How to entertain the kids at home?

"The classes have ended and many of the children stay at home all day with little to do. In this article, we bring several suggestions for activities to keep them busy!"

Home cinema - Netflix, HBO, Google Play, Apple TV

Make some popcorn, turn off the lights in the living room, and turn up the volume on the television! Staging a home movie session is a great way to entertain the little ones.('and not only!) for a few hours. If you have a projector, connect it to the computer to watch the movie on a wall, in large format. There are several streaming services available in Portugal with a wide variety of movies: Netflix, HBO, Google Play, or Apple Tv. And there is also a lot to choose from on the box at home.'

Online museums

Making a virtual visit to a museum was already a global trend, as it allowed access to places we could not otherwise go. With the effects of Covid19 on tourism, many museums reinvented themselves and embraced this online model. This is a different way to entertain children, while also educating them. 

In Portugal, there are many monuments that have adopted this version. Discover here some of those you can visit with your family on the computer, without leaving home:

   - National Coach Museum

   - Tile Museum

   - Belem Tower

   - National Palace of Mafra

To go further, you know that some of the most renowned international museums also offer virtual visits and can now even be a alternative to the trip you had planned this summer. Here are some good examples:

   - British Museum, in London

   - Louvre Museum, in Paris

   - THE Metropolitan Museum of Art, andm New York 

   - Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

   - The Acropolis Museum, in Athens

   - SSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.

Online classes 

Currently, there is nothing that cannot be learned online, whether through courses, tutorials, open classes, live sessions... Do you want your child to learn to play an instrument at home? Or a new language? There is nothing more practical than having online classes!

Here are some suggestions:

   - Guitar lessons - https://www.ricardomata.net/ // https://www.superprof.pt/aulas/guitarra/online/

   - English classes - https://www.britishcouncil.pt/ingles/cursos-criancas-jovens%20/verao-online-2020

   - Yoga classes - https://www.sunshineyoga.pt/aulas-yoga

PC and console games

We all know how much kids love video games and how it keeps them glued to the computer, tablet, or console. It's a good way to pass the time and keep them entertained for a few hours. However, don't forget to set up the parental control.(if you don't know how, see here) so that they have fun, yes, but always in safety while playing online!

Listen to a story

Children love to hear a story. But we don't always manage to stop what we are doing to pick up a book and read it, dedicatedly, to the little ones. The network of municipal libraries in Lisbon has a project called "A story a day doesn't know the good it does" and comes to help parents at story time. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 11am, on the Facebook of Lisbon Libraries, a new story is released for children to listen to!

https://www.facebook.com/BibliotecasdeLisboa/

Applications

Finally, we suggest some recommended applications, perfect for the little ones to have fun on the tablet, mobile or computer!

   - Children's coloring games 2-6 -  (iOS, Android and PC)

   - Coloring Online - https://www.colorir-online.com/ (PRAÇA)

   - YouTube Kids - multimedia content aimed at younger audiences, most of which is very educational and pedagogical (iOS, Android and PC)

   - BinGo Recycle -  the most environmentally friendly app! Games and missions that encourage children to recycle.  (iOS and Android)

   - Panda World - the Canal Panda app with many series, games, music, videos, and cartoons! (iOS, Android)