BIG BANG Dublin! 2020. The Love Song installation is a project by Belgian composer Serge Verstock, but the main participants are 200 heart-shaped recording devices, on which Irish children recorded their own "love songs" in the form of a song, their favourite sound or in some other playful way. It’s an auditory encyclopaedia of love! You can download their guide sheet which will help children compose their song, then you can record it & send it in! Instructions and details are below.
A trip to the zoo
On Easter Monday at 10am, Dublin Zoo is opening its virtual doors on YouTube and will take viewers on a tour to visit some of the nation’s favourite animals at the zoo.
For those who can’t wait for Monday, Dublin Zoo’s live webcams are available to view on the website, with footage of the elephants, penguins and the African Savanna.
Elevenses with The World of David Walliams
Every day at 11am, you can listen one of David Walliams’ World’s Worst Children stories, so sit down, take a break, and enjoy 20ish minutes of pure fun!
The Ark Children’s Council
Each week, The Ark will present a new schedule of online activities, resources, virtual events and online streams providing opportunities to children to discover and love the arts in their own homes.
Learn to play the ukulele
Music Generation partnerships throughout Ireland are continuing to work hard to find ways to keep music alive for children and young people in spite of our social distance. Live, online tuition for individual young musicians, small groups and ensembles is being delivered by musician educator teams across platforms including Zoom, Soundcloud, YouTube and Moodle. Free digital resources have also been launched including 40 video tutorials for young people of all ages and levels of experience to learn ukulele from their own home https://rockjam.ie/ukulele-licence/.
Have your story published
Fighting Words have continued their invaluable work by developing online resources to support creative writing in English and Irish. The Story-Starter, for primary school writers aged 7 to 12, will spark imaginations and help them get started on a story. Poems, stories, graphic fiction, plays and more are welcome from secondary school students aged 13 to 17, for inclusion in Analecta, their online anthology. Check them out at https://www.fightingwords.ie/news/we-want-your-stories-send-your-creative-writing-fighting-words
Live concerts with Ireland’s best musicians from their own homes
Music Network has announced 24 musicians and composers who will premiere newly-commissioned pieces of music in the online music performance series The Butterfly Sessions. The quality and breadth of this line-up reflects their ambition to continue to find ways to support and celebrate the wealth of musical talent currently in Ireland, whether in a live concert hall setting or from artists’ own homes.
Read more about it HERE or tune in to their youtube channel HERE
ImagineNation - Irish children’s authors and illustrators and YOU!
This month Children’s Books Ireland in partnership with An Post invite you to join the #ImagineNation campaign which brings together leading Irish children’s authors and illustrators and YOU!
The #ImagineNation playbook is overflowing with activities for primary school children in drawing, writing and mindfulness exercises from leading creatives including: Niall Breslin, Fatti and John Burke, Don Conroy, Sarah Crossan, Sheena Dempsey, Jennifer Farley, Chris Haughton, Shane Hegarty, Yasmeen Ismail, Oliver Jeffers, Chris Judge, Tarsila Krüse, Steve McCarthy, Oisín McGann, Mary Murphy, Áine Ní Ghlinn, Alan Nolan, David O’Doherty, Lauren O’Neill, Dave Rudden, Niamh Sharkey, Sarah Webb, Fintan Wall and Máire Zapf.
Get involved, open your #ImagineNation
Click HERE to visit and download illustrations and more
Learn to dance!
There are lots of different dance clubs running free online dance tutorials for you to dance along with. Here are a selection of them:
Áirc Damhsa Dance Club - Remember Tom & Nanny Pat from The Toy Show?
There are lots of great hip hop tutorials online for you to try outside in this beautiful sunny weather.
The Ballet Coach broadcasts Live every day with great workshops for children.
Explore some the world’s best museums - virtually!
The Louvre
Explore Egyptian antiquities and step back in time to view the remains of the Louvre’s Moat in these comprehensive virtual tours. See more here.
National Women's History Museum
This range of online exhibits reveals women’s role in making history, from women in Nasa to Olympic champions and adventurers. See more here.
Street Art
Explore the stories of street art around the world, complete with video and audio descriptions that really bring the art to life. Start your tour here.
The Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museum websitecontains seven virtual tours, which includes a 360 view of the famous Sistine Chapel.
Van Gogh Museum
Part of Google’s Art and Culture Network, the tour takes you through the Van Gogh Museum allowing you to view the artworks up close. Find out more here.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Explore nature from your living room with these high quality virtual tours of one of America’s most famous museums. Simply use your mouse to navigate each room in the museum and click the camera icon for an up-close view of exhibits on display. See more here.
Ireland Performs
Live performances daily by lots of Ireland’s most renowned musicians, singers & dancers. An initiative of Culture Ireland in support of Irish artists. Check out the weekly schedule HERE
