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Home Activities for the Family
Oakland Park's own offers assistance to residents amid Coronavirus
The City has developed a Phone Buddy Program to reach out to those who might be alone. If you know someone who might benefit from a friendly, occasional call, please email Bruce Garrison at bruceg@oaklandparkfl.gov or call 954-630-4302.
During this time of social distancing, Parks and Leisure Services and the Ethel M. Gordon Oakland Park Library have gathered a variety of fun indoor activities and exercises for children of all ages. Please check out our latest activities!
- How to Make Homemade Bubbles! INGREDIENTS: 4 cups warm water 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup of dish soap INSTRUCTIONS: Step #1. Whisk the sugar and water. Whisk the sugar into the warm water until the sugar dissolves. Step #2. Whisk in the soap. Add the dish soap and whisk to combine. Step #4. Blow bubbles Now it’s time to blow bubbles!
- Let's Draw - Let's spend some quality time drawing with our kids. When masterpieces are complete, display in the home.
- Let's Have a Dance Party - Play your kid’s favorite songs and boogie down! Better yet, have a dance-off! The winner gets to be the next DJ!
- Scavenger Hunt - Create a list of items you already have at home. Have participants seek to gather or complete all the items on the list. The goal is to be the first to complete the list or complete the most items!
- Race Against Time - Time your kids doing mini challenges like retrieving toys or running upstairs. READY! SET! GO!
- Indoor Basketball - All you need is a bucket and a rolled-up sock (or a small, light ball). Each player takes a turn at throwing the sock-ball into the bucket. When a player scores a bucket, he or she takes a step back and throws again until missing. The player who shoots the ball in the bucket from the farthest distance wins.
- Hide and Seek - In this classic game, one person covers his or her eyes and counts aloud while the other players hide. When it is finished counting, he or she begins looking for the hiders. The last hider to be found is the next one to count and seek.
- Charades - Charades is a party word guessing game. One person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the whole phrase together, while the rest of the group guesses.
- Make Your Own Story - Another way to boost your child’s creative abilities is to make them tell you a story. If you have older kids, pick a theme and ask them to tell you a story. With younger kids, start a story and ask them to continue it midway. This will give them some footing and ideas for a plot.
- Follow the Leader - Pick a theme for the game: physical activity, expressions, or gestures. Designate yourself as the leader or take turns with the kids, so that everyone gets to be the leader at least once. Every player must do what the leader does: jumping, stomping, clapping, make faces, and so on.
- Indoor Bowling - A great way to reuse water bottles. Line 6-10 water bottles up at the end of your hall or living room. Place a line of tape as the starting line. Grab a medium-sized indoor ball and start bowling!
- Simon Says Draw - A fun, interactive drawing activity for kids and families. Simon says, “draw circles,” and the artists draw circles. Simon also says things like, “trade pastels,” “draw dots,” and “draw a face.”
- Stage an Impromptu Concert - Ask your children to practice a favorite song or dance and have them perform it in front of the family in a post-dinner talent show.
- Travel Zoo - Many organizations are stepping up and offering streams of some of the best shows around the world. Check out musicals, comedy, plays and more from your couch -- the best seat in the house.
- Urban Farming Institute (UFI) - Act Now is an informative video series produced right here at UFI and viewable on the UFI YouTube Channel. This series features a host of UFI friends and families along with their recommendations, strategies and techniques for getting through this Corona experience.
- Going crazy at home? Here’s some South Florida virtual reality and streaming entertainment
- Story time for Adults: Who says storytime is just for children? Download an ebook from Overdrive using your Oakland Park Library card and delve into this collection of self-isolation reading. *Note, if you cannot log into Overdrive, your card may have expired. Give the library staff a call at 954-630-4370 Monday-Friday, and they can get you back in business!
- Nikon - Looking to hone your photography skills? Nikon has made its entire curriculum of online photography classes free until April 30th. Each class is taught by a professional photographer and provides in-depth lessons to help you get better at taking photos. Some courses cover Nikon-specific products, but many of them teach you the fundamentals of photography too, so even if you don’t own a Nikon camera, they may still be worth a watch.
- Pom-Pom Racing - Racing Pom-Pom balls is a great indoor activity! Using masking tape, create racetracks around the house. With the help of a straw, have fun blowing them along the track! Let’s see who wins!
- Quaran-teen - A story that follows middle school student, Aiden Tyler, whose life has been turned upside down by the Coronavirus. Written by Rex Ogle (author of Free Lunch), this new, original middle-grade serial is written and read in real time. Join Rex every Tuesday as he shares Aiden’s story! Target audience is grades 4-8, but all are welcome.
- Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California has a live cam of their tropical reef exhibit. This exhibit is modeled after the coast of Palau and houses more than 1,000 animals!
- Pioneer Woman - Sunday sweet tooth? Whip up a fresh batch of apple fritters with this recipe by Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman). If you don’t have apples, try substituting pears, blueberries, overripe bananas, etc.
- Crash Course - Educate yourself with Crash Course! The Crash Course team has produced more than 15 courses to date and these videos accompany high school and college level classes ranging from the humanities to the sciences. Be sure to check them out!
- California Garden TV - Have you ever wanted to grow food even though you don’t have any green space? You can grow vegetables in containers! Check out the video by California Garden TV to learn how.
- Taste of Home - Have some fun in the kitchen with these kid-friendly recipes for the family.
- Fun activities at home:
Help your family prepare meals
Family game nights
Family craft time
Create a dance or play for family
Start a plant from fruit seeds Indoor treasure hunt
Family movie night
Write letters to friends and family - Author read aloud books
- Overdrive eBooks and eAudiobooks
- Junior Library Guild
- Florida Electronic Library
- Scholastic Learn at Home
- NewsBank newspaper articles
- Broward County Schools Distance Learning
- Freegal music downloads
- Yellowstone Park virtual tour
- Metropolitan Opera nightly stream
- Learn a new language with Mango
- Movies