At home family activities

• Covid-19 child-friendly information
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Education and learning
• Activities for you and your toddler or young child
• Stories, books and magazines
• Cooking Together
• Exercise
• Creativity

Information and support for families

Our Local Offer contains a wealth of information for parents, children and young people.

You can speak to our Family Information Service, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

Tel: 020 7364 6495 or 020 7364 6398

Email: fis@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Covid-19 child-friendly information

• Coronavirus facts for children (video) from Alder Hey children's hospital
• Coronavirus: A Book for Children e-book illustrated by Gruffalo illustrator
• Don’t Worry, Little Bear ebook  and activities for young children about coronavirus
• Dave the dog is worried about coronavirus e-book for children
• e-Bug from Public Health England teaches children and young people about hygiene, the spread of infections, and antibiotics

Mental health and wellbeing

• Mental health resources for children, young people and adults

Education and learning

• We've gathered together lots of helpful educational resources for children and young people

• The government website has a list of education and learning resources for children and young people, including those with SEND

• Spotlight has put together a list of educational resources

• Canary Wharf Group have worked with local schools to create an education outreach programme.

Resources for children with special educational needs

• Contact for families with disabled children has some useful tips and links to further support.
• BBC bring the noise has music, dance and sign for primary school aged children
• Online learning for special education and the home of accessible software. Enabling children of all abilities to play, develop and achieve.
• Stephen Hawking primary school has some useful resources for parents
• The sensory project has lots of accessible activities, including cause and effect activities.
• The singing walrus has lots of educational songs for kids

Visit the Idea store

Visit the Idea Store online:

• Over 18,000 audiobooks

• Ebooks

• Over 700 top-selling magazines

• Over 1500 graphic novels and comics

• Concerts and music documentaries

• High quality online courses from photography to physics

• Films, documentaries, shorts and box-sets

Animals, zoos and farms

Watch animals in their habitats live. From very active penguins, to tigers, koalas, pandas and many more.

Museum tours and activities

Bring museums and galleries into your home, there are a wide variety of online exhibitions.

Activities for you and your toddler or young child

• Bach to Baby is offering live living room online concerts during lockdown, combining classical music with your favourite nursery rhymes on request.
• Bring Your Baby fun quizzes you can stream.
• Hungry Little Minds Simple, fun activities for kids, from newborn to 5 years old from the Government.
•  Staying In Sign Club with Ettie Betty Baby Signs takes place every weekday morning from 10.30am with songs and stories to help little ones learn BSL
• Learn sign language with Sing and Sign Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Eltham and Woolwich
• BBC's Tiny Happy People have a range of activities and expert knowledge
• THAMES (Tower Hamlets Arts & Music Education Service) Summer Singing Challenge

Stories, books and magazines

• Visit the Idea Store online
• Audible are providing free access to hundreds of books in a number of different languages
• Harry Potter magic online for young wizards and witches
• Daily Story Time from David Walliams
• Local History archives from Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives
• National Literacy Trust has launched a whole range of reading and writing resources
• National Portrait Gallery is offering free activity books to download
• Oliver Jeffers will be reading one of his books every weekday, and talking about some of the things that went into making it
• Roald Dahl has things to do indoors
• Half Moon Theatre is showing free full length family friendly shows every Wednesday
• “Girls like that” Evan Placey's hit 2014 play is available online
• “Cookies” Playwright Emily Jenkins’s show about cyber bullying
• First encounter King Lear Royal Shakespeare Company show geared towards introducing theatre to children and young people, this time taking the tragic story of King Lear and making it more accessible and fleet
• Ballet Boyz new dance show along with educational  dance lessons for all ages and abilities are now available online
• 5 soldiers the critically acclaimed five-star production gives an insight into the psychology and welfare of soldiers fighting on the front lines.
• Hay Festival have produced resources together with authors and publishers
• Kids’ Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen Author of "We're going on a bear hunt"
• Joseph Coelho reads his poems and stories

Cooking together

• Abel and Cole recipes
• Jamie Oliver wants us to keep cooking and carry on
• Nomster Chef provide illustrated recipe picture books that get budding chefs excited about cooking
• Thousands of recipes to make with your children

Exercise

• Boogie Beebies gets younger children up and dancing with CBeebies presenters
• Disney 10 Minute Shakeups are 10-minute activities based on Disney films
• Super Movers help children move while they learn whilst supporting curriculum subjects, including maths and English.
• imoves wants to help keep primary aged children as active as possible by offering free access to their improvement platform.
• #ThisIsPE videos by teachers focussing on the PE curriculum
• Fitness Blender suitable for secondary school students
• Body Coach Joe Wicks is a 30 minutes PE lesson at 9am every weekday and then available on YouTube
• Cosmic Kids Yoga – yoga and mindfulness for children
• Family Dance Workshops by Sadler’s Wells feature 10 different movement activities for children aged 2 to 6 years to follow at home
• Mamma Method are offering daily Livestream baby-weaning pilates classes and a Yoga & Stretch session you can join in with from your living room
• NHS Fitness Studio offers a range of online exercise videos between ten and 45 minutes long
• Stay in, work out from Sport England offers tips, advice and guidance on how to keep or get active in and around your home
• My Ballet Academy Online ballet classes for children and young people
• London Sport have put together a range of free or low-cost physical activity offers
• Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has teamed up with Disney to create fun dance routines to help parents get their kids active while listening to the songs they love.
• Go Noodle movement and mindfulness videos created by child development experts
• KidsRunFree upload daily videos of games and activities that families can play together to help stay, fit and healthy.
• The Lord’s Taverners have launched a free online hub aimed at disadvantaged and disabled young people. It's designed to increase physical activity and help with mental wellbeing amid the coronavirus pandemic
• Gymrun videos combine both body bodyweight movements and short periods of running with seven sequenced exercises
• UK Active have partnered with Nike to launch Move Crew, a programme developed with teachers, PE Specialists, elite athletes, kids and coaches

Creativity

• Poplar Union has a Family Art Club
• Bad Drawing Club at the South London Gallery takes place every Thursday at 3.30pm and is open to all.
• Our Community Centres Unlocked running live activities such as yoga, fitness, healthy eating, crafts, digital inclusion courses, and activities for children. 
• Tate Kids has an almost endless supply of fun at-home arty activities
• Colour your own 'thank you' to NHS staff poster
• The Royal Academy of Arts have loads of creative projects
• Museum of London has lots of fun home-learning ideas
• Science Museum website has activities including making your own planes and rocket mice, embarking on a virtual museum trip, fun with bubbles and ear gongs, and creating a magnetic maze
• Museum of the home want to document how our home lives have changed during the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. This new national collecting project will form part of the Museum of the Home's extensive Documenting Homes archive
• Mousetrap Theatre’s #EveryHomeATheatre challenge will give you the opportunity to get your whole household involved in some theatre-based fun and creative learning
• Spotlight Online is a programme of daily instagram challenges, competitions, tutorials and activities suitable for young people aged 11-19. 
• Lego are streaming live build at home sessions
• The Yard Theatre post digital makers guild to inspire creativity.
• THAMES (Tower Hamlets Arts & Music Education Service) Summer Singing Challenge
• The Southbank Centre is a great resource for accessing art, music, culture and creativity.
• Bromley By Bow Centre have created a ‘virtual playhouse’, with different rooms and activities to explore
• Stay inspired with First site’s activity packs, featuring contributions from UK artists including, Anthony Gormley, Grayson Perry, Gillian Wearing and more
• National Geographic Kids allows ou to explore the world 
• Project Exporer- watch videos from around the globe