The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
72°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Kids entertainment, education streams into your homes

To better support children and their families as they learn about staying healthy together, Nickelodeon has just launched their #KidsTogether campaign. (Nickelodeon)
By Stephanie Hammett stephanieh@spokesman.com(509) 459-5013

With the kids stuck at home more than ever, you’re probably hoping for as many ways to keep them occupied as possible. Luckily, there are already many online options.

Nickelodeon has just launched #KidsTogether. This campaign aims to help children and their families stay engaged through relevant content all the while learning about the health crisis in a kid-friendly way. Noggin, Nickelodeon’s preschool subscription service also will be offered free for 3 months in association with the National Headstart Association and First Book. Visit nickhelps.com for more information and noggin.com/kidstogether for access to Noggin.

<iframe width=”560” height=”315” src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/fEcLv6uNjz4” frameborder=”0” allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Spokane Civic Theatre will be streaming free family-friendly productions during the quarantine on its Facebook page. On Friday, they kicked off the series with “Mary Poppins” and will continue streaming shows every Wednesday and Friday night. Visit Civic’s Facebook page for more information.

Also, Kearney Jordan, who teaches Shakespeare workshops at local schools as part of Civic’s Shakespeare in Schools program, will be putting together free digital study guides so that students can stay on track or start learning about Shakespeare from home. The guides will be available online soon.

Kennedy Center artist-in-residence Mo Willems is producing a series of “Lunch Doodles” this week and throughout the quarantine. These half-hour art lessons feature Willems completing arts and crafts with quirky, family-friendly commentary. Willems is the prolific children’s author of books like “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” and the “Elephant & Piggie” series. Check out the Kennedy Center’s website or its YouTube channel for Willems’ new daily shows. Visit kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems for accompanying activity pages for each video.

Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner and others are reading stories aloud on their social media pages to raise awareness of #SaveWithStories, which supports organizations like Save the Children and No Kid Hungry. These organizations are rallying to prevent childhood hunger in the U.S. and around the world during school closures related to the coronavirus. Visit Adams and Garner’s respective Facebook and Instagram pages for stories and more information.

You also can find hundreds of free children’s audiobooks on Audible by visiting stories.audible.com. This section of the site requires no credit card information or logins to start listening.

If you’re tired of Disney and Crayola’s online coloring books, museums all over the world like the Smithsonian are now offering their own downloadable coloring books. The difficulty level varies as the pictures featured have largely been adapted from famous works of art for the #ColorOurCollections campaign. The Smithsonian’s coloring book PDF can be found at library.si.edu/2018ColorOurCollections. Visit individual museum websites for more information.