Three Top Resources for Socially Distant Activities

Published on March 01, 2021 - Updated on March 01, 2021

Check out our tips for staying connected with your community in the midst of the pandemic.

With this challenging season of life during the pandemic dragging on, it’s more important than ever for families to find creative ways to stay connected to the communities outside their homes. Luckily, there are so many amazing organizations crafting new and amazing ways of providing a sense of community involvement while respecting safety measures. Here are some suggestions for organizations to check into, while you find ways to assist your kiddos in making this happen.

Public Libraries

Don’t underestimate the amazing offerings your local public library has to offer, both during and after the pandemic. It’s easy to think of a library as simply a place to check-out a book or two, but many are branching out, and have so much more to offer…you just have to know to look. Our local libraries offer everything from free tickets to local attractions you can ‘check-out,’ to kids’ and adults crafts, story-telling, and book clubs online.

One of our local libraries is offering a monthly book club for kids. It’s totally free, and each child is even gifted their own brand new copy of a different book each month. Our daughter is always so excited to see which book they’ll be reading next, and is so proud to pick it up from the library! Our local library even offers a wonderful, free little kids ‘grab bag’ each month with crafts and activities that correspond to their monthly online story time. The kits are set outside the library in a bin the first week of each month, for easy, contactless grab and go. Even grandparents can feel safe helping kids pick up their monthly grab bag. What a fun idea for families!

*Pro tip: You can even benefit from public libraries other than your own…look especially to major cities’ public library systems for all sorts of online activities, including cooking classes, story times, and crafts via video or live streaming.

Art Studios

Not comfortable or able to drop your kiddo off at an art studio during this time? In most cases, it’s no problem. Many local art studios, from fresh painted pottery, to clay or paper arts and crafts, are now offering ‘take and make’ kits for use at home. Trust me when I say our kiddos couldn’t be more excited to pick-up their new kit each time! See an art class you can’t attend, but that isn’t offered as a take and make kit? When I see a class I really love, I simply call up the studio and ask if they’d be willing to sell that particular kit as a home-based take and make. So far, they’ve been more than willing to put this together, as businesses are learning flexibility is key.

Community Education

While each city and state may vary on the quantity and quality of their community education services, you should be able to find some decent services with a bit of searching. Now, the cost here can vary, from free, to a small fee for classes and activities, but many communities also offer a sliding fee scale, with the goal of making quality community ed accessible to all. Community education programs may include socially-distanced, in-person classes and play time, or also virtual/online play time and activities. Ours is currently offering a small quantity of in-person classes, as well as some fun online offerings.

From book clubs, to virtual or in-person play time, art projects to story times, getting and keeping your kids connected to the greater community is such a gift these days. There are so many great ways to expand your child’s world during this challenging time. How will you keep your kids connected?

It is our goal to hold your family up through every means we can dream up, and we are committed to keeping a fresh, relevant and valuable stream of information and resources at your fingertips as we all tackle this virus together.

Check out our blog for even more inspiration! Dream Up Your Next Adventure or follow our list of March Weeknight Meal Plans to keep it creative in the kitchen. As always, we love seeing your family's highlights! Tag us on Instagram @gethappyly!

Feel free to reach out to us if you have specific requests based on your children’s ages and please share our content with friends that have kids. It's a great way to stay connected while everyone must be apart. Additionally, we welcome any new ideas - we always love to hear from you! Team@happyly.com

Thoughtfully captured by:

Heidi Keller

Heidi Keller was born in the mountains of Northern Idaho, and raised in Minnesota. She completed her undergraduate degrees at the University of Minnesota and has begun graduate studies through the University of North Dakota. She fell in love with traveling at a young age, and her passion has only grown since then. She is passionate about photography, traveling, scuba diving, reading, nature, and any creative projects. But, most of all, she's passionate about spending quality time with her kiddos. She is also an advocate for making reading together a core part of family life with kiddos.