Making the Most of Sheltering at Home for Clients & Families You Serve – and Yours Too!

Here are some activities to keep your clients and families active and engaged during this time at home. There are a variety of activities along with educational and financial resources for parents/caregivers. We are all sheltering in our homes to avoid spreading COVID-19 virus. You can be proud of yourself and your family for doing your part! Take a moment to gaze into each others’ eyes, acknowledge this is a difficult time, and commit to getting through it with love and kindness toward each other.

During this time, consider developing Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAP) with your family. Click here to learn more.

Financial Resources and Food Banks

Financial advisors across the country are offering pro bono advice to people whose wallets are impacted by the outbreak. The XY Planning Network offers a search tool on its site that helps pinpoint financial advisors (more than 50 listed) who are willing to provide free advice on coronavirus relief. In addition, the sites below include many good resources, unemployment benefits information, and other helpful links to managing financially during these trying times.

• United Way Community Economic Relief Fund

  • Call (866) 211-9966 and enter your zip code to get a list of community agencies available to offer assistance.

• HealthWell Foundation is offering assistance with Small Unexpected Costs related with delivered food, medication, diagnostics, transportation and telehealth as a result of COVID-19 risk or incidence. For more information, click here.

• Assistance with Phone and Internet: Assurance Wireless and AT&T.

• Find out if you’re eligible for CalFresh here and apply for CalFresh here.

• Locate your nearest food bank

• More information on additional food programs. Updates can be found here.

How to Keep Your Kids Active

• Get some fresh air by going in your backyard or front yard. If you intend on going outside to take a walk in your neighborhood (or your local park/hiking trail), practice social distancing by increasing the amount of space between you and other people.

• Have a dance party! Turn up the volume on your favorite songs. Or play Just Dance and make it a friendly competition.

• Have your kids try out fun interactive themed yoga with Cosmic Kids Yoga.

• Free YouTube videos and apps on iPhone/Android are also available! Browse through and pick a fun workout for you and your family to enjoy.

 

How to Keep their Minds Sharp

• • 🆕 Social story book for children about COVID-19 (Audiobook and Text)

  • Playtime series 

  • COVID-19 coloring book with language for families to use and insight to a child’s perspective 

  • Supporting college students with mental health conditions 

  • Free Seasame Street activities

  • My Hero Is You—A Storybook for Children (available in different languages)

  • Free and ready to print themed coloring and activity pages (ranging from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, to Nickelodeon and more!).

• Free online resources for young adults (high school and college students).

• Educational programming for students in Sacramento, CA on Channel KVIE World.
• Browse free online learning resources here.

• Getting moving and learn at home with GoNoodle.

• PBS Learning Media provides free interactive lesson plans with fun videos. Browse a subject and pick something that interests you.

• Learn how to code through free classes on websites and apps.

• Scholastic Learn at Home for Pre-K through 9th grade.

• National Geographic Kids offers fun facts about animals, science, history, along with games and more!

• Learning Games and Apps for Pre-K through 6th grade.

• Free speech therapy resources for kids. Teach them to practice their speech and language skills from the comfort of home.

• Free ZOOM for Education (compatible with school email addresses)

• Drawing sessions with Mo Willems, the Kennedy Center’s resident artist. New episodes are on weekdays at 11 am.

• The Brooklyn Public Library is offering a calendar of virtual storytimes for you to tune into.

• Story time from space with a NASA astronaut with science demonstrations.

• Discover the surface of Mars.

• The LA Public Library has activity ebooks for kids available here. You will need a library card to access these resources, if you don’t have one, register here.

• The California Science Center has family activities for everyone to do with household supplies. 

• Space Station Explorers offers free at-home learning activities.

• Read one of these children’s books together (available in ebook or audiobook format).

• Utilize The Kindness Curriculum and other resources for kids and families.

• Love Lessons for Families and Kids – social and emotional education.

• Learn about empathy.

 

Fun for the Whole Family

• 🆕 Guided meditation

• Learn how to draw with The Met

• Staying in touch with your loved ones virtually

• Break out the board games and card games (if you’re able to, you can go outside and play these games to get some fresh air–for instance go in your front yard or backyard).

• Play a computer game or video game together.

• Cook together as a family.

• Watch one of these great documentaries available now on Netflix.

• Stream a Broadway musical (*available for purchase).

• Listen to an educational podcast.

• Learn a new language using one of these apps.

• Learn about the art of storytelling to your children.

 

Take a Virtual Field Trip

• Go scuba diving and explore hidden sanctuaries 

• Monterey Bay Aquarium

• Houston Zoo

• Zoo Atlanta

• Georgia Aquarium.

• San Diego Zoos

• Cincinnati Zoo

• More live cams of animals here

• Explore the Waddeson House in the United Kingdom

• Take a trip to a museum and discover art exhibits via Google (if you don’t know where to start, choose from this list to help narrow it down).

• Watch Hidden World of National Parks to discover some hidden gems

• Virtually tour a National Park here

• Take a walk in one of these gardens

• Discover the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico or Kenai Fjords in Alaska

• Experience The Met 360 project.

---

Additional Resources for Parents and Caregivers

• 🆕 Parent self-care

• Expert advice on wearing masks and gloves

• Explaining COVID-19 and the importance of hand washing through play

• Resources for talking with children and youth about Coronavirus

• Taking care of yourself 

• Five effective exercises to help you stop believing your unwanted automatic thoughts

• Stress relief for caregivers and kids during this time

• How to support your child’s emotional well-being during the pandemic

• Learn how to better communicate and connect with one another

• Parents Anonymous, a program designed to strengthen families and enhance their well-being by improving social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of all family members

• Work together and form a stress management plan

• Make an emergency plan to meet basic needs

More Information

• For parents, additional resources can be found on the state of California’s website here. Please also reference your local county and/or school district for more information. Local school districts in California are also operating Grab and Go Centers to provide students with nutritious meals. Check your child’s school district for more information on locations and times of distribution.

• Search for your local 211 to find services available in your area.

Online Help in Place of Meetings for Those Recovering from Addiction

• AA Meetings
• NA Meetings

*This page will be updated as new resources become available. Last update: May 13, 2020.