SCIENCE STORIES Let’s be real: entertaining and educating kids at home is a challenge for all parents. But there are plenty of vetted online videos and curricula that can help, like those from The Lawrence Hall of Science. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they put on a live story time on YouTube, where kids can learn about math, anatomy, animals, astronomy, and more through sessions led by museum educators. Recent videos explored topics like how to build bigger muscles, why birds have different beaks, and the nature of sound. Join in and learn about the marvelous world of science. Live story times are every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:30 am.
ONLINE IMPROV In-person improv classes can be intimidating when you have to perform on stage in front of total strangers. But with venues closed during shelter-in-place, you can develop those comic skills in a less anxiety-inducing environment at home. The Oakland-based All Out Comedy Theater is offering online improv and sketch comedy classes. In the Improv for Beginners class, you can learn the core fundamentals of improv work both as an individual performer and an ensemble. You can kick it up a notch in their second level improv classes dedicated to scene work. You can even regularly practice your skills in a weekly digital showcase, where instructors from All Out Comedy will lead warm ups, games, and scenes with improvisors around the globe. You can walk out of this quarantine funnier than ever before.
ZOOM BINGO Do you miss game night with your friends, playing board games, cards, and most of all, Bingo? Actor and writer Josh Kornbluth has you covered. Kornbluth, the performer behind the one-man shows of Red Diaper Baby and The Mathematics of Change, is hosting a weekly game night on Zoom where he’ll entertain the crowd while calling out the numbers that correspond with B-I-N-G-O. Participants can download a Bingo card online and follow along. The event is free and Kornbluth promises, “Shenanigans, Tomfoolery, Chicanery, and Fun.” Sounds like a game night that you won’t want to miss. Fridays at 7:30 pm.
PERFORMANCE PICKS If you want to be transported to a beautiful artistic fantasy during this quarantine, check out this curated YouTube playlist of laudable artists and performances through the ages. Jeremy Geffen, the executive and artistic director of Cal Performances, has created a series of “virtual journeys” using YouTube links of existing live acts. Watch the devastating performance of the Dying Swan by ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, Isaac Stern’s virtuoso violin solo of Bach’s Chaconne in D minor and Miriam Makeba’s uplifting vocals in a live performance from 1969. Prepare to be moved and inspired by these quick clips of transcendent art.
DIVERSE DANCE Now is the time to practice some creative movement and thinking. Dance Alone Together is a digital resource for dancers, choreographers and dance enthusiasts created by Bay Area dancer Katherine Disenhof in response to the coronavirus crisis. With in-person classes and the proximity of bodies impossible, Dance Alone Together has compiled a database of live-streamed dance classes from studios around the world, online dance submission opportunities, and recorded performance footage and films. You can take Ballet Barre with Keith Chin, submit a clip to the Shut In Dance Film Fest, and watch the digital season from the San Francisco Dance Film Festival all in a day. Stay creative, keep moving.
