A new website that’s home to hundreds of free resources to help parents keep their children occupied during the coronavirus lockdown has been launched by two Norwich-based businesses.
Home huddle has been developed and built by creative agency Creative Sponge and web developers GRIT Digital, and lists over 100 differing websites offering a wealth of free educational, creative, and fun activities – all categorised and searchable.
The site is the brainchild of Creative Sponge’s managing director Nikki Lamb and creative director Michelle Williams, both parents to two primary school aged children.
It is designed to take the pressure off people suddenly having to juggle home working, educating, and childcare.
Here’s a list of 10 of the most useful sites for parents written by Michelle Williams:
BBC Bitesize
An incredible amount of Key Stage focussed content for all subject areas. A fave is a really challenging maths game called Guardians: Defenders of Mathematica. Amazing to see how quickly the kids can add and subtract four-digit numbers if there’s a new shield at the end of it.
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Pobble365
This ‘picture a day’ website has been great for creative writing each day offering different challenges from diary entries to sentence challenges. The kids also love sneaking a look at the next day’s picture.
www.pobble365.com
Nat Geo Kids
My kids love animals and they would probably spend all day here if they could. A mix of games, quizzes, videos and free downloadable resources which is perfect for keeping active minds busy.
www.natgeokids.com/uk
British Museum
Worth finding a desktop computer to explore the collection in a beautiful interactive and engaging way. The kids enjoy playing it like a musical instrument and seeing how far back in time they could go.
britishmuseum.withgoogle.com
Twinkl
A bit of a saviour for us parents this one with free resources available and a subscription available to access further content. The beauty of this website is you needn’t trawl the internet for hours, everything you need for lesson planning is right here.
www.twinkl.co.uk
Tate Kids
Inspiration to get creative but with a nod to styles of famous artists. You can find quizzes, craft activities, videos and art history, easy to find information and easy to use. Our first activity from here was to create Andy Warhol inspired selfies!
www.tate.org.uk/kids
Harper Collins
It’s so much easier to engage children when the learning involves characters from stories they know and Harper Collins offers a wide range of free downloadable resources inspired by some of your favourite books.
www.harpercollinschildrensbooks.co.uk/free-teaching-resources-activities/
BBC Supermovers
Join the Super Movement! Keep your children active whilst learning with curriculum based song and dance routines. Such great fun, I had to join in with the routine about commas, dashes and brackets - the song was stuck in my head all evening.
www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers
Cosmic Kids
Wow, this yoga needs to be part of your day! Engaging, bright and colourful with a great narrative, follow Moana on her adventures or become a Jedi Knight – just make sure you have enough space for the imaginary lightsabers.
www.cosmickids.com
BBC Good Food
Get messy in the kitchen and get together to cook some tasty treats. Use items from your cupboard to make yummy iced biscuits, or add the ingredients to your shopping list and get the kids to cook tea (fajitas are a winner in our house!).
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/kids-cooking
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