Health & Mental Health Advice and Support

• Cruse – Bereavement counselling
• Living Life – Online cognitive behavioural therapy site
• YoungMinds – Children and adolescent mental health support resource
• Head Space – Meditation/ relaxation and sleep resources
• Mind – Wellbeing advice
• Mood Juice – Online resource for all mental health issues, including bereavement
• Samaritans – Offering support to all
• Self help resources for mental health issues
• The Silverline Telephone befriending service for the elderly
• Who cares scotland
• Ok Rehab – Specialists in drug, alcohol and addiction treatment across the UK

COVID-19 Wellbeing & Education

Orkney Blide Trust – Mental Health Support. 

If you need support :
phone: 874874
email: [email protected]
text: 07840198022

These links were compiled by Voluntary Action Orkney! 

Activities

• The Artful Parent – Good, free art activities
• Blue Peter Badges – If you have a stamp and a nearby post box.
• Boatload puzzles – Free online puzzles
• Cbeebies Radio – Listening activities for the younger ones.
• DK Find Out – Activities and quizzes
• Duolingo – Activities and quizzes for younger kids.
• Free public domain audiobooks – Audiobooks. Like Audible, but FREE!
• Ideas & Fun – everything from activities for the kids, to making things for around the home (Suitable for all)
• Nature Detectives – A lot of these can be done in a garden, or if you can get to a remote forest location!
• Open Culture – Free colouring books to download and print
• Paw Print Badges – Free challenge packs and other downloads. Many activities can be completed indoors. Badges cost but are optional.
• Project Gutenberg – stores all books which are outside copyright (and therefore free to read
• Red Ted Art – Easy arts and crafts for little ones
• Tinkercad – All kinds of making.
• The Imagination Tree – Creative art and craft activities for the very youngest.
• Over 30 Virtual Field Trips with Links – US Based

Arts & Culture

• Artistic exploration website
• Arts and Culture – google There’s a link to themes and collections in the drop down menu, and virtual gallery tours to check out.
• BBC Radio Orkney – “Radio Church” at 3pm on Sunday afternoon – this week led by the Revd Susan Kirkbride from the Peedie Kirk.

• Free online operas
• Stageit – Complete online free music concerts – donations requested
• The Sofa Singers  – is a free & weekly online singing event that aims to bring people together from around the world to spark joy and human connection.
• The Wind and the Willows – Online Musical

Educational and How to links

• BBC Teach – Whether you’re at home or at school, you can use BBC Teach for free. Our website is home to thousands of free curriculum-mapped videos, arranged by age-group and subject.
• Big History Project – Aimed at Secondary age. Multi disciplinary activities.
• Blockly Games is a series of educational games that teach programming. It is designed for children who have not had prior experience with computer programming. By the end of these games, players are ready to use conventional text-based languages.
• Crash Course – You Tube videos on many subjects
• Crash Course Kids – or a younger audience
• Duolingo – free website for learning languages which can be very useful if you’re looking to learn a new language. Also comes in a phone app which is very good
• Futurelearn – Free to access 100s of courses, only pay to upgrade if you need a certificate in your name (own account from age 14+ but younger learners can use a parent account).
• Geography Games – Geography gaming!

How to access GLOW (digital learning platform on line)

• National Geographic Kids – All sorts of engaging educational videos
• Open University Open Learn – Free online courses available to all. Free taster courses aimed at those considering Open University but everyone can access it. Adult level, but some e.g. nature and environment courses could well be of interest to young people.
• Oxford Owl for Home – Lots of free resources for Primary age
• Seneca – For those revising at GCSE or A level. Tons of free revision content. Paid access to higher level material.
• Scratch – Learn computer programming skills – fun and free.
• Sign Language – Join Monday at 1pm (after lunch) on this FaceBook page and VAO will be teaching you and your children the basics of British sign language
• Sumdog – Sumdog’s games engage children in personalised maths, spelling and grammar practice. Sumdog is particularly helpful for parents facing multiple challenges.
• The Kids Should See This – Wide range of cool educational videos
• The parents guide to google class room
• Toy Theater – Educational Games for Kids, Making learning a blast.

Fitness for the home

• https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpickyorkney%2Fvideos%2F205868320723758%2F&show_text=0&width=560
• BOD sample workouts –
• Kickstarterz Sports – online sessions for all the family
• Move Orkney – Dance classes for/with kids. 
• People Plus Maine – Now have 8 free exercise videos on their People Plus Vimeo page and more to come. Videos include Chair Yoga, Loosen Up, Yoga, and Tai Chi
• Kids Yoga

Science

• Glasgow Science Centre – bringing a bit of science into your home every day at 10am to help keep everyone inspired in these challenging times.
  Join us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at 10am each day.
  Ask us questions and let us know what you’d like to see! #GSCAtHome
• Project Noah – A global citizen science platform to discover, share and identify wildlife
• Mystery Science – Free science lessons