Guest Blog from Hayley – East Cheshire Mumbler & Harrogate Mumbler
Did you know that many large attractions from around the world offer virtual tours so you can visit them from the comfort of your sofa?! How cool is that?!
We’ve pulled together some of these virtual tours so you and the kids can have a day out whilst staying in!! It’s also great for learning at home in a different, fun way. Enjoy!
⭐️Museums
Hundreds of museums around the world throw open their (virtual) doors to visitors. Google Arts and Culture has teamed up with over 5oo – take a look at the whole collection here.
We’ve selected five of the most well known to link to below:-
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
This museum contains the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world and, by taking the virtual tour, you can see some of those for yourself! Cameras allow you access to every floor of the museum so you can browse and view at your leisure. Just click here to get started.
British Museum, London
This Museum, dedicated to human history art and culture, is a hugely popular attraction in London. By following the link below, you can select either a time period or genre (art, religion, trade etc) and you’ll be shown some relevant artefacts housed in the Museum and can listen to an duos description of them. A great, interactive way for the kids to get immersed in history. Click here to take a look.
Guggenheim Museum, New York
An iconic art museum based in the heart of New York. Take the kids on a trip to the Big Apple without leaving Cheshire courtesy of Google – click here to enjoy a virtual tour of this amazing institution without stepping foot on a flight!!
The Louvre, Paris
The Louvre is the world’s largest art museum and enjoys legendary status worldwide. It hosts virtual tours on its own website – just click here to take a peek.
Boston Children’s Museum
One for the younger kids – great for those as young as 3, this museum is dedicated to the education of children. Take a walk around thanks to Google – click here.
⭐️Animals
There are loads of online resources and virtual tours, videos etc aimed at getting kids up close to different animals. Here are a couple of the Mini Mumblers’ favourites –
San Diago Zoo has a website dedicated to kids where they can learn all about their favourite animals. as well as watching Live Cams and videos of them. There’s also games and acitivities (including crafts) to keep them entertained including making animal Glove Puppets and Pet Piñatas. Go to the website here.
Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a fantastic insight into the antics of the sea life they house through their ten webcams. Check out what the sea otters are getting up to, marvel at the jelly fish and even catch a glimpse of a shark – click here to get started.
⭐️Best of the Rest
Visit Mars!
Take a look at the real surface of Mars, recorded by NASA’s Curiosity rover. It’s currently being updated but you can still take a peek in 360 mode. Get started here.
Great Wall of China
Visit China’s most famous attraction, considered a wonder of the world, without leaving home! The wall has a 2,000 year history and is over 3,000 miles long – a real spectacle to behold. Click here to take the virtual tour.
London
Like many families, we were planning on heading down to London for a few days over the Easter Holidays. We’ve already been to a few of the virtual museums online, but today I found this and I love it! A virtual tour of London streets! With the added bonus of no crowds!
National Theatre
I use to LOVE the NT when I lived in London. Join them every Thursday for much-loved National Theatre Live productions, free to stream on YouTube for seven days. I saw Two Men, One Guvnor with the brilliant James Corden years ago. I can’t wait to see it again – it’s my birthday on Friday so I might save it and watch it then! They’ll also be showing Jane Eyre and Twelfth Night so if you have older children studying these for English then I’m sure this counts as home schooling!
Virtual Disney World
There’s a whole You Tube channel dedicated to Disney World and its brilliant!. Simply pan the camera anyway you wish by moving your smart phone or iPad. If viewing on a laptop or desktop, you can look around by simply clicking and dragging within the video.
We’ve been to Orlando, Paris and California this morning! Here’s some of the attractions available from the channel’s virtual theme parks.
Transformers
Hogwarts Express
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Frozen Ever After
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Indiana Jones Adventure
⭐️Further Resources
Google Arts and Culture allows you explore iconic destinations in 3D – take a look here.
Discovery Education provides a range of virtual Field Trips – it’s an American resource so is US based but includes a polar bear experience and a look into the life cycle of new medication. Check it out here.
Thanks so much to our guest bloggers. If you have family or friends in Harrogate or East Cheshire then be sure to let them know about the Harrogate Mumbler and East Cheshire Mumbler website.
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