Need ideas for how to entertain yourself without going out? This is the ultimate list of things to do at home! And most of them are completely free!
Got something to add to this list? Get in touch with us on Facebook and let us know.
We’ll be adding to this page over the next few months, so do save it and check back in to see what’s new.
Did you know?
Did you know? A staggering 85% of young people with a learning disability feel lonely, with research from Scope highlighting that a tiny 1 in 3 people will be outside of their homes for more than an hour on a typical Saturday. At this time of social distancing and self isolation, take a moment to consider what life can be like every day for someone with a learning disability. You can find out more about learning disabilities and how to support people who have a learning disability on Mencap’s website here.
Things to do at home
East Kent Mencap online!
Did you know? You can watch lots of our old drama shows on our YouTube channel here. See our members in action!
We also have a special YouTube playlist created by our brilliant Support Workers, full of activity videos, including cooking tutorials, arts and crafts activities, and exercise routines. View this Things to Do at Home playlist here.
Our members have so many talents and they want to share these talents with you.
Stephen has been teaching himself to play the autoharp, and you can watch his lockdown performance of I have a dream by Abba here.
David has created a fitness video which you can view here.
We also have an Easy Read version of the recipe from Support Worker Bev’s Crispy Chicken cooking video, which you can see and download here.
Gardens
You can virtually tour Waddesdon Manor‘s bold, colourful and beautiful gardens here. And take a trip round the château itself and see its ornate rooms here.
You can take a relaxing virtual tour Claude Monet’s Garden in France here. And explore his stunningly colourful and quirky house here.
You can virtually tour Chicago Botanic Garden with all its massive colourful flowers here.
You can virtually tour Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens here, complete with waterfalls, seaviews and mango trees!
You can virtually tour Kew Gardens here, which has giant trees, giant cacti, and giant tropical greenhouses with giant waterlilies!
Museums and Galleries
V&A (The Victoria and Albert Museum) have a huge amount of their collections online. You can see pictures and read about art and culture on their website. To get you started, you can explore the history of theatre here.
The British Museum has huge amounts on its website, including their online museum of the world, prints and drawings virtual gallery, Oceania virtual gallery, collection highlights, downloadable podcasts and schools resources (also suitable for home schooling). You can also explore their collection online here and take a virtual tour of the gallery here.
You can explore The Guggenheim Museum in New York using Google’s Street View – It’s as if you’re walking around the gallery in person! Have a look here.
National Gallery of Art in Washington has online exhibitions on fashion and painting here.
You can virtually walk through the Musee d’Orsay in Paris here. The gallery features artworks from Monet, Cezanne, and Gauguin, among others.
You can virtually walk through the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul in Korea here. The gallery has six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.
You can virtually walk through the Pergamon Museum in Berlin here. It’s a historical museum that is home to plenty of ancient artefacts including Ancient Greek architecture.
You can virtually walk through Rijksmuseum museum in Amsterdam here, which houses the work of historical master painters.
You can visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam here, and see Vince Van Gogh’s paintings up close!
You can virtually walk through the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles here, and discover paintings, drawings, sculpture, manuscripts and photographs.
Discover more museums through Google Arts and Culture’s collection of museums here.
Theatre, opera and dance
The National Theatre has hundreds of videos on their YouTube channel about theatre, including interviews with actors, directors and writers, extracts from plays, and guides to how they make costumes. Check it out here.
The Royal Shakespeare Company has recordings of some performances online, which you can watch for free here.
The Royal Shakespeare Company also has hundreds of videos on their YouTube channel about theatre, including interviews with actors, directors and writers, extracts from plays, and guides to how they make costumes. Check it out here.
Glyndebourne opera company have lots of opera performances that you can watch for free online here.
Ballet Hub has thousands of videos of ballet performances that you can watch for free here
Music and musicals
Magic at the Musicals is a special radio channel dedicated to musicals. Listen to it here.
Disney have thousands of songs from their films on their YouTube channel. Listen for free here.
Encore radio channel is all about songs and news from musicals. Listen for free here.
Zoos
You can watch animals live via webcams set up at zoos.
Check out pandas, penguins, tigers and koalas at Edinburgh Zoo here.
Check out giraffes, meerkats and more at London Zoo here.
Aquariums
Aquariums around the world have webcams set up so you can watch creatures like fish, sea lions and penguins live!
Check out Monterey Bay Aquarium here.
Check out Georgia Aquarium here.
Check out National Aquarium Baltimore here.
Learn something new
OpenLearn is an online platform with thousands of free courses in eight different subjects, including health, science and art. Explore what you could learn about here.
You can learn some British Sign Language using the videos created by our Support Workers on our YouTube channel here.
Film and TV
There are lots of online services where you can watch TV and films online – Remember, you need to have a TV license to watch catch up services.
Watch BBC iPlayer here.
Watch BBC Arts and Culture programmes here.
Watch ITV Hub here.
Watch All 4 (Channel 4) here.
Watch films and podcasts supported by Creative England for free here.
Watch BFI (British Film Institute) films for free here.
Activities with children
CBeebies have this great list of suggestions of things to do with younger and older children indoors. The list includes making dens, doing science experiments and making your own TV show! View the full list here.
Storyline Online is an award-winning website where you can watch videos of celebrities reading stories for free. Choose a story to listen to here.
We love this list of things to do with a disabled child including creating a texture book, homemade skittles, and a ‘graffiti wall’! View the full list here.
