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Educational resources for learning at home

Fun and educational activities to keep your child occupied if they are not at school and learning from home.

Borrowing digital books, audiobooks and magazines

You can borrow digital books, audiobooks, magazines, comics and graphic novels and newspapers for free with a Library membership card.

For more information please visit our Digital Books, audiobooks and magazines page.

Tips for parents

  • Be guided by your child’s school. Check out the learning information on the school website or speak to your child’s class teacher
  • Get your child to create their own learning timetable, they will be more likely to stick to it
  • Keep the learning sessions in short bursts
  • Get creative. Get messy! Painting, water play or slime making will keep your child interested
  • Include some physical activity, children need 60 minutes of activity each day
    • Get outside if you can
    • Go for a walk
    • Go for a bike ride
    • Try hula hooping, skipping or kicking a ball around
    • Play ‘It’ or hide and seek
    • Or you could try these NHS 10-minute shake-up games
  • Enjoy the garden or outdoor space by getting children involved in planting seeds. Give them their own space to grow their own veggies or flowers if you can.
  • Younger children could do a scavenger hunt or go bug hunting
  • Get them to write a diary each day, even just a short paragraph. It is their history in the making!
  • Get them involved in the kitchen by allowing them to help make dinner or doing some baking, weighing and measuring are great maths skills
  • Write to a school friend or a family member they will not see for some time
  • Try to put limits on screen time. Set an allocated time when phones, tablets and TV are all going to be switched off
  • Take a moment to enjoy quality family time. Dig out the board games and jigsaws. Scrabble, playing cards, even monopoly can all help sharpen learning skills

Home learning for children under 5

  • The Cosmic Kids website has a range of activities to get under-fives active and to develop motor skills.
  • Bookstart by the BookTrust have interactive stories and games on their website, as well as suggested reading.

General learning

  • BBC Bitesize offers in-depth online learning for children aged 3 to 16 and beyond
  • The Scholastic Learn at Home website has an excellent range of information. Their content is written for the USA school system, so for guidance the equivalent UK year groups are;
    • PreK and Kindergarten: Reception and Year 1
    • Grades 1 and 2: Years 2 and 3
    • Grades 3 to 5: Years 3 to 5
    • Grade 6 upwards: Year 6 upwards.
  • Twinkl are offering a month’s free access to their premium site. They have lots of curated online resources for children of all ages.
  • OAK National Academy Online Classroom are providing online lessons for teachers, parents and students.

English and reading lessons

  • The British Library’s Discovering Children’s Books website has lots of information about books and stories and some great activities.
  • Michael Rosen has an amazing website of him reading and performing his poems, plus more resources.
  • Shakespeare Week (held in March) has a website with lots of themed activities in their Kids’ Zone. There is a printable booklet to track what children have been doing.
  • Project Gutenberg is a website for books which are out of copyright, and contains a range of books for children.
  • On the BookTrust website you can enjoy story time with their free online books, play games, win prizes, or test your knowledge in book-themed quizzes.
  • The Hamilton Trust website has a range of learning resources for English, Maths and Science

Maths and number lessons

  • Sumdog can help children age 6-14-years-old, practise maths through games. Free access gives you six different games for children to use, and you can also sign up as a member.
  • The Hamilton Trust website has a range of learning resources for English, Maths and Science

Science lessons

  • The Science Museum website has a range of learning games and apps that are free.
  • The British Science Week website has downloadable ‘Diverse Planet’ activity packs for early years, primary school and secondary school children.

Geography lessons

The National Geographic Kids website has fun learning games including quizzes, puzzles and word scrambles.

History lessons

Language lessons

Technology lessons

  • The Hour of Code website allows you to try a one-hour tutorial designed for all ages in over 45 languages. Join millions of students and teachers in over 180 countries starting with an Hour of Code.
  • Scratch is a coding website with a range of tutorials for different coding activities children can try.
  • The Grid Club website has a range of coding and educational fun games and activities.
  • TinkerCAD is a free web app for 3D design, electronics and coding. All you need is a “what if…”
  • The Raspberry Pi Foundation Learn at Home initiative supports parents and young people with coding at home. You do not need any coding experience to join in, and all of their resources and activities are free forever.

Creative activities for children and young people

Below is a short video on how to make a miniature book, easy creative fun for anyone!

Last updated: May 8, 2026

Next review due: November 8, 2026

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