Unique lessons and experiences by artists and organizations are being offered online right now — for free
Drawing tutorials, dial-a-story and more inspiration for your time indoors
Famous pianists, illustrators, music superstars and more are taking their talents to the internet right now to help teach and entertain people around the world while they practice social distancing. Here's a list of cool happenings and inspiration to check out, which we'll keep up to date as more creative minds and organizations offer their inspiration, time and resources.
Live music lessons from Arkells
Canadian band Arkells have been sharing the chords and lyrics for their music online as lead singer Max Kerman hosts a live tutorial for the song, taking questions as he goes. They're calling it "Flatten The Curve Music Class" and are hosting it on the Arkells Instagram account.
Daily piano lessons for beginners from Chloe Flower
One of the coolest pianists in the world, Chloe Flower, has decided to offer free daily piano lessons for beginners on her YouTube channel. She'll be doing it "for the next 14 days, or however long I'm holed up here" — and she's taking song requests, too. Day one was Maroon 5's Memories, followed by the most-requested: Row Row Row Your Boat.
Drawing lessons from Wendy Macnaughton
Every day this week at 1:00 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST), NYT best-selling illustrator and graphic journalist Wendy Macnaughton will be hosting a live class "for kids of all ages, parents of kids, parents of parents, aunties/uncles, friends and pets." It will remain in her Instagram story for 24 hours. So far, they've drawn a dog and a tree.
Macnaughton says all you need in order to get in on the fun are "paper and pencil, and then you can go crazy with pens and paints later."
Dial-A-Story for kids from Toronto Public Library
The Toronto Public Library may have closed its brick and mortar locations for now, but kids and their families can still call in to listen to a story by phone any time of the day, available in 16 languages, for free. They offer stories for children seven and under, as well as for children eight to 12-years-old. The Dial-A-Story number is 416-395-5400.
Living room concerts from the stars
The #TogetherAtHome concert series was launched by Chris Martin, in collaboration with WHO and Global Citizen, as "a virtual no-contact concert series that aims to promote physical distancing and taking action for global health." The WHO website says "more Solidarity Sessions are planned to promote health, to show support for people who are staying at home to protect themselves and others from COVID-19." When John Legend took up the banner, wife Chrissy Teigen attended in a towel at the request of fans. Rufus Wainwright is next, also in a robe!
Jann Arden, Keith Urban and Pink are among the other artists to go live with mini concerts from their homes. CBC Arts shared details of how to watch 2018 Polaris Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher's show, which he'll stream from his living room on Friday since his tour across southern Quebec was cancelled.
Daily creative challenges
If you're looking for inspiration more than instruction, check out illustrator Carson Ellis' "Quarantine Art Club" daily assignment on her Instagram account or Tristan Scroggins' #Quarantune daily songwriting challenge.
Free access to education programs and materials from Curio.ca
The CBC has made Curio.ca, which is usually subscription-based, free for all Canadians right now. The educational streaming platform has thousands of programs and collections to support learning for children from kindergarten to grade 12, in English and French. CBC Parents has shared some of their top picks.
More learning resources from YouTube's Learn@Home site
With families finding themselves at home, YouTube launched a Learn@Home website that curates learning content and resources organized by age groups: preschoolers, kids five and up, and kids 13 and older. Google also launched a Teach From Home temporary hub to guide teachers who want to teach from home through collaboration tools.
Free stories for kids and classics for everyone on Audible
The audiobook app Audible has launched audible.ca/stories making hundreds of titles for young people ages 0-18 available for free. From Beatrix Potter to Winnie-the-Pooh to Rachel McAdams reading Anne of Green Gables (!) there's so much potential here for fun family listening. And if you're looking to dip into some classics yourself, there are 28 books available for free right now.
