Online Youth Activity Resources
Looking for something engaging or educational to do at home with your kids? The YMCA of San Diego County has compiled a list of online resources for kids of all ages, from crafts to classes, and virtual tours to kid-friendly podcasts. Find a fun activity for your family below.
Crafts and General
- Camp songs, skits and crafts at ultimatecampresource.com
- Sesame Street learning activities at sesamestreet.org/caring
- Several free downloadable things to use at lakeshorelearning.com
- Several activities for toddlers at Busy Toddlers
- Find over 4,500 things to do at kidsactivities.com
- San Diego Unified School District Resources
- The Kids Should See This
- amazingeducationalresources.com
- kennedy-center.org
- pinkoatmeal.com
- Videos of Storytellers from Natural High
- Mission Fed JA Finance Park Virtual Class (Grades 7-12) from Junior Achievement San Diego
- JA More Than Money Virtual Class (Grades 3-6) from Junior Achievement San Diego
Physical
- Y Kids Activities & Newsletters
- Online Workout Classes
- Go Noodle YouTube Channel
- Adapted PE YouTube Video
- Kids & Adults Workout YouTube Video
Reading
- Scholastic Reading Resources
- Junior Achievement Virtual Programs
- Stories read online at storylineonline.net
- KidLit TV features book read-alouds
- Picture book read-alouds from Pernille Ripp
- Library eBooks
- Scholastic — Learn at Home Classroom Magazines
- Reading at Home from getepic.com
Writing and Illustrating Resources
- Writing Lessons from Author Jess Keating
- Learn how to type at TypingClub.com
- Learn from authors and illustrators, shared by Kate Messner
- Draw Every Day with Jarrett J. Krosoczka
- Draw a new thing every day with Sarah S. Brannan's daily prompts
Math
Science
- Science lessons from Mystery Doug
- Kids National Geographic
- Skype-a-Scientist Live Event Calendar
- The Fab Lab With Crazy Aunt Lindsey YouTube Channel
- Science worksheets and lesson plans from environmental scientist, Olivia Sanderfoot
- Zooniverse crowd-sourced science projects
- Upload observations about the natural world to iNaturalist.org
- Birdwatch from home and report at eBird.org
- Hands-on science experiments from home
- Play the GeoGuesser game
- Phylo is like Pokémon but with real animals
- NASA Kids Club
- Smithsonian for Kids
Coding & Gaming
Virtual Field Trips & Museum Tours
- Virtual Field Trips
- Virtual Museum Tours from travelandleisure.com
- Virtual Museum Tours from mentalfloss.com
- San Diego Zoo Live Webcams & Videos
- Live Cams from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Georgia Aquarium Webcams
- Great Wall of China
Healthy Eating
- Lot of great recipes for the family at eatfresh.org
- USDA provides resources on healthy recipes and cooking with kids at fns.usda.gov and nutrition.gov
Helping Children Emotionally Cope with COVID-19
- “10 tips for talking About COVID-19 with your kids” from PBS
- “Talking to children about disasters” from healthychildren.org
- “Once I Was Very Very Scared” — a children's book on feeling scared
- A comic just for kids about COVID-19 from NPR
- Podcast about COVID-19 from BrainsOn
- Interview with an infectious disease pediatrician from Tumble, a kids science podcast
- A Curious Kids Podcast: Curious about Cleanliness
Government Resources
- Information about Paid Family Leave, Paid Sick Leave, Disability, Unemployment, and more.
- Employment Development Department
- California Department of Public Health about the COVID-19 virus
- San Diego County information about COVID-19
- San Diego County Community Support
Food Resources
- CalFresh/SNAP: California food resource program
- 211 Food Pantry Resources: These programs seek to meet the basic nutritional needs of the community by providing access to food products.
- Foodfinder.com: An award-winning site/app to help food insecure families find free food assistance programs quickly
Kid-Friendly Podcasts
- BrainsOn! — A science podcast
- But Why? — A science podcast
- The Past and The Curious — A history podcast
- Book Power for Kids — A book review podcast
- Cool Facts About Animals — A science podcast
- Good Words — A podcast about words
- Buttons and Figs — A podcast about words
- Story Pirates — A storytelling podcast
- Come Circle Round — A storytelling podcast
Discover More Online Activities at Our Virtual YMCA
At the YMCA of San Diego County, the safety and well-being of our members, staff, volunteers and the broader community have always been, and will always be, a top priority.
While our branches may be temporarily closed, we're still committed to help everyone in our community stay active and engaged. Check out our Virtual YMCA for helpful family and community support resources, stimulating mental health and well-being webinars, fun kids activities, online social groups, live group exercise webcasts, and more!