The following list is a collection of free activities you can do in your own home using the internet, which can help to keep your mind and body active, and keep yourself and your family entertained.
The majority of the activities are free all-year-round, but some items are only free for a time-limited period, due to the pandemic. All activities on the list are currently free of charge. Please note, some activities may resume charging at some point in the future.
Arts and Culture
- Over 800 lectures held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) - between 1982 and 1993 are now available to listen to online as part of the British Library Sounds collection: https://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-lite...
- National Theatre - watch a different play online each week, such as One Man Two Guvnors starring James Corden: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
- Learn to draw with Lunch Doodles - each day, the Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence posts new, short lessons to teach you how to draw and doodle: https://www.kennedy-center.org...
- List of free YouTube art classes and tutorials: http://www.openculture.com/201...
- Free online concerts - Coronavirus: Ongoing List of Virtual Concerts & Livestreams Billboard: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9335531/coronavirus-quarantine-music- events-online-streams
- Free Origami Instructions & Diagram: https://origami.me/diagrams/
Museums and Landmarks
- The Louvre virtual tour: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit...
- British Museum virtual tour: https://britishmuseum.withgoog...
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam virtual tour: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/...
- The Vatican virtual tour: http://www.museivaticani.va/co...
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington virtual tour: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/...
- Melbourne Museum virtual tour: https://museumsvictoria.com.au...
- Van Gogh Museum virtual tour: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/e...
- Virtual Tour - Tomb of Queen Meresankh II: https://my.matterport.com/show...
Travel and Nature
- Rocky Mountain National Park has allowed virtual visitors to use their ears rather than their eyes, with an online “sound library” that features an array of birds and wildlife found in the park: https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn...
- Chester Zoo are streaming regular live tours: https://www.chesterzoo.org/vir...
- Edinburgh Zoo Live Tiger Cam: https://www.edinburghzoo.org.u...
- Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo: https://www.zoo.org.au/animals...
- Chuck the Groundhog: https://www.youtube.com/user/j...
- Atlanta Zoo – Panda Cam - Panda Cam - Zoo Atlanta: https://zooatlanta.org/panda-c...
- San Diego Zoo Cams - Videos | San Diego Zoo Kids: sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org
- Georgia Aquarium: Beluga Whale Webcam: https://www.georgiaaquarium.or...
- Virtual Tour - Experience Machu Picchu: https://www.youvisit.com/tour/...
Music
- United We Stream- all of Berlin’s nightclubs offering streams from different clubs several nights a week: https://en.unitedwestream.berl...
- London Philharmonic Orchestra are streaming their concert archive: https://www.lpo.org.uk/lponlin...
Food
- Jamie Oliver’s Keep Cooking and Carry On flexible recipes that use up store cupboard ingredients: https://www.jamieoliver.com/re...
- Jack Monroe tasty budget recipes: https://cookingonabootstrap.co...
- Liverpool’s raw dessert shop The Nakery now have a YouTube channel where they teach you how to make their raw vegan treats at home: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
Literature and Podcasts
- Over 50,000 books free and available to read online or download to e-reader devices: https://manybooks.net/
- Goodreads are running a wide range of online book clubs across many genres: https://www.goodreads.com/grou...
- Podcasts are all free and easily available in the podcasts app on Android and Apple phones, and online. A list of the 10 Most Downloaded Podcasts of All-Time: https://www.samuelthomasdavies...
- Story Time each morning at 11am there is a free online children’s story time with David Walliams: https://www.worldofdavidwallia...
Sensory videos
- Hey Bear Relax - Lanterns - Relaxing Video - Calming Music - Stress Relief:
- Splendor of Color Kaleidoscope Video v1.3 (Hypnotic Visuals to Relaxing Ambient Meditation Music):
- Autism Calming Sensory Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
- Autism “SAND” Sensory Visual Therapy Calming Relaxation
- Autism sensory color changing fireworks slowed down with music:
Online Learning
- Thousands of free lectures at Harvard University: https://www.edx.org/school/har...
- Duolingo is a free mobile app where you can learn 30+ languages: www.duolingo.com
- List of free YouTube art classes and tutorials: http://www.openculture.com/201...
- Learn to draw with Lunch Doodles - each day the Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence posts new, short lessons to teach you how to draw and doodle: https://www.kennedy-center.org...
- Kahn Academy - Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice: https://www.khanacademy.org/
Kahn Academy Kids App - a free, fun educational app for young kids: https://learn.khanacademy.org/...
Virtual Walking Tours
Note: there are many more, type in “virtual walking tours” or “tours” in your search engine.
- Rome:
- Pompeii:
Health and Wellbeing
- Meditation - Headspace has some free meditations available online: https://www.headspace.com/covi...
- Mindfulness - Bangor University’s website has a wide range of free mindfulness practices and resources: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindf...
- Yoga with Adriene - a wide range of free YouTube videos for people of all levels and abilities: https://www.youtube.com/user/y...
- Dance - Seen on Screen are offering free dance tutorials live on their Instagram every day, where you can learn Beyoncé, Rihanna and Britney Spears routines, and many more: https://www.instagram.com/seen...
- P.E. with Joe Wicks - daily exercise videos for the whole family: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
- Chair Workout with Joe Wicks YouTube video.
- NHS Fitness Studio - a collection of simple exercises you can do at home: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/...
- Seated Yoga:
- Low Impact Leg Workout
- Upper Body Exercises
- 30 Minute fitness:
- Yoga for beginners
- Mindfulness
- Fitness Marshall – Short Dance videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/T...
Social
- Teleparty - watch Netflix with your friends online, all at the same time with an added group chat feature: https://www.netflixparty.com/ (requires a Netflix subscription)
- JackBox Games (there is a cost for this) What is Jackbox? - Jackbox Games – There is a cost to download game packs from this site from $0-$50 per pack of 5 games. These can be played in groups via mobile devices whilst you are all on Zoom or Teams.
- Free Online Escape Rooms:
- Minecraft Escape Room (google.com) https://docs.google.com/forms/...
- Hogwarts Digital Escape Room (google.com) https://docs.google.com/forms/...
- Aquarium Mystery (google.com) https://docs.google.com/forms/...
- Virtual Escape Room: Unlock Disney World! (Does not work on most School google accounts. Sign into your personal google account for it to work!) veudw - Google Slides https://docs.google.com/presen...
Games online
- Crazy Games: https://www.crazygames.com/
- Online Uno: https://www.crazygames.com/gam...
- Sorting game: https://www.crazygames.com/gam...
- 3D cube game: https://www.crazygames.com/gam...
- Word find: https://www.crazygames.com/gam...
- Scribl.io: https://skribbl.io/
- Coolmathsgames: https://www.coolmathgames.com/
- Run3: https://www.coolmathgames.com/...
- Papas Pizzeria: https://www.coolmathgames.com/...
- Agar.io: https://agar.io/#ffa
- Agame: Free games online - Popular Games Online for free at Agame.com
- ABC Kids - for younger children. Games, activities and videos: https://www.abc.net.au/abckids...
