Stuck at home? How to access Columbus museums, attractions right from your couch
If you have children who are out of school due to concerns of COVID-19 or are following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control on social distancing, you’re probably going to be staying home a lot more than you’re used to — at least for the time being.
Restaurants are moving to curbside service only while events and performances have been canceled and community centers shuttered to help limit the spread of the virus.
That includes local museums and attractions that would otherwise be a welcome distraction for both kids and parents.
Luckily, many Columbus and state museums, libraries and attractions have online resources to help keep kids entertained while they learn about art, history and the natural world, or get help with math, science or reading.
The L-E has compiled a list of resources geared to help ward off cabin fever.
Columbus
- The Columbus Museum is closed to the public for now, but you can view nine different art collections online, which include historic photos of people and places in Columbus.
The Columbus Parks and Recreation department closed recreation centers and halted sports activities, but the department has shared a Google document of links to virtual field trips and webcams that can be accessed from the comfort of your home, from the Zoo Atlanta Panda Cam to a digital tour of Buckingham Palace.
Though libraries in the Chattahoochee Valley Library system are closed, the system has a free smartphone app that can be downloaded by searching “Chatt Valley Libraries Ga” in your app store. The app allows you to store your library card digitally and gives you access to custom reading recommendations and digital content. Don’t have a library card? Visit the library website at cvlga.org/covid19 to obtain an ecard username and password to utilize online resources. The library is also posting information about virtual storytimes on Facebook throughout the week, like this super cool shark story hour, presented daily through March 20 by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
State
- The Georgia Aquarium is closed to the public but has a host of live webcams where you can view the aquatic animals in action.
- The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is closed to the public, but hundreds of pieces of work are available for viewing in the museum’s online collections.
- The Center for Puppetry Arts is closed until March 31 but offers workshops, museum tours and puppet shows online for free.
- The Georgia Department of Education has a webpage dedicated to online learning resources, where parents and students can find links to digital troves of information, like Georgia Public Broadcasting’s virtual field trips, which are standards-aligned and teach Georgia history on a variety of topics.
This story will be updated. Do you know of any online learning resources or cool things for kids to do while they’re out of school? Email details to reporter Allie Dean at aedean@ledger-enquirer.com and we may include it in our list.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 8:51 AM.