York County Libraries’ professional librarians and educators have curated some of the best online resources to keep you and your family learning, active, and entertained! The focus of this list is families who have children in our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, but plenty of these resources are great for older children, as well.
Don’t forget, there are dozens of YCL resources available right here on our website, but the list below should help you find some of the best resources out on the web!
General
Wide Open School is a free collection of the best online learning experiences for kids, curated by the editors at Common Sense Media.
Child Mind Institute Parent’s Resource Page has great resources, especially for children who are learning to live with mental health issues or learning disorders.
Child Mind Institute Talking to children with autism about COVID-19
Little Bins For Little Hands STEAM activities includes LEGO challenges and science experiments for children ages 3-9, great for learning while having fun!
Make Screen Time Active!
Make screen time physical with these “Brain Break” and movement resources.
Go Noodle Games YouTube gives you tons of fun movement and singing activities to engage children of all ages and their grownups
Learning Station Brain Breaks Play List has songs to break up the homeschool day. Regular brain breaks make kids more attentive, improve concentration and focus and let children release their energy, anxiety and stress with movement and music.
Cosmic Kids Yoga combines stories that kids love with movement!
Yoga Cards for Kids gives you a chance to unwind and calm yourself a bit. Try some yoga poses! Links includes cards with a variety of fun and easy poses for all ages.
Kiboomers playlist has great movement songs for a kids. Have a dance party for your preschool and early elementary kids!
En Espanol:
Pancake Manor has a playlist of Kids’ Favorites in Spanish too!
Author Read-Alouds & Illustrator Art Instruction
Lunch Doodle With Mo Willems The award-winning author is hosting a workshop for kids every day beginning at 1 p.m. Children can join him to draw and experiment with story-telling.
Drawing Sessions with Dav Pilkey happens every Friday at 8 a.m. on the Library of Congress and Scholastic websites and social media accounts.
Kate Messner, author of more than 35 children’s books, shares videos in which she reads one of her titles aloud.
Read and Draw! with children’s book author and illustrator, Debbie Ridpath Ohi . Be sure to share your little one’s creations on social media once they’re done listening to her read Where Are My Books?
Oliver Jeffers, author and illustrator, reads one of his books every day on Instagram live beginning at 2 p.m.
Mac Barnett also announced he’ll be doing a daily live reading of his books on Instagram live at 3 p.m. while schools are closed
*The list above was compiled by https://www.popsugar.com/family/free-online-videos-from-children-book-authors-47312507
Local Read-Alouds and more
Don’t forget to check the YCL Facebook page to see all of your favorite York County Story Time story tellers reading to you every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 AM. If you cannot be there live, they will be archived at YCL’s YouTube channel!
Story Time from Space lets you see real astronauts reading books from the International Space Station!
StoryLine Online is where you can watch various celebrities reading children’s books for all to enjoy.
Big List of Authors This is a one-stop for a compilation of links to each author’s social media reading channel. It’s broken into Elementary and Middle School ranges. Some of the authors listed under “elementary” are picture book authors, and would be appropriate for preschoolers as well.
Remember, all these listening and story activities count toward your 1000 Books Before Kindergarten count, and our Spring Reading Challenge! Log them all using the Beanstack app or site!