Perhaps your family was planning a vacation over spring break or were at least intending to visit local parks, theaters, museums and other fun locations. But with the spread of COVID-19, plans have been canceled all across the country and around the world. Fortunately, there are excellent virtual vacation destinations that your family can “tour” together.

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The coronavirus has closed schools and many businesses across Ohio, and with the stay-at-home order from the Ohio Department of Health, you might find yourself and your children feeling even more cooped up than before. Since you can’t go out, what can you do? Here are a few simple and fun — and educational — ways to pass the time at home with your children.

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With children unable to go to school right now, we’ve put together a list of resources families can use to keep their students and young children engaged in educational activities.

Here are some links and ideas for families organized by type of activity:

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Have you ever heard of summer learning loss, also known as the ‘Summer Slide'? Summer reading is extremely important for students and their educational achievement.  According to the U.S. Department of Education, summer reading helps advance children’s language skills. Summer reading is critical for students to retain knowledge and skills learned in the previous school year. Students who don't read are at risk of falling behind their classmates.

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“Children need to know that their family members think homework is important. If they know their families care, children have a good reason to complete assignments and to turn them in on time. You can do many things to show that your child that you value education and homework.” —U.S. Department of Education

How exactly do you convey to your child that homework is important? Here are six tips to help your child with homework.

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Perhaps your child will be going to preschool soon. If so, that can be a very exciting time — and effectively preparing your child for preschool can make the transition much smoother. The most important tip we can give is to make the preparation fun! Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Education has recommended plenty of ways to prepare your child.

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As parents, you probably spend plenty of time teaching your young child to share. After all, “Sharing teaches children about compromise. They learn that if we give a little to others, we can get some of what we want as well. Children who share also learn how to take turns and negotiate, and how to cope with disappointment. These are all really important life skills.”

Those are good reasons, indeed, to teach your child to share. So, can you really blame your preschooler if, as he starts to give his sister a sip from his juice box, he’s confused when you stop him? How can you possibly explain the difference between good sharing and the type that spreads colds and other illnesses? Here are tips for teaching preschoolers about germs— and you can even make it fun!

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An in-depth infographic by Early Childhood Education Zone cites multiple sources that say preschoolers should learn a second language, and lists numerous benefits of doing so. Benefits include (but are not limited to):

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September 5 is Labor Day in 2016. Perhaps your children are old enough to be aware of that holiday, but may only know it’s an extra day off of work for their parents, or that it’s considered the last big weekend of summer. Here are fun ways to teach your children more about the meaning of Labor Day.

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