9 [Virtual] Places You Need To Visit During The COVID-19 Quarantine
During this unprecedented time, people all over the world need to adapt. We need to make changes in order to save lives and protect ourselves. Check out these 9 [Virtual] Places You Need To Visit During The COVID-19 Quarantine. Visiting these places can help make adjustments to this new (temporary) reality a little bit easier. Additionally, at the end of this article, you’ll find links to even more tips and resources meant to help you get through this pandemic at home.
1. Doctor Visits
I have autoimmune diseases, therefore I require frequent, regular visits to my rheumatologist and other medical specialists at UCLA. However, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the quarantine, I am not willing to expose myself to the risks associated with traveling to California. Further, the nature of my diseases means I live with a compromised immune system.
These visits usually include staying in a hotel room, walking into public buildings, and sometimes air travel. Breaking quarantine for regular check-ups or follow-up visits with doctors felt “nonessential.” However, the thought of living with the excruciating pain I’m in without my meds didn’t sound like a viable option either. So, I called my medical professional’s office. As a result, they agreed to meet online.
Bloodwork and other regular testing didn’t get done.
Bloodwork and regular testing didn’t happen, although I was able to complete a quick check-in. My doctor renewed my prescriptions and answered some questions I’d been waiting to ask. If you need shots or other services that require a visit, calling ahead can help. As a result, the office staff can advise you about their social distancing protocols so you’ll know what to expect when you get there. Furthermore, if you must go, certainly wear a mask and bring your Clorox wipes to wipe down any surfaces you might come in contact with. Additionally, there are many videos you can find on YouTube which teach creative, easy mask-making techniques.
In addition, If you do need testing, some companies sell at-home kits. Check out websites like Life Extension for more information about how this works. No matter what, when considering medical needs, always check with your doctor before doing anything.
9 [Virtual] Places You Need To Visit During The COVID-19 Quarantine
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2. Grocery Stores
I know that you can still go to the grocery store. This may not seem like it falls under the 9 [Virtual] Places You Need To Visit During The COVID-19 Quarantine. However, in my town, like many others, reports of new grocery stores with clerks infected with coronavirus plague news channels daily. People need to do their part to help keep these people safe. We need to stay home. Consequently, we also need to eat. Visiting the virtual grocery during the COVID-19 quarantine will help us do both. Many services are available that will deliver groceries or allow for ordering ahead for curbside pick up.
If you must go to the Grocery Store
If you can’t get a time slot for grocery delivery, try curbside pick up. However, if neither of these work, take steps to stay safe at the store.
Take these Precautions
- Wear a cloth face mask and wash it when you get home.
- Bring hand sanitizer. Use disinfectant wipes on the cart or basket. This includes the whole cart, not just the handle used for pushing. For instance, the sides of the cart are touched just as much.
- Bring as little as possible into the store to avoid contamination. Put your payment method, id, and cell phone in your pocket. Leave your purse and other belongings in the trunk of your car or at home.
- Stay at least 6 feet from others, especially in the checkout line or in an aisle. Social distancing is imperative. Don’t crowd others. Wait for others to clear away from shelves or refrigerators before you approach to select your items. Additionally, this distance also applies when standing in line to check out. Many stores have implemented social distancing policies and procedures. Respect these and remain patient and courteous.
- Shop alone and leave children at home, if possible.
- Limit the time in the store: Make a list to save time. Also, use paper so you can throw it away. As a result, cross contamination is prevented which could otherwise easily happen when handling your phone, keys or debit/credit card.
- Throw away plastic and paper bags. Don’t reuse these bags. If you must use cloth bags, wash them after each use.
- Wash your hands before and after you unpack groceries, and before you wash produce or prepare food.
3. Museums
Many museums have made virtual tours available. Visiting is a great way to break up the boredom of quarantine while learning something new. Here’s a list to get you started.
Paris
New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Amsterdam
London
Other Locations
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles
The Vatican Museum + Sistine Chapel
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico
National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico
9 [Virtual] Places You Need To Visit During The COVID-19 Quarantine
4. On a School Field Trip
Taking any kind of trip during the COVID-19 quarantine sounds impossible. However, now you can visit these educational treasure troves without leaving your house through virtual trips. Virtual school field trips allow students to travel the world and explore natural environments without leaving the house. Nature.org has designed tours for students in grades 5-8. However, the visits are customizable for students of all ages. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities.
Nature.org
Nature.org has designed tours for students in grades 5-8. However, the visits are customizable for students of all ages. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education hosts a variety of virtual events —each with a companion guide with hands-on learning activities. Current offerings include Teaching with Testimony and NFL Play 60. Our pick? Tundra Connections (AKA fun with polar bears).
Farms
The perfect preschool field trip goes online! Farm Fresh 360 allows you to visit a fully functioning Canadian farm. See what it’s like to raise pigs and make milk and cheese. We also love these virtual egg farm field trips from the American Egg Board.
Mars
Yes, Mars. NASA has made it possible to visit the real surface of Mars. NASA’s Curiosity Rover explored the planet and now, you can, too!
Docked in Hawaii, this ship continues to serve her country as the main attraction for the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor. This ship was born in the midst of World War II. Shipyard workers at Brooklyn’s New York Navy Yard constructed the battleship in time for her launch on January 29, 1944 and commissioning as the USS Missouri on June 11, 1944. The ship served in World War II, Korean War, Operation Desert Storm, Take a virtual walk across the deck. Take full tour of the Captain’s room, Captain’s Cabin, and the Surrender Deck. Stroll through the CEC to view technology used on this authentic battleship.
5. Zoos & Aquariums
Atlanta Zoo
The Atlanta zoo has created easy-to-use lessons which range in content and age level. Additionally, lessons include experiences. First, find Animal Tails, a storybook reading with associated hands-on activities. Then, Explore the Outdoors, a scavenger hunt in your own backyard. Finally, discover many more learning resources and activities.
Each activity is written to support your “at home learning,” as well as connect children to the natural world.
San Diego Zoo
Their site for kids includes behind-the-scenes videos and stories, as well as a variety of printable activities and online games..
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Be delighted by the antics of sea otters or mellow out to the hypnotic drifting of our jellies. Choose from any of the ten live cams to experience the wonders of the ocean no matter where you are.
Wildeverse
Wildeverse is a game by Internet of Elephants, a Kenyan-based game company 100% dedicated to creating games that make people fall in love with wildlife.
Their team has been experimenting with ways to connect people to wildlife thousands of miles away. Wildeverse combines the latest AR technology with gameplay to get you hooked to the stories of the animals and people in the last wild spaces on earth.
Seattle Aquarium
Take the a 30 minute video tour. Learn about the animals and the food web that can be found in the Puget Sound waters.
Georgia Aquarium
The Maritime Aquarium
Register for their virtual programs for all grades. Talk to a research vessel captain, learn about water pollution, and so much more.
6. Schools
I know, schools were one of the first restricted locations which is why they made our list of 9 Surprising [Virtual] Places To Visit During The COVID-19 Quarantine. Many online educational platforms are offering their once paid resources for free during the COVID-19 quarantine. Some parents are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work sent home digitally by their schools. Subsequently, others wish their students had more resources.
These sites have ready-to-use lesson plans and activities for a vast amount of subjects for younger students.
ABCmouse Early Learning Academy
Here you can find a wide variety of subjects for students aged 2-8 (Pre-K through second grade). It offers more than 850 self-guided lessons across 10 levels. A companion program focuses on teaching English as a second language for this age group.
Hawai’i Polynesian Culture
Say “Aloha” to learning! The Polynesian Culture Center launched an Education and History site which provides virtual visitors with a number of activities, historical overviews, recipes, how-to videos, entertainment and so much more.
Adventure Academy
This massively multiplayer gives kids a sense of community. Students up to age 13 play games to learn across a range of topics (math, reading, social studies, science, and more), while also creating their own online persona and interacting with others in the game. In addition to their usual 30-day free trial, Age of Learning is offering Adventure Academy free to schools closed due to the outbreak.
Aperture Education
Aperture Education is providing free Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Growth Strategies for educators and parents.
Bamboo Learning
Bamboo Learning offers free, voice-based educational applications for students in grades K-5 (available on all Alexa devices, including Fire tablets, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and Fire TV) that promote active conversational learning, cover a range of academic subjects (math, ELA/listening comprehension, social studies), and focus on fun, home-based, family-friendly learning. Parents can use a web-based dashboard (Bamboo Grove) to follow their children’s progress.
Boddle
Boddle is a math platform for 1st-6th grade that makes learning fun and personalized. Teachers and parents are able to track student progress remotely and quickly identify learning gaps. Boddle’s math game platform is available at no cost to educators, parents, and students dealing with school closures due to Covid-19.
Boreal Tales
This literary and artistic creation platform is designed to motivate school students in grades 1-8 to write. Additionally, Boreal Tales allows teachers to track student progress and give specific, personalized feedback. They’ve extended their free trial to 90 days and plan to extend it through the end of the school year, if the school closures are ongoing.
BrainPOP
BrainPop offers in-depth learning on topics across the curriculum for upper elementary and middle school students. Additionally, BrainPop Jr. is specially designed for younger kids. Each topic includes videos, quizzes, related reading, and even coding activities. Teachers have access to planning and tracking resources too. All schools get free access to their COVID-19/coronavirus online learning resources. This is a fantastic tool for talking to students about the topic during this difficult time. Any school closed due to the outbreak can receive free unlimited use of BrainPOP during their closure.
Freckle
These online learning resources for younger students are easily differentiated for students of different ability levels. Most importantly, adaptive math and ELA courses are always available for free for teachers and students.
Mystery Science
Mystery Science offers digital video mini-lessons for science subjects K-5. It’s always free. In response to COVID-19, they’ve put together a special list of lessons grade-by-grade that are perfect for tackling remotely.
Prodigy
Get game-based learning in math for kids from first to eighth grade. The site offers lots of how-to articles to make your distance learning effective and fun. The basic Prodigy site is always free.
Scholastic
Scholastic created the Scholastic Learn at Home website to provide students with approximately 20 days worth of learning journeys that span various content areas. Moreover, students get approximately three hours of learning opportunities per day, including projects based on articles and stories, virtual field trips, reading and geography challenges, and more. This service is free.
Seussville.com
Ah, the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss! Seussville is great for parents of small ones. Find activities, crafts, and printables. Additionally, in the Educator section of Seussville there are resources for supplemental activities for Art, Science, Math, Social Studies, and Language Arts. All resources are always free, with new additions all the time. Finally, other areas of the site offer children the opportunity to explore Dr. Seuss books and characters, play games, and watch video clips.
Time For Kids
Time for Kids is a weekly publication that brings real news to students in grades K through 6. Readers become literate, critical thinkers, and informed, responsible citizens. The digital magazine library is now free through the end of the school year. In addition to digital magazines, they are offering free access to teacher guides, worksheets, and quizzes. This is one of my favorite resources! I used it everyday when I was a classroom teacher.
Zearn
Zearn offers top-rated math content. Resources are available online, however, they also offer paper-based materials that can be used without a device. Moreover, users can find extensive distance learning resources created to support educators and parents. Likewise, webinars, video tutorials, and step-by-step guides are available through their Distance Learning Center. Their entire K-5 math program (including 400 hours of digital lessons with on-screen teachers and supportive remediation) is available for free, thanks to donations from the community.
7. National Parks + Natural Wonders
The National Parks Service partnered with Google (yes, Google again) to follow a handful of park rangers through some of America’s most stunning and challenging terrains. Visit Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park, where you can, “Reppel into a crevasse, kayak through icebergs, and watch a glacier recede,” or visit Hawaii. Where you virtual visitors can “fly over a volcano, explore a lava tube, and look out across volcanic cliffs.”
Yellowstone National Park
The first established National Park and popular vacation destination is now accessible to virtual travelers. The interactive maps guide the way as visitors explore the Mammoth Hot Springs and Mud Volcano, but we think kids will be psyched about the Old Faithful Geyser live-stream and the opportunity to make their own predictions for its next eruption.
The Great Lakes
This virtual field trip from Great Lakes Now has three components: coastal wetlands, algae, and lake sturgeon. Each video is a quick five minutes.
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Parks
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Niagara Falls
Discovery Education
Discovery Education hosts a variety of virtual events —each with a companion guide with hands-on learning activities. Current offerings include Teaching with Testimony and NFL Play 60. Our pick? Tundra Connections (AKA fun with polar bears).
8. Theme Parks
Take a family trip to a number of your favorite disney destinations without ever leaving the house! Visit the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot, just to name a few. There are also unofficial YouTube videos that feel just like you’re on famous rides like the Frozen Ever After ride, It’s a Small World, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
The Great Lego Race and Miniland USA are just two of the attractions you can check out in a virtual tour of the park.
Experience Discovery Cove and even “ride” Mako, the steel roller coaster. The virtual tour of Seaworld includes a tour of Discovery Cove and the option to “ride” the steel roller coaster Mako.
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9. Social Gatherings
I know everyone’s social distancing, but that doesn’t mean we need to lose touch with friends and loved ones. I’m sure most of you are already doing this. However, it felt prudent to mention because it’s so important. Checking in with our troop on a much more regular basis is increasingly important during this crisis. For instance, my kids play video games, cook meals, and even watch movies with friends and family without ever leaving home.
During the COVID-19 Quarantine, visit your troop.
So, have a family game night, host a birthday gathering, or just have dinner together. Here are some ways you can have a virtual meet up anytime without leaving your house.
Facetime
Probably the most popular, but only available on Apple devices, this app allows up to 32 people to participate in a video call simultaneously.
Zoom is all the rage these past weeks. With Zoom, a free account offers hosting up to 100 participants, unlimited 1 to 1 meetings, 40 mins limit on group meetings and unlimited number of meetings.
Skype
Send and receive instant messages, video chat, send and receive SMS messages, and of course host video calls. What many people don’t realize that with Google Hangouts, you can even screen share. This nifty tool is baked right into Hangouts on top of everything else the Google app offers. Google has actually plans to use Hangouts as the building block future of its telephony product, so of course that’s where all the fun features are.
Here you can =host a gathering for up to 250 of your closest mates. Members can share their screens, Since this is made for businesses, you can share your desktop, smartphone, or tablet screen quickly and securely from anywhere. Moreover, you can record your meetings in real-time, take notes, mark action items, and share them after the meeting. Who would have thought our family videos would look like this?
Stay Home and Stay Safe.
We’ve been cooped up a while. Most of us are ready to get out and revisit the world. However, the dangers of the coronavirus are still present. So, for now, go out while staying in. Take a trip, visit a landmark, or even learn a new skill – from home. Stay home and stay healthy.
For more stay-at-home resources check out our other articles:
Take a Virtual Trip During the COVID-19 Quarantine
9 Easy Ways to Earn Money From Home During the COVID 19 Quarantine
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I did not know that about museums! Thanks for the great post I’ll have to check some of these out.
Thanks for checking out my post! Yes, the museums are fantastic. Who would have thought you could see the Mona Lisa live from quarantine? Have fun. 🙂