Our Favorite Brain Boosting Websites, Apps, and Virtual Field Trips for kids!

Buckle up and get ready for some online learning for kids that’s not only FUN, but full of brain power too!

We are living in an unprecedented time right now as COVID-19 leaves us rattled and frazzled. And it’s not just us. It’s the entire world.

JOIN our NEW Facebook Group: BRIGHT IDEAS | Parenting in Quarantine 

Schools are temporarily closed. So are theme parks and attractions. The stage lights at the theaters are off. Grocery store shelves are picked bare within hours of being re-stocked (don’t worry–as far as we know, there will be no major interruption in the food supply chain.) Want toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or Clorox wipes? Forget it.

Related: COVID-19: Expert advice, local resources and more for Tampa Bay families

Most of us can expect to be hunkered down at home as we attempt to stunt the growth of COVID-19 cases. It’s not just for our health and the health of our children, it’s for the good of society as a whole.

Click: Charter Communications offering FREE access to WiFi to students for 60 days

So, let’s embrace it. Let’s also not get to judgey with screen time. In fact, let’s embrace screen time because there are some fantastic online learning tools your kids can take advantage of now…including you! Why shouldn’t you boost your brain power or learn a new skill?

Related: WEDU/PBS launch FREE access to PreK-12 learning materials for teachers and families

Isaac Newton apparently made some of his greatest discovers while social distancing during the plague. Remember that apple?

Online learning for kids: Here are some of our favorite sites!

WEDU-PBS At-Home Learning

Glazer Children’s Museum GCM At Home

Hillsborough County Public Library Online Classes, ebooks, movies and more!

Scholastic Classroom Magazines

Caribu.com (Pictured. This app allows video calling via the app to connect families and friends! Free during COVID-19 outbreak.)

Disney Nature

NASA STEM experiments for Kids

PBSKids.org

National Geographic Kids

Highlights Kids

Starfall

ABC Mouse/Adventure Academy

Seussville

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems!

TeacherVision

Minecraft Education Edition

OpenCulture

Outschool.com

Connect with Local Attractions during daily Facebook Lives and Videos:

The Florida Aquarium SEA-SPAN: Daily at 10am

ZooTampa

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

MOSI

MOSI in Motion Facebook page

Virtual Field Trips:

San Diego Zoo

Access Mars

Boston Children’s Museum

British Museum in London

Johnson Space Center in Houston

Louvre Museum in Paris

National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

Musee de Orsay, Paris

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Even our local sports teams are pitching in by sharing some family-friendly fun!

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s ThunderBug is sharing daily activities for the kids here.

Your kids can also get moving with their favorite Tampa Bay Buccaneers players via fun fitness videos. You can even download these cool coloring pages here for FREE!