With it already looking like we’ve got at least another two weeks lockdown ahead of us, you might be searching for activities to entertain your kids that they aren’t already sick of.

We’ve found the perfect solution for when you’re busy, but the kids are bored and fed up with your four walls- virtual excursions.

These exciting virtual excursions are offered by Distance And Rural Technologies (DART) Learning. They’ll teach your kids about new, interesting and varied topics while you can get on with your own work or household jobs.

DART Learning (a service run by the New South Wales Department of Education unit) hosts Live, By Request and On-Demand learning experiences offered by museums, galleries, research institutes, scientists, writers, athletes, artists, musicians, zoos and many more, which bring kids face-to-face with experts across the globe.

While they’re busy learning, you’re free to get on with work of your own, continue on with household tasks or *gasp* relax. 

There are currently 200+ live virtual excursions and nearly 300 on-demand virtual excursions available on the DART website, with new excursions added all the time.

Below is a selection of some of the highlights happening soon that are well worth checking out!

 

NAIDOC Week

To celebrate NAIDOC week, there will be a program full of excursions revolving around the 2021 theme Heal Country! 

Join Wiradjuri-Scottish educator-in-residence April Phillips on an interactive excursion to investigate how and why we need to recognise place as a significant part of our identity. If we work towards healing country, we work towards healing our nation.

 

Storytime Online with Matt Cosgrove

On July 29th, jump on a live zoom session with Matt Cosgrove- author of popular children’s book series Macca the Alpaca- for a reading of his latest picture book, Macca the Backpacker. He’ll also be giving kids a quick drawing lesson, which will show them just how easy it is to draw Macca, so have your paper and pencils ready.

Sci Fest

Aligning with National Science Week 2021, the Sci Fest program will feature a range of virtual excursions covering topics including: minibeasts in your garden, ancient Australian animals, focus on frogs, marvellous marine life, dynamic Earth and what’s in my backyard. Join some of Australia’s best science presenters for this dynamic month of science from August 2-27th.

 

Meet Bluey’s Maker

Are your kids crazy about Bluey? Joe Brumm, the creator of the award-winning Aussie cartoon, will be streaming live from the Opera House on August 6th to share his inspirations for creating memorable characters, the process for creating an animated series and his favourite moments while creating his award-winning stories.

Virtual Book Week

Forget about putting together last-minute costumes, this is a much more interesting way to celebrate Book Week! The theme this year is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds and DART Learning have lined up 20+ authors to talk about the stories behind their stories, writing, illustrating, character formation and more. More details to be announced soon.

 

Sydney Science Trail

National Science Week 2021 will run from 14th-22nd August and will this year focus on food science and sustainability. The Sydney Science Trail school program presents a unique opportunity for parents to engage their children in the exciting world of scientific research. Let students discover the fascinating powers of adaptation and more, in an interactive, curriculum-linked, virtual classroom. Online excursions include: coffee production, deadly science education, honey production, the Science Week hackathon, and the science of rockets!

 

Canberra comes to you

Kids that may or may not get to attend a Canberra excursion this year, are lucky enough to at least have Canberra come to them instead. From 30th August to 3rd September, there will be a whole week of online excursions from Canberra presented from a huge range of Canberra institutes including:

• Australian War Memorial,
• National Library of Australia,
• National Museum of Australia,
• National Portrait Gallery,
• Parliamentary Education Office,
• Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre.

Stay tuned for more details!

 

What other virtual excursions are on offer?

Glad you asked! There are so many more online excursions you can check out. Some of our favourite picks for younger kids include Improv Adventures, Hunting for Inspiration and Staging Stories, while older kids will be enthralled by Migration Tales, Spotlight on Shakespeare, Captivating Communication Designs and a stack more to choose from.

 

Browse excursions by year, topic, type of event or key learning area on the DART Learning website now.