Together from Afar

Around the Table Sto­ry­time: For this activ­i­ty, record a set of sto­ry­times for fam­i­lies to enjoy at the table togeth­er. Record a few sto­ries and pro­vide a few activ­i­ties around the sto­ries you read.  A few exam­ples of activ­i­ties include: ask­ing ques­tions about the sto­ry, include lyrics to a song or fin­ger play, or encour­ag­ing them to act out the story.

Vir­tu­al Trav­el­ing: For this activ­i­ty, encour­age fam­i­lies to go on a vir­tu­al field­trip. Some sug­ges­tions include:

Amer­i­can Muse­um of Nat­ur­al History

Met­ro­pol­i­tan Muse­um of Art

Smith­son­ian Muse­um of Nat­ur­al History

Here is a great web­site list­ing a vari­ety of vir­tu­al tours.

Sto­ry Starters: For this activ­i­ty, write down a vari­ety of sto­ry starter sen­tences. Some exam­ples include: “Once upon a time…”, “On this day a cel­e­bra­tion of…”, “Deep in the woods…”, or “We start­ed off on the road and we were head­ing to…” You can post these on social media or put them in a curb­side deliv­ery bag.

Cha­rades on the Go: For this activ­i­ty, you will make a set of cha­rades cards and put them in a curb­side deliv­ery bag. Need some ideas for cha­rades cards?

Vir­tu­al Dance Par­ty: For this activ­i­ty, fam­i­lies will enjoy a vir­tu­al dance par­ty. The par­ty can be offered in per­son how­ev­er, if extend­ed fam­i­lies are unable to vis­it the par­ty can be offered vir­tu­al­ly. Here are ideas on how to make it interactive:

Search Pix­abay or Unsplash for free pho­tos and videos and use them as vir­tu­al back­grounds on Zoom.

Search on YouTube for free songs for kids. If you are using Zoom, make sure you click on share com­put­er sound. Here is the link describ­ing how to do this.

Encour­age fam­i­ly mem­bers to find some­thing in their house that can be used as an instrument.

Enjoy these fall sto­ry favorites: