Learn to Draw Totoro

Studio Ghibli has provided some resources for kids while we're all stuck at home. Here is a video with  Toshiro Suzuki with a quick and easy tutorial on drawing Totoro.

Learn to Draw Totoro

Zebra Story Time

We can't go to the Oakland Zoo in person right now, but we can learn how the zebra got its stripes with some help from one of the keepers and the Oakland zebras!

Greedy Zebra by Mwenye Hadithi

Slime in Space

What happens when you take slime to space?
Thanks to the astronauts on the International Space Station, Nickelodeon found out.
You can find the space virtual field trip here:

Slime in Space

Nature Scavenger Hunt

You can explore nature with the scavenger hunt. Can you find these things in your own yard?

Nature Scavenger Hunt

SF Ballet Storytime

The San Francisco Ballet is doing storytime every Wednesday. The first story is read by my friend Caroline, with help from her goats. Here are the stories so far:

Caroline Lee, Ballet Orchestra Violist, reads The Philharmonic Gets Dressed by Karla Kuskin, with help from her goats Tomato and Potato:

The Philharmonic Gets Dressed

Dancer Nathaniel Remez reads Ballerino Nate, written by Kimberly Brubaker:

Ballerino Nate

Principal Dancer Esteban Hernandez reads Here We Are: Notes From Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers. Hernandez reads the story in English and in Spanish:

Here We Are: Notes From Living on Planet Earth

Jasmine Yep, Associate Director of Youth and  Community Programs,  reads If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Felicia Bond:

If You Give a Pig a Pancake

Create a Paper City

You can create your own city out of paper! The British architecture studio Foster + Partners has created a series of templates for kids to create their own buildings.

Here's an article about the project with a link to the templates:
Architecture From Home

Lunch Doodles

Children's author Mo Willems is teaching kids about drawing on YouTube.

Here's an article about Mr. Willems and his drawing project:
Bestselling Children's Author Is Teaching Kids Drawing on YouTube

Here's a link to all of his lessons so far:
Lunch Doodles

Science at Home!

I know everyone is missing science lab.
Here are some cool things you can do at home with your families:

50 Easy Science Experiments Kids Can Do At Home With Stuff You Already Have

Enjoy Nature Safely!

Here are some great ideas from Friends of Five Creeks, one of my favorite local environmental groups:

• Take walks and bike rides. You can run, climb trees and discover bugs!
• Take time to look at the flowers and listen to the birds
• Plant or tend a garden
• Learn about nature with traditional guidebooks, online resources, and free phone apps (Note from Cathy: some favorites in our family are iNaturalist and BirdNet)
• Do a citizen science project