Virtual Picks for the week ahead 2nd – 8th July 2020

It’s hard to keep up with everything that’s become available online. Fear not, we’ve done the hard work for you. 

From the Museum of London’s Great Fire of London Live Stream to exploring the Natural World with Children’s Art Week, from Tate Kids live art sessions, learning Mandarin to baking scones, not to mention Wimbeldon Recreated –  there’s lots to do, watch and enjoy this week. 

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OUR TOP PICKS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

Children’s Art Week, exploring the Natural World (29th June – 5th July)

Children’s Art Week is a UK-wide programme that gives children and young people the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of art activities online, at home and in schools across three weeks in June and July. Each week will focus on a special theme. This week the focus is on The Natural World. Explore, discover, create and make a nature loom, wax resist art, an egg box hedgehog, an animal craft safari and more. 

From 6th July the theme is connecting across generations with the final week, from 13th July, exploring literacy and creative writing. 

Find out more here

Wimbledon Recreated (ongoing until 11th July)

Get your Wimbledon fix, virtually – find out more from our blog here

Julia Donaldson and Friends! (Thursday 2nd July 4pm, weekly) 

Scholastic are delighted to share Julia Donaldson’s weekly broadcast, where she will be performing her much-loved stories, songs and poems every Thursday at 4pm while we are all staying at home!  With the likes of Alex Scheffler, Lydia Monks, Nick Durrant and many more! 

What’s more. Scholastic have got their favourite authors to read one chapter from their books to help you keep children engaged and excited about reading. They also include links to free teaching resources. There’s readings from Middle Grade books and Young Adult – so there’s something for everyone!

National Theatre at Home: Les Blancs  (From 7pm Thurs 2nd – 9th July)

An African country teeters on the edge of civil war. A society prepares to drive out its colonial present and claim an independent future. Tshembe, returned home from England for his father’s funeral, finds himself in the eye of the storm.

Yaël Farber (Mies Julie, Nirbhaya) directs the final play by Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun): a brave, illuminating and powerful work that confronts the hope and tragedy of revolution.

Running time: tbc 

Watch it here

#BringingChinatownHome introduces Mandarin courses starts Friday 3rd July 

How’s your Mandarin? Understand some basic phrases in preparation for your next visit to Chinatown London. After your basic introduction to Mandarin, Language Teacher Shuhua is here to put your vocabulary to the test. Tune in each week to learn a new set of useful phrases. Press play, listen and repeat back, and follow Shuhua’s lead. This week learn 3 ways to greet someone. With following weeks to include helpful phrases for eating out,  useful small talk phrases and mindfulness sayings – launching every Friday in July. 

Find out more here

Watch Cirque du Soleil Shows at CirqueConnect (Every Friday) 

Every Friday, Cirque du Soleil will be premiering a new CirqueConnect 60-minute special of their shows for free. Last week they shared some of the best live show moments of La Nouba, Varekai and Quidam! (still available) Rediscover these fan-favorite shows and enjoy mind-blowing acrobatics from the comfort of your home! This week is yet to be announced. 

See more here.

Royal Opera House’s – La Boheme (Premieres Friday 3rd July, 7pm)

Puccini’s opera of passion, friendship and heartbreak is one of the best-loved operas worldwide. Richard Jones’s recent production for The Royal Opera perfectly captures the vulnerability of youth amid the harshness and glamour of a big city. The atmospheric designs, by Stewart Laing, evoke both the poverty of the bohemians’ attic home and the splendour of Paris’s shopping arcades on Christmas Eve.

The opera blends tragedy and comedy, the soulful and the spirited, into a powerful encapsulation of the intenseness of life’s experiences to its young would-be artists and their lovers. 

Part of the Royal Opera House’s #OurHouseToYourHouse series.Availabe until 16th July)

See more here and more of their other free streams here

Little Angel Theatre, Moon River (Sunday 5th July)

Moon River received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for its performance by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961. In Tim Hopgood’s illustrated edition, a little girl goes on a magical journey along the Moon River, which flows from her bedroom out into the big wide world.

While you’re here, don’t miss out on Little Angel’s online Make inspiration, activities are split by ages and you can explore the world of Shadow Puppetry as well as learn how to make a puppet in a week. Discover more here 

Watch here

Bread Ahead IG LIVE Baking (5th July 2pm) 

At 2pm on Instagram live Bread Ahead will be sharing their favourite baking lessons with you. Check out the upcoming recipes. Plus there’s online baking ebooks available to purchase here 

SCONES 5th July 

BAKEWELL TART 8th July

BRIOCHE 12th July

SOURDOUGH PIZZA 15th July 

Museum of London, Great Fire of London Live stream (Monday 6th July, 2pm)    

The Great Fire live stream launches on Monday 6th July and this will be available to watch in 3 parts on Mon 6, Mon 13 and Mon 20 July. 

Grab your whole family and join The Museum of London for a private tour of our Fire! Fire! exhibition. You’ll also have the chance to ask your questions to a museum curator, all from the comfort of your own home. Part One explores how the fire started, including what caused the fire and why it got so bad. Join on Facebook just before 2pm for the full experience and note you can also watch it live on YouTube or the website, you just won’t be able to share questions. 

Aimed at 5+ and note that children must be accompanied by an adult whilst watching the stream. The live stream will last 30 minutes. 

Find out more here

Tate Kids Livestream (Wednesday 8th July, 2pm) 

Tate Kids is offering a fun, live making session with artist and editor of Sonshine Magazine Kirstie Beaven. Aimed at children under 10, this workshop is designed so that kids can get creative without parental support, although adults are always welcome to join in! Beaven will be teaching viewers how to make colourful collages, using materials that can be found at home.

Find out more here

Little Soundabout – Free online music-making sessions for children with profound and multiple disabilities (Monday 6th July,2pm –  weekly)

Every Monday at 2pm, you’re invited to join these free interactive music sessions aimed at children aged 0-5 years with profound or multiple disabilities and their parents/carers. 

Join here

English National Ballet – Watch Party; Cinderella in the Round  (8th July, 7pm) 

Welcome the summer with the glorious Cinderella in-the-round by Christopher Wheeldon, filmed at the Royal Albert Hall

This inventive production fills the grand space of the Royal Albert Hall to tell one of the world’s favourite fairy tales. Magnificent sets and costumes, surprising theatrical tricks and lively choreography delight, move and astound, all to the melodious tunes of Prokofiev, performed by English National Ballet Philharmonic.

With over 130 dancers working on the production, a live orchestra, and plenty of surprises, this magical ballet is sure to become a favourite.

Watch here 

Lights On Up by Roustabout Theatre: Performers & Producers (Wednesday 8th July,11am) 

For students of Drama & Theatre Studies, aspiring theatre makers and curious audience members. This free seminar focused on Performers and Producers explores the various creative talents who make theatrical productions happen. This week, learn from performers and producers about why they take the decisions they do and how they make their ideas a reality. 

Aimed at 12+

Sign up for free  here

Live Q&A with Steve Backshall (09.30 Wednesdays) 

Live Wildlife Homeschool with Steve Backshall.. There are no silly questions! (But you can try!…)  Live Lessons every Wednesday morning 09.30 UK time on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Youtube is probably the least technically challenging. Check it out here 

ANYTIME

NASA at Home 

NASA at Home aims to bring the universe into your home. Wth Virtual Tours, podcast and E-books, there’s also a great section for Kids & Families. Find out how to code a Mars helicopter video game, Imagine your an Astronaut or make your own spacecraft – there’s tons to learn, explore, discover and do.  

Find out more here

Fun Palaces Tiny Revolutions of Connection

Fun Palaces are about the tiniest of connections, person to person and that anyone, anywhere, can make a Fun Palace.

Now it’s time for you to give it a try…Fun Palaces have made a number of Tiny Revolutions into PDFs so you can download and print to share with people offline. Or you can ask Fun Palaces to print & post them to you if you’d like to share in your community with vulnerable or isolated people. 

Find out more here

Select a Quest

From Olivier-nominated Pins and Needles Productions and award-winning writer Bea Roberts, comes an original interactive online children’s adventure, SELECT A QUEST, created in only 72 hours during lockdown. 

Navigate through 27 scenes set across six levels, leading to one winner, one curse and a whole lot of crazy deaths. With multiple paths to choose from, once you start it will be hard to leave. What happens in what order? YOU decide. Have you got what it takes to #FindTheWhistle and save the camp from the evil curse?

Aimed at 6+

Start your Quest here

CBeebies Radio Podcast, Updated Everyday 

CBeebies Radio takes you to a world of sound and music, where you can share imaginative adventures and listen to stories with your favourite CBeebies friends and characters.

Bring AR Animals into your home 

For when you need a little bit of fun… can you imagine a panda in your living room or a tiger in the kitchen

Find out how to here

ToucanBOX free activities 

From water pistol painting, bubble trail blower bottles to finger tracing flip books, explore ToucanBOX’s selection of free activities and fun things to do with the kids. 

Explore more here

Africam – Always Live, Always Wild

Watch wild animals in the beautiful African bush live and unscripted. Elephants, Lions, Leopards and many more make appearances every day in the remotest of Africa’s locations.

Watch here

The Cartoon Museum’s free drawing techniques and resources 

Drawing fun, cartoon based, learn how to draw caricatures, create comic strip stories and experience drawing different cartoon body shapes. 

Find out more here 

National Insect Week 2020 Photography Competition 

If you missed National insect Week last week, there are still lots of fun free activities and resources to enjoy as well as this year’s Photography competition open to all those budding photographers. With an entry section for under 18s and over 18s, growns can enter too. 

Explore the free activities here and find out how to enter here – the competition closes 31st October so there’s plenty of time. 

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