Are you a parent trying to find activities for kids home from school? Or someone stuck at home looking for fun distractions? Here are some fun, free science and nature resources you can use at home. I’ll be adding to this list over time.
You—yes, you!—can do real science from home! Check out Zooniverse, a website for crowd-sourced citizen science projects. Listen to baby noises, transcribe Arctic plant collections, help locate black holes, and more! zooniverse.org
Check out @inaturalist! Go for a hike, and photograph plants, animals, and fungi and upload Geo-tagged photos. @seekbyinat helps with IDs. You can submit observations even if you don’t know what you found! Data are used for real biodiversity monitoring. inaturalist.org
Check out Old Weather, a project where you can transcribe historic records of weather data (like from old whaling vessels) to help scientists studying climate change: oldweather.org
You’ve likely got ginkgos in your town; they’re a common urban tree. Help paleobotanists reconstruct ancient atmospheres: collect and send leaves from your local trees to the Smithsonian, or count stomata (little holes on leaves for gas exchange) online! si.edu/fossil-atmosph…
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere! You can watch for signs of spring (leaves budding, flowers blooming) and record your observations for Project Budburst: budburst.org
Are you a birder? Turn your observations into science and conservation, with @Team_eBird! Watch birds from your backyard, or go for a walk in a park or a longer hike. ebird.org/home
Want something hands-on? Check out these videos for fun, hands-on, cheap science experiments you can do from home: rigb.org/ExpeRimental (Thanks for the tip, @alomshaha.)
Brush up on your climate change knowledge with @KHayhoe’s Global Weirding series from PBS, available for free on YouTube: m.youtube.com/channel/UCi6Rk…
Want to add some great natural history content into your personal curriculum? Check out Brain Scoop by the @FieldMuseum’s Chief Curiosity Correspondent, @Ehmee: youtube.com/user/thebrains…
The @britishmuseum put together A History of the World in 100 Objects. Start at the beginning (Mummy of Hornedjitef) and work your way to the present, with this series of 100 short podcast episodes. bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00… You can look at the objects online, too!
Wild Time Learning is a while website devoted to educational outdoor kid activities that are easy to search by length (e.g., 1 hour), location (e.g., grass), and theme (e.g. investigating, writing). wildtimelearning.com (HT @CaitlinInMaine)
Play along with Twitter games, like:
🦎 #FindThatLizard by @Afro_Herper
🐈 #CougarOrNot by @drmichellelarue
🌊 #DamOrNot by @ConnectedWaters
🐾#NameThatTrack by @Lisavipes
🦜 #TrickyBirdID by @JasonWardNY
🍄#StreetCreatures by @KellyBrenner
🌋#AreYouSiO2 by @NadWGab
🦎 #FindThatLizard by @Afro_Herper
🐈 #CougarOrNot by @drmichellelarue
🌊 #DamOrNot by @ConnectedWaters
🐾#NameThatTrack by @Lisavipes
🦜 #TrickyBirdID by @JasonWardNY
🍄#StreetCreatures by @KellyBrenner
🌋#AreYouSiO2 by @NadWGab
It’s not too late to join @2020MMMletsgo #2020MMM! Print and fill out a bracket, read the battle synopses that have already happened, and follow along for the rest of the battles: mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2020/02/march-…
Play FoldIt, and help scientists develop a coronavirus vaccine (really!) fold.it Thanks for the tip, @NateWashuta. 🦠
The amazing @SarahMackAttack has put together a LIVE schedule of @SkypeScientist Q&A’s, designed for parents with kids at home:
Make your own STEM trading cards, with this template by @SciDelivered! It’s a great way to learn more about scientists and their research. stemtradingcards.org/stem-trading-c…
The Particle Adventures apps for iOS and Android are games for kids to learn about particle physics: m.particleadventure.org (Thanks, @SJDJ)!
If you’re looking for awesome science activities that are super fun and kid-friendly, there are four seasons of The Fab Lab with @AuntLindsey! m.youtube.com/channel/UCUwjV…
There are a lot of great science podcasts out there (I’ll do a separate thread), but Brains On! is specifically geared at kids! The latest episode is even about the coronavirus. brainson.org
Google Earth has some really cool features. Not only can you explore our entire planet, but they have some neat guided tours, and even a “Find Carmen Sandiego” game! google.com/earth/
One of my favorite Google Earth-enabled games is GeoGuessr. It plops you down somewhere in the world, and you click on a map to indicate where you think you are. Plants, buildings, and signs provide your clues. geoguessr.com
PBS Kids has a really nice collection of online educational games, many featuring familiar characters from their shows. Build a mangrove ecosystem, dig fossils, explore kelp forests, and more: pbskids.org/games/science/
The nice folks at @Scholastic have put together twenty days’ worth of activities for kids that don’t require lots of supplies. Searchable by grade level! classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learna…
If you like Pokémon, you can play Phylo, a game with real species! Print out decks for free. Design your own cards, for an added challenge! phylogame.org
Laughter is good for your health. I recommend @zefrank’s hilarious True Facts videos, which spoof traditional nature docs (but with real facts!). Warning: some may not be appropriate for young kids, so parents, watch first (Tarsier is a good one to start). m.youtube.com/playlist?list=…
Dungeons & Dragons is great for math, problem solving, spatial reasoning, creative storytelling, and even STEM skills! Consider running a game for the family, or check out science+D&D podcasts like @DugongsD. kqed.org/mindshift/5179…
