You’ll find on this page:
Access a range of free online activities to keep your children engaged at home. Choose from online stories, read-alongs, craft activities and science experiments. Keep active with kid-friendly workouts and follow along with sporting drills. Find out what different animals get up to with live streams! All activities are free, some may require your library card and pin number.
If you require assistance please contact the library.
Storytime Online Christmas special with Lauren
Storytime Online direct from the Glenelg and Brighton libraries is back just in time for Christmas. With COVID-19 restrictions putting a hold on the Storytime sessions inside the libraries, join Lauren virtually for this week's special Christmas edition of Storytime Online.
Next Thursday, Sarah will have a story and a song from Brighton Library and you can watch Michelle's Storytime Online video on Thursday 10 December.
Literacy
Freely available database of children's books by and about Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Peoples which includes over 300 Australian children's books suitable for young people from birth through 12 years of age. These books are annotated, with subjects, curriculum links and teaching resources along with database features that offer varied uses for different interests.
Free ebook for primary school age children explaining Coronavirus illustrated by Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler.
Ages 0 – 6: www.penguin.com.au/littlies
Fun, book-related activities including colouring, mazes and dot-to-dots
Ages 6-12: www.penguin.com.au/kids
Book-themed activities including puzzles, quizzes, book excerpts and drawing activities.
Free school holiday activities highlighting one Billie B Brown title every week! There will be work sheets, behind-the-scenes articles, exciting activities and special events with author Sally Rippin. Recommended for 4+
www.sallyrippin.com/
Free downloadable activity sheets with crafts and activities inspired by children’s books.
Enjoy storytime at any time.
Storybox Library contains a virtual reading room where Australian personalities including Missy Higgins, John Schumann, Cal Wilson, Kate Ritchie and Andy Griffiths read children's stories online.
The videos include accompanying home learning activities.
Choose Holdfast Bay Libraries from the drop down list of libraries (or type Holdfast to jump to Holdfast Bay Libraries) and then enter your Library card number and click Log In.
Access Story Box Library
Enjoy our regular children’s programs at any time.Follow the slides and listen to the songs at home.
Click in the presentation window or use the left and right arrow keys to move through the slides.
You can make the presentation larger by clicking on the icon at the bottom right of the window.
Overdrive Read-Alongs are narrated eBooks that are read aloud in your browser using Overdrive Read.
After borrowing, select Read (In your browser) from your Checkouts page (under your Account) to open the eBook in your browser. Then select Start narration on any page to begin the audio from the top-left.
A magazine for creative kids.
Students can experience the thrill of being published with PK. Submissions accepted from all subject areas including short stories, poems, art, craft, reviews, musical performances, science projects and more. With interviews of popular children’s authors, sporting heroes, and of course plenty of competitions, it’s a fun and funky place for all primary school kids.
A collection of picture books, Wings Readers, mathematics, science and languages from well-regarded SA publisher Era Publications. Children can read the story or listen while it is read to them. Fun activities are included with each story to reinforce literary skills.
STEM/Nature
Family, Nature and COVID-19 has a strong focus on nurturing the mental health and wellbeing of families, including providing accessible, nature-based methods that can be practiced at home, your neighbourhood and nearby nature.
STARportal is Australia’s first centralised national portal for exciting and engaging STEM activities from around the country. This searchable database connects parents, students and teachers with their local and online STEM activities in real time.
STARportal has been a collaboration between the Office of the Chief Scientist, Engineers Australia, Telstra, AMSI, BHP Billiton and the Commonwealth Bank, in consultation with the Department of Education to ensure all Australian families have access to any and all STEM outreach activities in their area and online.
www.starportal.edu.au/
150 Science Experiments that you can do at home with supplies and materials you may already have
Live streams of animals at the Melbourne Zoo including zebras, giraffes, leopards and more.
Free digital challenges for children in South Australia
This is a digital thinking challenge. It teaches computational thinking and practical coding using a range of carefully curated activities from reputable providers including the Digital Technologies Hub, CS Unplugged, Code.org’s Hour of Code, Grok Learning’s Hour of Code, Microsoft’s MakeCode and projects from Code Club Australia.
Creative
Free fun and simple ideas to do with your children at home that promote creative play and learning.
New videos posted dailies by author of the pigeon series - Mo Willems. Grab some paper, pencils, pens or crayons and be guided through different drawings and illustrations.
Free downloadable colouring in pages and craft templates by Matt Cosgrove – author of ‘Macca the alpaca’ series.
20 days of shared activities for everyday play that can be done at home or in the back garden. Find games, sensory ideas and craft.