Supplementary Educational Resources

The following resources provide useful information about and/or during the COVID-19 pandemic, which you can use to learn more about the disease, and relay to your children in a manner they will be able to understand, without causing them any undue anxiety. Also included here are ideas for activities to pass the time during the stay-at-home directive, and tips for fostering student learning in an online environment.

More resources will be added to this page as they become available. For health and financial resources for individuals and families, check out our Community Resources and Crisis Hotlines page.

For the latest COVID-19 information, please visit the Alberta Health Services website. If you or a family member is experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, please access the self assessment tool from Alberta Health Services.

Websites

• KidsActivities.com: Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions Due to School Closures
• COVIBOOK - A PDF picture book designed to explain the pandemic to young children

Documents

• Alberta Health Services: Building Resilient Families by Promoting Positive Mental and Physical Health
• National Association of School Psychologists: Talking to Children About COVID-19

Videos

Student Services Parent Support Videos

The following videos were created by Parkland School Division Collaborative Teaching Partners, and designed to help parents transition to a learning-from-home environment while adjusting to the new lifestyle changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Educational Videos

These videos demonstrate how a virus like COVID-19 behaves, and what everyone is able to do to help stop its spread.

This video demonstrates how to wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

Literacy (Language Arts)

• Barefoot Books Singalongs - Animated singalong videos for young children. Text captions indicate what words are being sung.
• Epic - Thousands of ebooks for kids.
• Highlights Kids - Articles, games, jokes and more compiled by the kids magazine.
• Into the Book - Literacy activities for kids.
• Raz-Kids - Leveled ebooks that can be read by or to a student.
• Reading Bear - Phonics lessons.
• Smithsonian: Tween Tribune - A variety of articles discussing interesting facts about an assortment of topics, all geared towards tweens.
• Stories to Grow By - A wide selection of stories for children, designed to teach lessons of morality.
• Storyberries - Free fairy tales, bedtime stories and poems for kids.
• Storyline Online - Picture books read by celebrities.
• Story Place - A site that replicates the library storytime experience for young children.

Numeracy (Math)

• Acing Math: One Deck at a Time - A list of card games that teach numeracy skills.
• Best Math Card Games - A list of card games that teach numeracy skills.
• Dice Chats - In a Dice Chat, children are asked to count different numbers based on a picture of a set of dice. They are then asked to explain how they reached their conclusion.
• Doing Mathematics With Your Child - Ontario guide on math activities you can do with your child.
• Estimation 180 - Students are encouraged to estimate the answers to questions based on picture prompts.
• Esti-Mysteries - Deduce the answer to a math problem using the process of elimination.
• Mangahigh - Interactive math games for kids.
• Math Before Bed - Images and accompanying questions to spark math-based discussions.
• Math for Love Games - Math games for kids.
• Math Game Time - Interactive math games for kids.
• Math Games: Alberta - Math games that focus on the development of particular math skills.
• Math Games With a Deck of Cards - A list of card games that teach numeracy skills.
• Mathigon - Interactive math lesson modules that adapt to the needs of the learner.
• Math Is Fun - Math and logic puzzles.
• Math Playground - Math games for kids.
• Math Storytime - Helps parents explore simple math concepts with their children (age 5-7) through stories.
• Multiplication.com - Math games for kids.
• Same or Different - Images and accompanying questions to spark math-based discussions.
• Prodigy - An in-depth math game that adjusts to fit the skill level of the player.
• Xtra Math - Timed math activities that help students recall basic facts.

Science

• Bill Nye Home Experiments - Science experiments you can try at home.
• Discovery Education: Tundra Connections - Take a virtual tour of the tundra in Churchill, Manitoba and learn more about its population of polar bears.
• Frontiers for Young Minds - An open access scientific journal written by scientists and reviewed by a board of kids and teens.
• Mystery Science - Students are prompted to watch a video and complete an activity in order to answer a science question.
• San Diego Zoo Kids - Learn more about the animals that live at the zoo, and participate in zoo-themed games and activities.
• Switch Zoo - Animal games for kids.
• Telus Spark: Science From Home - Watch and try science experiments at home, and get your science questions answered.

Social Studies

• CBC Kids News - Current events presented in a kid-friendly context.

Physical Education

• AB Active After School - Lots of active games and physical activities for kids.
• Active For Life: Activities - A variety of physical literacy activities designed to help students develop balance and movement skills.
• BodyCoach TV: PE with Joe - 30-minute workouts for young children.
• BOKS at Home - Workout videos for kids. 
• Chalk Games - Eight active games that can be played using sidewalk chalk.
• Dark Horse Athletic - Videos designed to teach the basic skills needed to play popular sports.
• EverActive Schools: DPA Every Day - Simple daily physical activities for children.
• Farm Food 360 - Take a 360-degree video tour of various farms and food production facilities throughout Canada.
• Funtervals - High intensity interval games for kids.
• Go Noodle - A variety of workout videos for kids.
• I Love a Challenge! - A series of 40 video challenges for elementary-aged kids designed to foster a growth mindset and a love for physical activity.
• OPENPhysEd: Active Home - Lots of exercise and physical activity ideas in PDF format.
• Today's Parent: 15 Ways to Keep Kids Active Indoors - Ideas to keep kids active, even if you don't have much space to work with.

Art

• Art Projects for Kids - A blog with a variety of step-by-step drawing tutorials for kids.
• Craftanatic: Friendship Bracelet Tutorials - More advanced friendship bracelet tutorials.
• A Girl and a Glue Gun: 4 Different Techniques to Make Friendship Bracelets - Beginner-level friendship bracelet tutorial.
• Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems - Learn how to doodle with this popular children's author.
• Muffalo Potato - Drawing exercises in which numbers and letters are used to form shapes.

Music

• Classics for Kids - Interactive music games and activities.
• Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids - Learn about the orchestra and discover how to build instruments from common household objects.
• Music Games and Activities for Kids - A list of music-related games parents can play with kids.
• Virtual Musical Instruments - Use a computer keyboard or touchscreen to play piano, guitar, drums and more.
• Visual Musical Minds - Video ukulele and recorder play-alongs with fingering charts. Includes basic music lessons demonstrated in videos.

Second Languages

• Curio.ca (French) - Informative videos for kids in French.
• Digital Dialects: French - French immersion games and activities.
• The French Experiment - Free online French lessons and children's stories read slowly in French.
• FrenchGames.net - French vocabulary games and tests.
• 1jour1actu - Videos, news items and podcasts for kids in French.
• Les contes qui comptent - French version of Math Storytime. Helps parents explore simple math concepts with their children (age 5-7) through stories.
• Radio Canada Zone Jeunesse - The French version of Kids CBC - games, videos, activities and news items.
• Télé-Québec - Includes videos for kids in French.
• TV5Monde Jeunesse - Includes videos for youth in French.

Technology

• Be Internet Awesome - A website that teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence.

Other Resources

• ABCYa - Educational games for kids, focused on literacy, numeracy and strategy.
• CBC Kids - Thought-provoking topics, videos and games for kids.
• Curio.ca - Informative videos for kids.
• DK Find Out! - Facts, videos and quizzes on a variety of kid-friendly educational topics. Also includes parent resources.
• Doing What's Best For Kids: K-5 Parent Resources - A variety of everyday activities you can do at home with children to engage their minds.
• Food Network: Kids Can Make - A variety of recipes simple enough for younger children to help cook.
• Funbrain - Educational games, videos and books for kids.
• Healthy Eating Games and Activities - A list of games and activities for young children designed to encourage them to try new foods and make healthy food choices.
• Indy's Child: 70 Things to Do with Kids Now That We're All Stuck At Home - A huge list of at-home activities.
• Learn in Color - Activities for kids, organized by subject matter.
• Medium.com: School's Out, Kids' Podcasts Are In - Podcast recommendations and a collection of resources to keep kids busy and educated over the coronavirus break.
• National Geographic Kids - Facts, videos and games, mostly based on Science & Nature, and Social Studies. Note: As this is an American site, its Social Studies content is focused mainly on American history.
• Outdoor Learning Activities - Plenty of nature-based cross-curricular activities for kids.
• PBSKids - Games for kids involving characters from PBS TV.
• PBS Learning - Educational videos for kids.
• Tai Asks Why Podcast - 11-year-old Tai Poole seeks out the answers to life's biggest questions and shares what he finds in this CBC podcast.
• TVOKids - Educational activities (videos, games & apps) based on Ontario's provincial curriculum.
• Starfall - A variety of educational games for kids.
• The STEM Laboratory: 50+ STEM Activities for Kids - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activities for kids.
• Wonderopolis - Articles about an assortment of insteresting facts, accompanied by suggested follow-up activities.

Literacy (Language Arts)

• Alberta Education List of Authorized Novels & Nonfiction - List of books authorized for study in Grades 7-9.
• LeVar Burton Reads Podcast - The former Reading Rainbow host reads stories by a variety of popular authors. Watch for content advisories on some episodes.
• The Literacy Shed - Videos that can be used as creative writing prompts.

Numeracy (Math)

Science

• NASA: Access Mars - A virtual tour of the surface of Mars created using images from NASA's Curiosity rover.
• Radiolab Podcast - A science podcast devoted to investigating a strange world.
• Science News For Students - Science articles and experiments geared towards tweens and teens.

Social Studies

• The China Guide: Great Wall Virtual Tour - A virtual tour of the Great Wall of China.
• The Secret Life of Canada - A podcast about little-known or often overlooked Canadian history.
• 12 World Class Museums You Can Visit Online - A list of notable museums from around the world that offer virtual tours.

Physical Education

• Basketball HQ: Training Videos - Videos demonstrating basketball training drills.
• Breakthrough Basketball: 100 Basketball Training Drills for Players - Basketball training drills demonstrated in videos with accompanying text explanations.
• BodyCoachTV: 20 Minute Workouts - 20 minute workouts for older children and adults.
• FitnessBlender - Free workout videos that can be filtered to suit the user based on multiple criteria.
• Healthier, Happier: Exercises - A searchable database of interval exercises sorted by type and demonstrated in GIFs and videos.
• Line Dance Tutorials at Moonshine Flats - A variety of line dance tutorials. 
• Nike Training Club - An app that grants access to over 190 free workouts across strength, endurance, yoga and mobility, targeting your abs, arms, shoulders, glutes and legs.
• Orangetheory Fitness: At-Home Workouts - 30-minute workouts that use minimal equipment.
• Popsugar Fitness - A variety of workout videos hosted by celebrity trainers.
• Reid Hall - Exercise videos designed to improve players' volleyball skills. Some exercises require special equipment.
• Yoga with Adrienne - A variety of yoga exercise videos.

Art

• Louvre Museum: Online Tours - A virtual tour of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Online Features - Explore the museum's collection and go on a virtual tour.

Music

• Fender: Free Guitar Lessons - A series of guitar tutorial videos for beginners that teach notes and chords, which then can be used to play popular songs.

Second Languages

Technology

Other Resources

• Doing What's Best For Kids: 10-12 Parent Resources - A variety of everyday activities that can be done at home with teens, which mimic real life skills and engage their minds.
• Mental Floss - Facts, trivia, videos and quizzes on a wide range of topics.

Literacy (Language Arts)

• Alberta Education: English Language Arts Authorized Novels and Nonfiction Annotated List - A list of books and other works approved for study in Alberta Grade 4-12 English Language Arts classes.
• Kate Messner: Read, Wonder and Learn! - A collection of favourite authors and illustrators share resources that include video read-alouds and drawing and writing lessons.
• Poetry Foundation - Poems grouped by reading level.
• ReadTheory - Personalized comprehension lessons.
• 12 Story Library - A non-fiction book series covering a range of topics. Read the books online, then discover more on the topic through a series of related links.

Numeracy (Math)

• Geogebra - Tons of math resources and lessons, arranged by age group. Also provides access to an online graphing and scientific calculator.
• Math Games - List of popular board games that tie in to various aspects of numeracy learning.
• Open Middle - Math problems and worksheets for K-12. Hints and solutions are provided.
• NRICH - Math activities for kids. Pick an age group at the top of the page to get started.
• Récréomath - French Immersion math problems.
• Solve Me - Use clues to deduce the answers to math problems.
• University of Waterloo: Problem of the Week - Math problems for Grades 3-12. Solutions for archived problems have been posted.
• Would You Rather Math - Students are asked to decide between two viable options and back up their reasoning with math.
• YouCubed - Math activities for kids.

Science

• Explore Learning - Math and Science simulations. Users must sign up for a 60-day free trial, but access to free resources remains after the trial ends.
• Let's Talk Science - Science learning materials for students. Includes several hands-on science experiments that can be done at home.

Social Studies

• Forever Ago Podcast - A history podcast for the whole family. Every episode explains the origin of just one thing (like sandwiches, video games, clocks and more) while teaching listeners to think critically about history.
• Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: The Podcast - A podcast about notable women, their achievements, and their historical contributions to society.
• New York Times: What's Going On In This Picture? - Images without captions that can be used to spark discussion.
• Travel and Leisure: 12 Famous Museums' Virtual Tours - A list of museums offering online virtual tours.

Physical Education

• Alo Yoga - Yoga exercise videos, including some geared towards children.
• DAREBEE Workouts - Posters detailing workout routines that can be filtered based on age and ability.
• FitBoost Activity - Chooses three exercises at random for a quick workout.
• Just Dance - Simple choreography routines from the video game series that users can dance along with. Many more routines can be found on YouTube by doing a search for "Just Dance".
• Participaction - Physical activities for people of all ages.
• Pow Wow Sweat: Step by Step - How-to videos that teach steps for traditional Indigenous dances.
• Let's Pow Wow Sweat - Full dance routines for traditional Indigenous dances.
• Yoga Ed. - Yoga routines and practices for children, teens and adults.

Art

• Art ala Carte - Drawing tutorials for a wide range of animals, humans, plants and more.
• Awesome Squiggles Global Art Project - An art project where students are challenged to draw something using a set of pre-defined squiggly lines.
• Christopher Hart - Step-by-step drawing tutorials for people and animals in a cartoon/manga style.
• Draw So Cute - Step-by-step drawing tutorials for cute cartoon creatures.
• Google Arts and Culture - View artwork and other collections housed at museums around the world.
• Highsnobiety: How to Tie-Dye T-Shirts: 3 Easy Methods to Try at Home - A basic tie-dying tutorial video.
• Jennifer Funnell Visual Arts: Acrylic Painting Techniques - Acrylic painting techniques for beginners.
• Jennifer Funnell Visual Arts: Watercolor - Watercolour painting techniques for beginners.
• Lena Danya: Oil Painting Basics - Simple oil painting tutorials for beginners.
• Love2DrawManga - Tutorial videos for drawing in a manga style.
• Makoccino: Acrylic Painting - Simple acrylic painting tutorials for beginners.
• Makoccino: Watercolour Painting Ideas For Beginners - Simple watercolour painting tutorials for beginners.
• Natazia: Beginner Crochet - Introductory crochet tutorial videos.
• Rapid Fire Art - Drawing tutorial videos for beginners, primarily focused on human figures.
• RJ Knits - Introductory knitting tutorial video.
• Sheep & Stitch - Knitting tutorial videos.
• SimplyDaisy: How to Crochet for Absolute Beginners - Introductory crochet tutorial videos.
• Schaefer Art: Drawing For Beginners - Drawing tutorial videos for beginners.

Music

• Bernadette Teaches Music - Video ukulele lessons.
• Music Lab Song Maker - Allows users to compose a tune using various melodic instruments and percussion.

Second Languages

• Apprendre le Français - Includes activities, video clips, sample conversation scripts and vocabulary lists organized by ability level.
• Boukili - Free illustrated books for children written in French. This may also be a useful comprehension tool for older students studying French as a Second Language.
• Duolingo - Second language learning website.
• Idello - Thousands of videos, websites and mobile applications for all subjects and grade levels - in French.
• TFO - French videos and activities for kids from the TFO TV channel. Some material may require a subscription from a television service provider to access.

Technology

• Code.org - Computer science and coding activities.
• Common Sense Education: Family Resources - Family information and activities that expand upon Common Sense's Digital Citizenship curriculum.
• Hour of Code - One-hour coding activities that serve as an introduction to computer science, which is designed to demystify "code" and show that anybody can learn the basics.
• Microsoft MakeCode - Microsoft MakeCode is a free, open source platform for creating engaging computer science learning experiences that support a progression path into real-world programming. Some activities require additional materials.
• Scratch - Program your own interactive stories, games, and animations and share your creations with others in the online community.
• Tinkercad - Tinkercad is a free online collection of software tools that help people all over the world think, create and make. They serve as an ideal introduction to Autodesk, the leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software.
• Typing Club - Learn computer keyboard typing skills.

Other Resources

• Alberta Milk Recipes - A list of recipes made using milk.
• Art Gallery of Grande Prairie: Connect to Many Museums! - Provides links to several museums across Canada offering virtual tours and other activities.
• Baker Bettie: Baking School Fundamentals - Basic information about baking tools and ingredient functions.
• Bon Appetit: Baking School Season 1 - How to bake a layer cake from beginning to end.
• Canada's Food Guide Recipes - A list of healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
• Common Sense Education: Top Picks List - A list of educational apps and websites sorted by subject and grade level, and reviewed by educators.
• The Critical Thinking Consortium: Parent Materials - Tips for parents to help their children develop strong critical thinking skills.
• EPSB Together - Educational activities that can be done at home and relate to everyday living.
• Growth Mindset Podcasts for Kids, Teens & Families - A list of edutainment podcasts for kids and teens, as well as podcasts for parents about educating their children.
• Handle the Heat: Baking Essentials & Science - Basic baking skills and ingredient comparisons.
• Khan Academy - Demonstrations and information on all sorts of curriculum topics.
• myBlueprint - Helps kids and teens discover their skills and make informed decisions about their future learning and career path. Requires PSD login to access.
• Outschool.com - Online video conference courses for students on a range of subjects. There is a fee for each course.
• Pro Home Cooks: Beginner's Guide to Cooking - Slow and simple introduction to basic cooking techniques.
• Pro Home Cooks: Beginner's Guide to Cooking at Home - Videos introducing new cooks to various basic techniques and ethnic cooking methods.
• Random Acts of Kindness - See all kinds of ideas for sharing kindness with other people.
• Redpath Sugar: The Redpath Baking School - Basic baking skills and simple recipes demonstrated.
• Smithsonian Kids - Explore activities, games and exhibits centred around the museum's collection of art, history, science and nature artifacts.
• Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, and Parkland County Public Library eResources - A variety of online resources (e.g. Ancestry.ca, Lynda.com, Consumer Reports, OverDrive eBooks, Pronunciator, Tumblebooks) can be accessed for free with a library card. If you do not have a library card, you can get one online for free - visit your library's website for more details.
• TEDEd - Educational videos with follow-up activities.
• University of Alberta Open Educational Resources - A list of open education resources from multiple post-secondary institutions.
• We Are Teachers: Best Podcasts for Kids - A list of age-appropriate podcasts for kids, with accompanying activities to try.