Digital Maine Library has free, reliable online resources for educators and young learners from kindergarten through college. Easily find age-appropriate search engines (aka databases) for kids by choosing “Elementary” or “Middle School” under the Audience menu. You will find primary source documents, encyclopedia articles, book suggestions, and more from:
- Ancestry Library Edition
- Ben’s Guide to US Government for Kids
- In Context – Elementary
- Maine Secretary of State Kids’ Page
- National Geographic Kids
- NoveList K-8 Plus
- World Book Early World of Learning
- World Book Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos
- World Book Kids
BOOKS & STORIES | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | EDUCATION +
To help caregivers with children home from school, we’ve created a list of free resources currently available digitally (online or through an app).
Everyone
Audible Stories – free audiobooks for kids from Audible
Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read-Alouds & Activities – assembled by WeAreTeachers, this list will bring Story Time into your home with read-alouds and activities from your favorite authors for all ages
International Children’s Digital Library – a collection of stories from around the world that can be read online
Lincoln Elementary School Readers – watch videos of your favorite communities members reading pictures and chapter books on the Lincoln Elementary School YouTube pages
Storyline Online – free videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations
Pre-K
Jbrary – Story time songs and fingerplays to teach your babies and toddlers from two of our favorite librarians
K-3
Circle Round – a podcast that adapts carefully-selected folktales from around the world into sound- and music-rich radio plays for kids ages 4 to 10
Draw Everyday with JJK – every weekday at noon, artist Jarrett J. Krosoczka will be offering up a free art lesson on a webcast. They are currently scheduled through Friday, April 3
Kitchen Table Classroom – free mini art classes and step-by-step craft tutorials in written and video format for kids, along with art lesson resources for parents
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems – 15 free drawing lessons from favorite children’s book author Mo Willems
Crossword Solver – Having trouble with a crossword puzzle or an anagram? This website can help.
Chewonki @Home – nature-based remote learning with lesson plans, projects, videos, and more
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s Home Safari – meet one animal from the Cincinnati Zoo every weekday afternoon at 1 p.m. and then complete a fun activity
Community of Learning – core curriculum every day of the week for homebound students in grades K-6th
Girls Who Code at Home – computer science educational activities available for download free of charge, to anyone who wants to access them
Kindness 101 with Steve Hartman – 30-minutes classes on different values–from Altruism to Zen–to help kids build character
Maine Audubon Connections – blog for the Maine Audubon includes Family Fun resources and outdoor activities for kids
MedlinePlus Children’s Page – Information and games for kids from the National Institutes of Health. Resources also available for caregivers
NASA Kids’ Club – activities from NASA for kids including NASA STEM @ Home.
New England Aquarium Virtual Visits – daily presentation live at 11 a.m. (on their Facebook page) and archived along with at-home projects and activities
PBS LearningMedia – free standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more for teachers like you
Raising Readers Resources for Families – a guide of free online resources for families of children ages birth to 5 years
TEDEd@Home – high-quality, interactive, video-based lessons on a daily basis, for free from the creators of TedTalks.
Wonderopolis – free educational site with fun, interactive STEM and literacy-building topics for kids from the National Center for Families Learning
ZooAmerica Virtual Zoo Visits – Meet a new animal every weekday at 11 a.m. during the zoo’s closure. Watch Live on Facebook, or visit their video page for archived visits