COVID-19 Resources and Activities for Youth and Families

— Written By Mac Hulbert
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Family

As we continue this time of social isolation many families with children are struggling to find appropriate resources to make ends meet, as well as to keep their children engaged. Others are finding that the shelter-in-place order has provided their families with much more time to explore and bond with activities that weren’t possible before. Regardless of your family’s needs, I’ve compiled a list of resources that might be useful to support you during this period, or to help brainstorm activities for young people to do to fill the time, or that the entire family can engage in together.

FREE SPECTRUM WIFI FOR STUDENTS

Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription at any service level up to 100 Mbps. To enroll call 1-844-488-8395. Installation fees will be waived for new student households. Charter will partner with school districts to ensure local communities are aware of these tools to help students learn remotely. For eligible low-income households without school-aged children, Charter continues to offer Spectrum Internet Assist, a low-cost broadband program delivering speeds of 30 Mbps. Charter will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across our footprint for public use. Spectrum does not have data caps or hidden fees    

COVID-19 Community Resources

This website provides a number of resources compiled by Duke University Office of Durham & Community Affairs to provide community members with access to resources – particularly information on how to access food services for low-income families in the Durham area. Includes additional resources for activities, loans, and other programs that would be helpful to North Carolinians outside of Durham. 

Durham One-Stop-Shop COVID-19 Resource Spreadsheet

This detailed spreadsheet includes various resources available to Durham and Orange County natives, but also includes plenty of information that would be helpful to the public at large. Includes Crisis Support, Mutual Aid Information, Healthcare Access, Shelter/Housing/Utilities information, Lost Wages Support, Food Access, Communication//Technology Resources, and Childcare/E-Learning suggestions. 

Digital Resource for Learning (Museums, Performance Arts, Science, etc.)

This impressive collection of resources compiled by Craven County’s 4-H Agent, Ashley Brooks, contains dozens of links to online museum collections, libraries, e-learning opportunities, virtual tours, learning portals, and cultural performances. Some content monitoring may be required for certain museum websites. Many are museum based, but e-learning activities also include free Audible resources, Cooking Classes, Environmental Education, and Math and Reading packets. 

4-H Learning Lab

Registered through reporter, separates activities into three age groups Cloverbud Corner (5-8), Junior JukeJoint (9-13), and Senior Seminars (14-18). Includes discussion boards, video uploads, and more to support online learning. Participants do not need to be in 4-H. 

North Carolina 4-H Facebook Live Lessons

This resource provides regular video and livestreamed lessons and activities. Our Facebook page includes daily posts that include a schedule of activities you can do at home, often with multiple video lessons conducted by 4-H agents around the state. These daily activities can help provide much-needed structure to youth while out of school. All Spark live videos are then recorded and posted on the NC 4-H Youtube page.

4-H Master List of COVID-19 Activity Resources

This google doc contains links to a wide variety of traditional 4-H activities to keep your young person engaged and developing their 4-H portfolio and presentation skills during social isolation. 

Base Camp

Basecamp is a project management and collaboration too for Cooperative Extension staff. It is shared space that can be used for project management, file sharing, and group activities.

Virtual Livestock Show

An option for youth whose 4-H livestock shows were canceled. Rewards are offered and they can upload information and pictures of their livestock through Google Forms. 

NC 4-H Horse Program Quarantime Lessons

The North Carolina 4-H Horse Program is delivering “Quarantime Lessons” via live Zoom sessions on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. Each week, a meeting link will be shared on social media, and on the calendar of events on the NC State University Equine Husbandry website. The current lesson content is focusing on horse judging skills, in an effort to assist the youth in preparing for the NC 4-H Virtual Horse Judging Contest. Those that register for the contest will have access to the recorded lessons on the contest Moodle site. Registered coaches will also have a separate Moodle site assigned to them where the lessons and practice material will be available.

4-H Website

This website continues to be a great resource for agents, as well as a potential resource for the community. There are plenty of resources online for parents, as well as a shop where extension agents and parents can purchase activity guides on a wide range of topics including photography, cooking, earth science, creative writing, world cultures, robotics, sewing, and much more. 

Lynda

Lynda is NC State’s online library containing thousands of professionally made, easy to follow video courses covering topics like:

All NC State students, faculty, and staff have full access to Lynda.

When logging in for the first time, select the option to “sign in with your organization portal,” and provide “ncsu.edu” as your organization’s URL when prompted. View detailed instructions.

Project Learning Tree – Activities to do with children at home:

Environmental Education activities for a broad range of ages that can be completed at home and in your backyard. 

SciGirls Connect

Supported through PBS, SciGirls Connect offers a wide variety of STEM videos and activities designed to encourage young women and girls in the pursuit of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. 

PBSKids

Offers an even wider variety of videos, games, and lessons for children. 

Now What?

Offered through North Carolina State University, Now What includes five easy to do outdoor activities to keep children engaged while staying at home. 

Grow For It: Garbage Can Gardening

A series of activities to grow plants at home from food waste such as pineapple tops, potatoes, and avocadoes shared through NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 

Boredom Busters

Five more activities from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University to help families stay occupied including learning about seeds through popcorn, using vegetables to create dyes, and salt-dough ornaments.