Tools to support remote learning and provide engaging at home activities for children are currently in great demand due to the unprecedented increase in at-home learning caused by the COVID-19 virus. This demand is coming from both the education sector, and from parents who are under enormous pressure to manage school workloads, their own workload, and their families’ emotional wellbeing.
Sourcing educational materials and attempting to minimise screen time is a daily challenge in households right across Australia. ARTS:LIVE has hundreds of hours of videos, activity sheets and audio tracks ready for use across a number of curriculum-aligned resources. Register to ARTS:LIVE today to access these resources.
We have compiled a number of ‘at home’ activities that incorporate visual arts, dance, drama and music to help parents oversee their children’s learning while working from home. Take a look at a few examples of our at-home activities below.
The Listies – Make A Scene
Encourage children to make a scene with The Listies! The comedy duo will spark children’s imaginations and playmaking skills as they reveal how to entertain and provide comic relief from your loungeroom.
This resource develops the confidence children need to perform in front of their at-home audience while strengthening their literacy skills.
To get started, view our activity sheet here.
Designosaurs
Take your children back to the prehistoric era with our Designosaurs resource, created in partnership with Erth and Sydney Opera House.
Theatre company Erth will guide children as they research, design and construct their very own endangered animal puppets, providing tips and tricks on the best ways to decorate their creature creations.
View the Designosaurs course here.
Painting the Music
Celebrated artist Cat Sewell shows how music inspires art in our Painting the Music resource, combining visual and performing arts techniques in her paintings and sketches.
Children will be able to complete the Painting the Music activity in an afternoon at home, and will learn how to transform sounds to colours and shapes on a canvas.
Learn more about this interactive activity here.
Family Interview
Encourage your children to develop their critical thinking skills by letting them be a reporter for the day! Children will learn how to plan, practice and conduct an interview and can try out their new skills on a family member, either in the house or online.
Find out more about the activity here.
Create Your Own Radio Drama
Children will be able to let their imaginations run wild with this resource, creating their own characters and using objects found around the home to develop a radio show with dramatic sound effects!
This resource will develop their literacy and creative thinking skills, encouraging children to develop a clear narrative and work with everyday objects to create an dramatic performance for radio.
View the worksheet with easy to follow steps here.
Sustainable Craft Box
Bring crafts out of the classroom and into your living room with our Sustainable Craft Box resource! This is a great way to let you children explore different objects set for the recycling bin and consider how they could be used for fun craft activities instead.
This is a great way to put sustainability into action and show children how recycled materials and objects can be used for a range of purposes.
Explore this activity here.
The Arts provide children with opportunities to find joy and make sense of the world around them, making our work crucial at this time. Register now on ARTS:LIVE for access to even more inspiring arts-based activities that children can do at home.