COVID-19 RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES

To help you through this time of social distancing and school closures, our teams at the Schoenbaum Family Center and Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy are creating resources just for you. Check them out below.

We also curated a list of resources from others. You can view them here.

Rebuilding the Early Child Care and Education System

Our country’s early care and education system was fractured and in crisis, even before COVID-19. The abrupt closure of many child care centers, new requirements upon opening, and challenges facing families make it even more pressing that our “rebuilding” efforts work toward a more sustainable and equitable child care system.

Schoenbaum & Crane Centers are now on YouTube

From circle-time with teachers to live story times, from sing-a-longs with Chef Mark to math and counting exercises, the Early Childhood at OSU channel on YouTube is packed full of fun and helpful resources for children and parents alike!

3 Tips for Parents to Help Keep Children Learning

Executive Director Dr. Laura Justice recently penned an op-ed in The Columbus Dispatch, encouraging parents to focus on three tips while managing young children at home during COVID-19. She explains – from a child-development and research perspective – that parents focus most on reading, talking with children (using serve-and-return interactions), and focus on reducing stress.

3 Smart Ways to Use Screen Time While Coronavirus Keeps Kids at Home

As families everywhere adjust to social distancing measures like closed schools and child care centers, workplaces and more, parents are grappling with questions regarding their kids’ use of technology. Crane Center’s Rebecca Dore, an expert on children and media, offers some tips for how to make the most of screen time for kids who are cooped up at home.

Children’s Media Resource List

As COVID-19 precautions move us into social distancing, many families are wondering how to best use media with their children. Rhonda Moskowitz, founder of Practical Solutions Parent Coaching, LLC, and Rebecca Dore, Senior Research Associate at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy, created a resource list about children’s media to help families navigate.

Cognitive Skills & General Knowledge

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the teachers from the A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning are sharing at-home activities to help you with ideas on how to best support your child’s development.

Physical Well-Being & Motor Development

It’s important to keep your children moving, especially while staying at home together. Check out these ideas that can help support their well-being and development while having fun.

Approaches Toward Learning

Check out these different ways to help your child learn: from studying natural patterns to measuring cooking ingredients, to going on a listening walk, 

Bubble Lava Lamp

Our teachers and researchers have teamed up to offer you activities meant to help engage your child through play and fun, creating optimal opportunities for learning. Try this fun science experiment that is a cool way to practice language, observing scientific phenomenon, and natural curiosity!

Interactive Read Alouds: Tips for Parents and Caregivers for Enriching Reading Experiences at Home

Reading aloud is one of the most significant activities for developing literacy that also creates a sense of connection and safety in what may be a difficult time. This post offers research-backed tips to help make the most of these shared experiences.

Tips to Engage Your Child Through Reading

Did you know that you can you turn book reading into an activity that supports many areas of your child’s development? Pick 1 or 2 items from this guide we created and add a boost to your reading time!

Language & Literacy Activities: Set 1

Help your child learn through working on spelling and writing, creating a journal all about learning, and reading How does a dinosaur go to school?

Language & Literacy Activities: Set 2

These at-home learning activities include fun with songs, compound words, and pairing words that start with the same sound.

Kid-Friendly: Homemade French Fries

You will need: 4 russet potatoes, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and 2 tsp. of salt. Click below for the full recipe.

Quick and Nutritious: Fresh Pears with Honey Ricotta

You will need: 3 pears or apples, 8 oz fresh ricotta cheese, 2 T. honey (optional, not recommended for children under one year of age), and .25 tsp black pepper. Click below for the full recipe.

Pantry Staple Snack: Fruit Leather

You will need: 3 cups of fresh or frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1/2 t. lemon zest. Click below for the full recipe.

Easy: Homemade Pizza/Breadstick Dough

You will need: 2.25 cups of all-purpose flour, .75 t. instant dry yeast, 1 t. salt, 1 T. olive oil, and 1 cup warm water, not hot. Click below for the full recipe.

Simple, Pantry Staples: Pasta

You will need: 3 eggs, 2.5 cups all-purpose flour, 1 t. salt. Click below for the full recipe.

Easy: Beef for Tacos or Nachos

You will need: 1 # ground beef, 1 small onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 T.  cumin, ground, 2 t.  paprika, ground, 2 t.  salt, and 1 t. pepper.  Click below for the full recipe.

Easy, Kid-Friendly Dessert: Ice Cream

You will need: 3 cups strawberries, sliced frozen, 1/2 cup sugar, granulated, 1 t. lemon zest, and 1 1/2 cups half and half. Click below for the full recipe.

Kid-Friendly Dessert: Rice Pudding

You will need: 5 cups of whole milk, 1 cup of short-grain or white rice, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 t. vanilla, 2 t. cinnamon, pinch of salt. Click below for the full recipe.

Kid-Friendly Dessert: Chocolate Coated Banana Bites

You will need: 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, 1/2 cup coconut oil, and 4 bananas, ripe, cut into one-inch pieces. Click below for full recipe.