Updated and expanded 3-6-2021. The list keeps growing!
Originally 55+ things to do during the pandemic (April 2020)
• PBS to Broadcast ‘Met Stars Live in Concert’ Performances Featuring Jonas Kaufmann, Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming, Angel Blue, Sonya Yoncheva
• Free re-broadcasts of full Met Operas from recent years every night
• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Chroma, Grace, Takademe, Revelations (Lincoln Center at Home -- and at the Movies, 2015)
• Front Row Mainstage: The Brandenburg Concertos (Chambermusic Music Society of Lincoln Center) Listen free till end of December 2020)
• Moth Holiday Playlist (listen to a selection of funny stories about the holidays from The Moth)
• Cool science sites for kids (Do safe experiments at home!)
• Buy Nothing Groups Are Inclusive, Locally-Managed Gift Economies (12-2-2020). Curious? Read A Brief History of the Buy Nothing Project, Complete with Controversies (12-22-2020)
• How to Paint a Venice Canal in Acrylic. These how-to videos really make me want to paint. Check out the series: Drawing and Painting with Paint Lesson (free online tutorials, both video and text).
• Find the Song Name Without Knowing the Lyrics (Amit Agarwal, Digital Inspiration, 1-7-12. See also Find the Song Name Without Knowing the Lyrics
• Fall Fun for Kids (B-Inspired Mama, Pinterest) 789 Pins. See also 50+ Awesome Fall Activities for Toddlers (Busy Toddler) "Making it to naps, one activity at a time."
• 10 Easy Preschool Activities (Play to Learn Preschool)
• Parent Resources: Maryland Public Schools (a nifty list of links to activities and learning aids for kids to do while homebound. Sorted by grade level.)
• All About Birds (the Cornell Lab's bird guide)
---Bird Song Opera (ShakeUp, a sound forge for original music and sound design for film, advertisement, events and interactive applications, based in Berlin)
---Merlin Bird ID Cornell Lab's bird identification app (available only on the App Store for iPhone)
Smart Bird ID (with this bird ID app you can identify bird by camera or microphone--that is, by sound)
---Scroll to bottom for links about building bird houses for various types of birds.
•Tree Identification Guide (Tree Musketeers, an informative site) As you walk see how many types of trees you can identify. This site has great explanations, identifications and many pictographic charts all about trees. Learn about the differences between various conifer and broadleaf trees.
• Kids vs. Plastic (National Geographic) Save the Earth from plastic with this DIY crafting series of easy-to make, eco-friendly party favors and school gadgets. Watch and learn how to make jeans pencil cases, paper jewelry beads, reusable sandwich bags, and more!
• Clean and disinfect your home (video, CNN how-to lesson)
• Start gathering and telling your family history. See Good interview questions for the family and The art and craft of interviewing (Pat McNees's site) and Great interview questions and guides (Telling Your Story). Do some of it on Zoom!
• Talk "face to face" with your friends and family on Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, or Google Hangouts. See Using Zoom for a family or office teleconference call (or class)
• Learn where journalists get their medical news and updates(Writers and Editors)
• Participate in Virtual fitness classes (Senior Planet)
• Explore 100 years of veterans stories from World War I to the Iraq War (The History Channel)
• Watch events from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (archived--watch free)
• Standing Pilates for Seniors (The girl with the Pilates mat) 30 minutes of exercise.
• Watch the free webcast of the Paris Review Lit Fête: A Virtual Celebration of Writers and Writing(June 9, 8 pm). Indeed, many literary conferences will probably be going virtual this year! See Writers conferences, workshops, book fairs, and other learning places
• I spend my day working in the hospital. Then I come home and bake. (Tamal Ray, Opinion, WaPo, 4-13-2020) The only thing I can do in the face of a global disaster is focus on the patients in front of me and keep myself and my colleagues safe.But in my kitchen, my quiet corner of the world, I still have control.
• Check out Pourhouse Trivia, which hosts online trivia games every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the pandemic.
• TED’s summer culture list: 114 podcasts, books, TV shows, movies and more to nourish you (Ideas.TED.com) This list is divided into three buckets: “Things to listen to (primarily podcasts)”;“Things to read (basically books)”; and “Things to watch (mainly TV shows and movies)”<.
• ****Listen to Dozens of really good radio talk shows and podcasts (a curated list of excellent programs, with links)
• Listen to Sidedoor (podcasts from the Smithsonian)
• ***Stream all of the Library of Congress author webcasts from the National Book Festival (two decades' worth) H/T Holly Pollinger.
• Watch Carnegie Science programs on YouTube--on various topics, including the MESSENGER space probe; Life at the Extremes: Microbes, Salt and Pressure; and other topics.
• Dancing ballet at home (les danseurs de l'Opéra de Paris dancing alone together, by videoconference). Play this where children can watch and see if they don't join in.
• Learn the difference between memoir and autobiography and start writing your life story, or your family (hi)story.
• Read memoirs and personal accounts of vocation, avocation, occupation, profession -- "calling"
• Read memoirs about friendship, family, and other relationships
• Choose the music you want played at your (or someone else's) funeral or memorial service.
• Missing Sounds of New York (NY Public Library)
• Coronavirus: A Book for Children (with artwork by The Gruffalo’s Axel Scheffler) Read free online.
• Facing the Rising Tide (The New Group) A free digital festival of play readings and conversations about environmental racism, the climate crisis and hope.
• Stories from Audible For as long as schools are closed, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids. All stories (including Harry Potter) are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.
• A digital directory of remote learning resources (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators)
• Remember Books? Researcher Shows How Reading Is Superior to Screen Time (Nick Zagorski, Psychiatric News, 3-20-2020)
• Small free libraries offering solace amid virus shutdowns (Michelle A. Monroe and Russell Contreras, AP/Tuscon.com, 5-17-2020) More people have been selecting and donating books since the pandemic.
• Running list of Kids and YA Lit available free online during the crisis (Publishers Weekly links)
• Free Online Book Access for Students and Kids (Publishers Lunch links)
• Learn at Home Materials (Scholastic projects to keep kids reading, thinking, growing)
• Listen online to 'The Moth'
• Read about story structure and the art of storytelling
• Read Will Storr on the Science of Storytelling (8 Longreads)
• Listen to old episodes of This American Life and all the other really good (intelligent) radio talk shows and podcasts. Do this while cleaning the house, working on your car, or organizing the garage!
• Stream Films and video from the Library of Congress (all free), as described in Film Treasures, Streaming Courtesy of the Library of Congress (New York Times story plus links, 4-3-2020)
• What to Stream: Eighty-Three of the Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (Richard Brody, The Front Row, New Yorker, 4-10-2020)
• The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video Right Now (Jason Bailey, NY Times, 4-16-2020)
• The 50 Best Movies to Watch With Your Parents During Quarantine (Nate Jones, Vulture, 3-31-2020)
• The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (Jason Bailey, NY Times, 4-14-2020)
• The 100 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 4-10-2020)
• The Best Documentaries on Netflix Will Change How You See the World (Hilary Weaver and Esquire Editors, 4-10-2020)
• The 50 Best TV Shows on Netflix Right Now (Noel Murray, NY Times, 4-17-2020)
• Stream 80 Indigenous Films from Latin America & the Caribbean for Free on YouTube (Repeating Islands)
• Selections from the National Film Registry (YouTube playlist) Check out "The House I Live In" with a young Frank Sinatra, made in 1945.
• Read "Why's This So Good?" (a"collaboration on the magic of long-form stories" (Nieman Storyboard pieces that explore what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth reading). And then
• Read outstanding examples of narrative nonfiction online
• New Netflix documentary tells the bittersweet story of a lesbian couple forced to keep their love secret for 60 years (Lily Wakefield, Pink News, 4-23-2020)
• Watch the wonderful Sondheim tribute: Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration a fundraiser for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), an organization that connects performing and visual artists with youth from underserved communities in the U.S., encouraging them to break the cycle of poverty. You can Donate here.
• Television (wonderful YouTube video, a historic celebration of TV on its 10-year anniversary. "It is much like a radio in appearance.")
• ****Discover addictive and wonderful TV and cable shows (Writers and Editors)
• Do a virtual tour of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. From close-up examinations of some the collection’s best-known works to 360-degree virtual strolls though the museum, the website is the ticket to a perfect (and socially distanced) excursion for art lovers.
• We're All Homebound -- The Coronavirus Song Claire and Mel Vatz (of Pittsburgh) sing an ode to our pandemic, to the tune of the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound.”
• For the Longest Time Phoenix Chamber Choir (Vancouver's super a capella choir) sings Quarantine version of Billy Joel song.
• Follow the lead of the talented LeBaron family singing 'One Day More' from Les Misérables to Karaoke.
• Senior Gold Dance Workout (exercise class at home) Or try this one: 20 minute exercise workout for Beginners and Seniors
• COVID safety precautions (sung to The Sound of Music, Do Re Me)
• Quarantine Music Video "Dance Song (for the End of the World)" - Lizzy & The Triggermen a 5-minute dance video pick-me-up for those getting Cabin Fever
• Watch one of the National Zoo's webcams Watch the cheetah, the naked mole, the giant panda, the lion, or the elephant!
• Read Becoming by Michele Obama, and/or watch the documentary (on Netflix).v
• Authors: Plan your literary estate (blog post, Writers and Editors)
• Check out blogs and podcasts about book publishing
• 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch (video, Travel & Leisure links to the tours)
• View museum art online (Google, Arts and Culture)
• (Adults:) Read F--k the Bread. The Bread Is Over. by Sabrina Orah Mark (Paris Review (5-2-2020), whose column Happily focuses on fairy tales and motherhood. (H/T Abby Rasminsky
• Listen to earlier presidents' talks: "Obama out:" President Barack Obama's hilarious final White House correspondents' dinner speech (4-30-16) George W. Bush's powerful message of hope during the coronavirus pandemic (YouTube)
• Recreate classical art with things you can find at home (Sad and Useless)
• See New York City nearly empty (Stephen J. Reynolds video)
• Download and color in beautiful coloring books (Biodiversity Heritage Library, a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working together to digitize the natural history literature in their collections and make it available for open access) Download individual images or annual collections, color them, and share them on social media using the event hashtag #ColorOurCollections.
• Virtual First Amendment Classroom (National Coalition Against Censorship)
• Watch trailer for The Plot Against America and decide if you want to watch the HBO series.
• How to paint good (YouTube video) Bob Ross - Mountain Ridge Lake
• The Classical Station (The ClassicalStation.org, WCPE-FM, Central North Carolina) Can be heard online anywhere 24/7) Including free operas being streamed by the Met and the Vienna State Opera during the pandemic.
• La traviata in full from The Royal Opera (YouTube, as part of the #OurHouseToYourHouse series)
• Anastasia in full from The Royal Ballet, a YouTube Premiere of Kenneth MacMillan's Anastasia, a piece inspired by the true story of Anna Anderson, a woman who believed herself to be Anastasia, youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and the only survivor from the assassination of the Romanovs in 1918. <
• Light Shall Lift Us: Opera Singers Unite in Song More than 100 opera singers unite (from afar) in a song of hope and solidarity for a virtual performance of LIGHT SHALL LIFT US.
• Toronto Symphony Plays Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring From Their Homes (Listen to 'Appalachian Spring')
• Listen to Hour-Long Stories from This American Life.
• Read up on pandemics (links to great fiction and nonfiction about pandemics through history)
• Organize all those plastic lids and containers, or have the kids do so.
• Join millions of people reducing their plastic waste.
• Best birdhouses (aka bird boxes, nest boxes)
---Best Bird Houses for Different Types of Birds (Perky Pet)
---How to Build a Bird Box in Your Garden (My Job Quote, UK)
---House Wren: Nest box Plan and Information (All About Birdhouses, NestWatch, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
---Nest Shelf: American Robin, Barn Swallow, Eastern and Say’s Phoebes (NestWatch and State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources)
---How to Build a Birdhouse for Martins (Will Shelton, Mother Earth News, Feb/March 1998) Martins not only eat copious amounts of insects but also scare away hawks and crows.
---Building Bird Houses for Cavity Nesters (Wild Bird Watching) Very informative, with dimensions for birdhouses for various types of birds. One size does not fit all when it comes to building bird houses. Bluebirds and House Wrens have different entrance hole sizes and floor to opening height requirements. You also must provide easy access for clean out. You can do this simply by hinging the front panel or one of the side panels or by having a removable floor or roof. And more such practical tips.
---Finally! A Bluebird House You Don't Have to Replace (Wild Bird Watching) Going Green Bluebird House by Woodlink
• Largest human mattress dominoes (YouTube, Guinness World Records) Watch. Then discuss why people would go to this much trouble for this kind of honor.
H/T to Susan Pourian, Parkside Green; Jane Friedman, The Hot Sheet; Marcy Davis (Readers, Streamers, and Watchers); Abby Rasminsky, Lynne Lamberg, Holly Pollinger, and others!