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At-home activities
Here's a list of activities you can do from home to keep you active, entertained and learning during COVID-19.
Online heritage tours of Port Phillip
You can watch recordings from some of our previous virtual heritage tours on our YouTube playlist.
Museums and galleries
As part of our COVID-19 Arts Rescue Package announced in May 2020, we took our local creative and cultural institutions online, partnering with Ignition Immersive in South Melbourne to deliver 3D virtual tours. Read more about this initiative.
You can enjoy virtual tours of:
- Carlisle Street Art Space, explore the Vista exhibition
- Australian Tapestry Workshop
- Gasworks Arts Park
- Jewish Museum of Australia
- Linden New Art
- Temperance Hall
Through these tours anybody can visit, explore and enjoy these exhibitions and gallery spaces. In these virtual experiences, users use their mouse to enter the show and stroll around while turning in all directions. Buttons next to each artwork or collection item provide pop-up labels or a commentary and let you zoom in for a closer look.
Follow the Australian Tapestry Workshop on Facebook or the Australian Tapestry Workshop on Instagram for updates.
Visit the Gasworks Arts Park website to explore virtual options.
You can also follow Gasworks on social media for the latest updates:
You can now visit the Jewish Museum of Australia virtually! Step inside a 360 degrees tour created by the team at South Melbourne based Ignition Immersive and explore all the exhibitions spaces including the Timeline of Jewish History and Belief and Ritual.
For some family fun you can Museum at Home: make your own museum and create a family Tree of Hope.
You can also follow the Jewish Museum of Australia on social media for the latest updates:
Linden New Art may have closed their doors during restrictions, but they are happy to share some great links and art activities to enjoy from the comfort of your home.
They have created an Isolate with Linden section on their website including a range of kids activities while the gallery is closed.
You can also follow Linden New Art on social media for the latest updates:
Families with children
The Department of Education website provides useful information to support remote learning.
Parents and carers can access advice, tips and resources to help support their child’s continuity of learning from home.
The ABC Education website has a number of great free online learning resources for kids.
During your daily exercise, you can take the kids out for a walk through your local park or a bike ride along the Bay Trail. Just remember to respect physical distancing requirements.
Fishermans Bend Gymnastics Club has created a series of video lessons for all ages and abilities. There's a lockdown family challenge, kinder gymnastics and more. Adult supervision required, check out their YouTube playlists.
Check the Sport Phillip page for more ideas.
Have a crafternoon or learn to paint with Ken Done.
Libraries may be closed but there are a range of online resources you can access for free if you are a member of Port Phillip Library Service, including e-books, audio books and more. Keep updated via the Library website or Facebook page.
Check the Library website for details on how to arrange Click and Collect.
Access to the following platforms (and more) are available through your library membership:
- Story Box Library is a subscription based educational website, created for children to view stories by local authors and illustrators, being read aloud by fantastic, predominantly Australian and New Zealand, storytellers.
- Creativebug has thousands of art and craft tutorials for all ages. Learn to paint, knit, crochet, sew, bake and more!
- Kanopy Kids allows you to stream educational and engaging videos for children of all ages. Videos on Kanopy Kids are carefully chosen to encourage social and emotional development and inspire creativity.
Brown Bear activity
In honour of Eric Carle, the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, who recently passed away, the Library team has shared a Brown Bear craft activity. Made from recycled thin cardboard, paint, texta and split pins, it’s as easy as pie. Eric Carle was an inspiration for so many, have a look at the free downloads and activities on the Eric Carle website for more ideas!
Smiling Mind has developed a new Families Program which includes meditations and activities suitable for all family members. To access the program, you will need to download the free Smiling Mind app.
Enjoy livestreams from Melbourne Zoo and meet the new baby otters.
Explore the sea life with virtual tours and special events livestreamed from Melbourne Aquarium.
Learn all about Australia reptiles with Tim Faulkner from the Australian Reptile Park! Join in online for fun and educational videos.
Itsy Bitsy Chef is going online! Their popular cooking with children classes are often held in Liardet Community Centre in Port Melbourne. And now they’ve gone online so your kids can continue to have fun learning from home with low-cost class options.
Check out the online shop at Itsy Bitsy Chef or call 0425 745 784 or email info@itsybitsychef.com.au for details.
Scienceworks has put together some great at-home experiments and activities for kids.
Why not camp in your backyard or living room, or build a pillow fort inside?
The Raising Children Network has a range of online resources available to parents, including a number of fantastic ideas for age-appropriate indoor play.
Travel around the world from the safety of your home.
A number of venues have released virtual tours, online performances and more. Some examples to get you started:
- Natural History Museum in London.
- The Louvre Museum in Paris
- The Met in New York
- Take a 360 degree virtual tour of The Ecotarium Museum of Science in Massachusetts, USA
- Enjoy a kids and families performance at the Sydney Opera House
- Visit Yosemite from your couch
Adults
Port Phillip library members have access to a huge range of digital apps and resources with your library membership, including films, documentaries, learning, music, eAudio books, eBooks and eMagazines.
LinkedIn Learning for Library
Learn many new skills to both enhance your career such as computer programming or enrich your down time by learning guitar. Learning can happen anywhere via your laptop, mobile, tablet or desktop.
If you're a Port Phillip Library member, you can enjoy free access to the LinkedIn Learning for libraries.
Deakin University
Deakin University is offering free two-week online courses. The courses are open to anyone. Topics include Professional Resilience and Transforming Digital Learning.
Upskill My Business
The Victorian Government Upskill My Business site lists a range of free online resources that you can use to upskill during this stay at home period.
There are lots of resources for you to discover on the Heritage section of our website. Explore your family history, investigate the history of your house or discover the stories of your local area.
You can also dip your toes into historical newspaper articles from across Australia over the past century courtesy of the National Library of Australia’s Trove database. There are currently 23.5 million newspaper pages and 2 million gazette pages digitised and available to view.