From virtual museum tours to educational resources, reading recommendations, free podcasts, content streaming, and more, we’ve posted quite a few things to do online over the past few weeks. We thought it might be a good time to recap everything we’ve shared up to this point in case you missed anything. Everything included in this blog is free, so just click any of the links in bold to get started!
Click here for an escape room that you complete using Google Docs!
Career Test Prep with LearningExpress Library, FTPL Blog. Can’t get your hands on a test prep book for the career exam you’re taking soon? Use LearningExpress Library! It’s free, you can use it anywhere you have internet access, and signing up is a breeze.
MoMA Now Offers Free Art Classes Online, Lifehacker. “While New York’s Museum of Modern Art is closed to the public right now, its virtual doors are open in the form of a few free classes from the museum.”
NASA at Home: Podcasts, virtual tours, eBooks, resources for kids and families, and more. NASA at home is an excellent way to explore the universe from your living room!
Resources for learning from home during COVID-19 school closures, Thomas Fordham Institute: The best educational YouTube channels, podcasts, and TV shows for kids learning from home!
Hoopla and OverDrive Online Book Clubs, FTPL Blog. This post explains how to join or start your own online book club using the reading apps Hoopla and OverDrive!
Hoopla has also just launched its first-ever online graphic novel book club!
Smithsonian Podcasts: Includes Sidedoor, which tells the story of history, art, science, and humanity, and the incredible places and times that they unexpectedly overlap. Also included are all of the free podcasts that the Smithsonian has to offer!
Author Neil Gaiman offers free eBooks and audiobooks on his website for adults, young adults, and teens. For adults: NeilGaiman.com. For Children: MouseCircus.com.
Celeste Ng, Ann Patchett, Min Jin Lee, and Others on the Books that Bring Them Comfort by Elizabeth Egan Tina Jordan, New York Times. “Looking for a respite from the news? You might find solace in reading.”
FTPL Staff Quarantine Reads, FTPL Blog. The FTPL staff share what we’ve been reading and/or watching during quarantine and social distancing.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling is available for unlimited use on OverDrive with no wait times or holds!
Andrew Lloyd Weber ‘s biggest musicals are streaming free on YouTube for a limited time, TimeOut. “A different Lloyd Webber musical streams each week on The Shows Must Go On!, a new YouTube channel devoted to this project. Each show goes live on the channel on Friday at 7pm BST (2pm EDT, 5am AEDT), and usually remains viewable for 48 hours afterward.”
Smithsonian Channel Plus: “Take off on a thrilling flight across America. This epic series offers rare glimpses of our nation’s most treasured landmarks, all seen from breathtaking heights. From busy cityscapes to quiet landscapes, we capture the history and the pageantry of our amazing country, which is as diverse as the people who occupy it.”
Bored at Home? Here’s a Massive List of Museums, Zoos, and Theme Parks Offering Virtual Tours, Good Housekeeping. “‘Walk’ through some of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions, like The Met and The American Museum of Natural History, then go for a ‘ride’ on Disney’s new Frozen rollercoaster with the kids. And regardless of your age, we think everyone will enjoy some live footage of pandas playing at the zoo!”
Cincinnati Offering Free Safaris During Coronavirus Closure, CityBeat. “These will be offered at 3 p.m. weekdays starting Monday, March 16. The zoo says the first “safari” will feature Fiona the hippo.“
Stuck at Home? These 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch (Video), Travel and Leisure. “Experience the best museums from London to Seoul in the comfort of your own home.”
Here are a few great NJ museums that are also offering free virtual tours:
Princeton University Art Museum
Morris Museum, Murtogh D. Guinness Collection
What are you doing to keep busy? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!
-George, FTPL
2 thoughts on “Things To Do From Home: Everything We’ve Posted So Far!”
Do we have online ESL classes during the current situation?
Hi Aeysha, thank you for the question! We unfortunately won’t be having any online ESL classes held by an instructor while we’re closed, but you do have two options. If you sign up for Mango Languages with your library card (https://learn.mangolanguages.com/login?src=logout), you can select ESL courses for several different languages. We also have an online learning database called LearningExpress Library (https://tinyurl.com/ycohlvmy) which has many ESL resources, but the lessons are currently only available for Spanish speakers. I hope this helped, and please let us know if you have any other questions!