Covid 19 resources – links

Below is a list of resources and downloads relevant to the Covid 19 Pandemic.

Explaining the virus to children

• The illustrator of the Grufallo – Axel Scheffler – has helped to create a book about the virus for ages 5-9. It is available for download here.
• The National Autistic Society has compiled a number of resources with autistic children in mind. They can be accessed here.
• The WHO have released a story book aimed at helping young people cope with Covid 19. It can be accessed here.
• This short video provides information about the spead of Covid 19.

Quick, easy craft activities for ages up to 10

• French knitting, using a loo roll tube. Tutorial here.
• Finger knitting a hat. Tutorial here.
• Origami tutorials here.
• Online reading of Millie’s Marvelous Hat by Satoshi Kitamura – make your own marvelous hat using these worksheets (bobbed hair, long hair, short hair & curly hair available). Draw/stick whatever you want your hat to look like onto the page.
• Online reading of Elmer the Elephant by David McKee – make your own Elmer by sticking or colouring squares in the Elmer outline here.
• Use this tutorial for growing dried peas/beans  (the ones from a dried soup mix work perfectly). Record your progress every few days, using these pre-drawn jars.
• Try making sailing boats from corks, or jar lids.

General things to do 

• Borrow library books from the online catalogue, using the Libby app. Audio books are also available.
• Audible have made hundreds of children’s audio books free during lockdown. These range from nursery rhymes to novels.
• The Woodland Trust have posted a range of outdoor activities here.
• There are free crative writing classes for older children, delivered via YouTube.
• Usbourne’s Teach Your Monster to read is available free via PC internet browsers, or for a small fee as an app via your usual app store.
• The RSPB have also posted a range of activities here. Not all are suitable for lockdown, but if you have access to wood and tools there are plans for a DIY bird house.
• It’s possible to make a shadow theatre from a cardboard box and a torch. Here is a good tutorial.
• Older children might enjoy learning a new language. Duolingo is a free app for this.
• Older children may enjoy recording their feelings about the outbreak for use in the Mass Observation Archive – more information can be found here.  NB: The archive is anonymous.
• Cressida Cowell, of ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ fame has been reading her books on YouTube. You can listen to them here.
• Cosmic Kids Yoga and PE with Joe are some fun ways to get exercise whilst at home. Or there are many other workouts available on YouTube.
• The Scottish Book Trust’s website has many excellent activities, as well as Bookbug sessions.
• Listening to music might be fun. Search YouTube for nursery rhymes or orchestral pieces written for children like: ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’, by Benjamin Britten, ‘Peter and the Wolf’ by Prokofieff, ‘The Planets Suite’ by Holst, Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’, Greig’s ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’, or ‘Carnival of the Animals’ by Saint-Saens. There are many different versions of these so it’s worth listening to them yourself first – some editions, such as the Johnny Morris ones, haven’t aged especially well.
  Worth Noting; A lot of people feel like classical music won’t appeal to children. If you have a reluctant (slightly older) listener on your hands to begin with, check out Marvel and Disney ‘violin charades’ as a starting point. If your child likes video games, Taylor Davis and Lara De Witt play the Pokemon cartoon theme on violin and piano. Canadian Brass are another great gateway – they aim to make brass music accessible to children so do things like ballet with a tuba.

Resources for Adults

• For those who are breastfeeding, NHS Grampian has set up a support group which you can read more about here.
• Advice regarding working from home with children – this includes information about setting expectations and being consistent about them.
• Aberdeenshire Educational Psychology have compiled a set of resources for parents at home with children at this time. It is available here. There is lots of helpful information about looking after your own mental health.
• Sitting Still Like a Frog is aimed at families and includes guided relaxation.
• During lockdown, there has been an increase in the number of domestic abuse cases. If you are being abused – violently, sexually, or emotionally, and regardless of your gender – there is Covid 19 specific information available here. To access this without it showing up in your browser history, right click the link and select ‘open link in ingonito window’ (Google Chrome) or ‘open in new InPrivate window’ (Microsoft Edge). The top of all gvernment websites is currently headed with advice to ‘stay at home’, but if you scroll down, you will find the information relavent to domestic abuse.