These are extraordinary and challenging times and the arts and culture sector is responding in a variety of ways. The details below have been collated to help you take part, enjoy and experience creative activity whilst you are at home during the COVID-19 outbreak.
I will keep adding information as I become aware of them. Please do get in touch if you would like me to add anything arts@wiltshire.gov.uk
Alongside this, take a look at our Active Communities Resources page with lots of ideas across a wide range of subjects of things to do, stay active and keep positive http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisure-active-communities during these exceptional times.
Wiltshire Music Centre’s Celebrating Age Wiltshire concert recorded on 18/03/2020. In partnership with Sian Penlington and Rob Cloquhoun this project aims to increase the health and wellbeing of older people living in isolation using arts, culture and heritage.
Dance Six-0 – contemporary dance classes for men and women approaching 60 and above – has launched its summer term of online dance classes 10 June until 22 July (fee payable). Find out more and to book They are also offering free online taster sessions on Mondays at 5pm Find out more
Keep your youngest music lovers captivated with OAE TOTS (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) online. Aimed at children aged 2-5, the 30-minute videos are interactive, with lots of action, songs and activity for your tots to enjoy.
A New Direction offers creative ideas for the home such as turning your home into a museum
Pound Arts online courses and workshops https://poundarts.org.uk/take-part/
Illustrator Chris Dunn has free colouring sheets on his website to download.
Art4Dementia have remote access events page and an engaging from home page on their website
#TheViralKnit are inviting knitters to join their community and make a difference from the comfort of their living room.
Fun Palaces’ are collating Tiny Revolutions of Connection – activities suggested from around the UK of things to do with others or in isolation, supporting community connection at a distance.
KAPOW! The Cartoon Museum has free resources available to people to draw their own comic stories, create characters and more.
Scene Saver online hub showcases productions from Off-West End theatres and smaller venues.
Benedetti Foundation has daily online music lessons.
The National Archives has collated a series of boredom busters – these online resources and activities include do-it-yourself family history tips, home schooling resources, author talks and games for families.
Pound Arts: Ukulele Digital Sessions – Getting Started
Curator’s Discussion: Incendiary at The Pound Arts Centre https://vimeo.com/404634190
Picasso and Paper: virtual exhibition tour
Jane Scott Ceramics has a series of pottery making at home videos (charge for materials): https://youtu.be/LslA8wwZuX8
Dovecot Studios #WeavingFromHome https://dovecotstudios.com/tapestry-studio/projects/weaving-from-home/
Wiltshire Music Centre has a YouTube channel to explore https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZxtI–Izm4eNJg6rjasnCA
Wiltshire Music Centre has a weekly newsletter – sign up here
Wiltshire Creative have launched Wiltshire Creative Connects – a programme of work, to stay engaged with audiences, participants and local artists; available free to everyone.
Wiltshire Creative have a YouTube channel to explore https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo8ru98uMHjmh7KT_ijm0vw?view_as=subscriber
Wiltshire Creative has made available on their website a recording of Amsterdam, a play that should have been held at The Salberg, Salisbury Playhouse (suitable for ages 14+) https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/whats-on/online/amsterdam2/
Young Ambassadors aged 14 to 21 at Wiltshire Creative have an online Easter Takeover Festival https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/whats-on/takeover-festival/takeover-festival/
Follow Pound Arts Twitter for their online programme https://twitter.com/poundarts
Pound Arts have a weekly roundup of online events – sign up here
Wiltshire Music Connect have resources for families https://wiltshiremusicconnect.org.uk/families/musical-resources/ and a curated list of useful online resources for schools to use. Also online music and singing resources for teachers.
Explore the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre website and follow us on social media (https://twitter.com/heritagewshc and https://www.facebook.com/WiltshireandSwindonHistoryCentre) to stay connected with our collections and services http://www.wshc.eu/. For teachers and families looking for resources and ideas visit the Education pages and Explore.
Building a family tree is the perfect #StayAtHome hobby. TNA’s research guides will help those new to archives to learn how to find and use military records, wills, the census and a wide range of other records to trace their ancestors.
Arts Together who bring arts, creativity and improved well-being to older people in Wiltshire have launched a “Creativity in Isolation” project page on their website that has creative ideas, initiatives and arty distractions that you can do at home with very few materials.
Culture Diary have an ongoing list from culture and creativity you can enjoy from home https://www.theculturediary.com/stories/watch-theatre-music-and-dance-shows-home-during-covid-19-pandemic-ongoing-list
Ideas and activities to inspire young minds at home from the Scouts https://www.scouts.org.uk/the-great-indoors/
Art is where the home is – an artist activity pack made with contributions from Antony Gormley, Grayson Perry, Gillian Wearing and more.
A creative competition for the over 70’s https://www.kinglearprizes.org.uk/
The Arts Society – formerly Nadfas – has launched a series of free lectures online aimed at the over-70s: https://www.connected.theartssociety.org/
Keep kids occupied with Craft Council’s craft roundup for home school, Little Angel Theatre at home resources and TED Ed(ucation).
Creativity Works highlighted some free, creative resources to access from home:
- Free courses: http://bit.ly/OCFreeBlog
- Free films: http://bit.ly/2UbgUxT
- Medieval colouring books: http://bit.ly/2IRTc4e
- Museum tours: Visit 12 famous Museums from your own home
Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance have listed some at https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/coronavirus-resources-practitioners-and-organisations
MARCH has listed some at https://www.marchnetwork.org/creative-isolation
Whether you’re an artist or not, Art club by Good Day Club enables you to freely take part in this fun exercise and send through your paintings/drawings to them. More information at https://www.instagram.com/p/B94atDHHYit/
This account on Instagram enables you to take part in a virtual film festival (VFF) happening every Thursday to Saturday. VFF https://www.instagram.com/viralfilmfestival/ will choose the film and tell you where to watch it. Then you can come back and discuss for live chat and talks.
PocoDrom have free mornings of songs for under 5’s https://www.facebook.com/worldofpocodrom
Pobble.com have come up with 25 fun and meaningful activities that can be done at home to support independent learning – more details at https://medium.com/pobble/simple-and-fun-non-screen-activities-that-children-can-do-at-home-115543cb3b9c
A two week Create to Connect trial by Do Think Share; starting from 23 March 2020. A daily creative challenge for you to use with friends, family, in school or community groups, for workmates working from home. The response will determine future activity.
Crafts Council has selected 12 craft books for beating isolation boredom https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/articles/12-craft-books-for-beating-isolation-boredom/
Google Arts and Culture offers online access to 500 cultural organisations around the world, from museums to historic sites, all viewable without ever leaving your living room.
The Sofa Singers bring together hundreds of people in real time for 45 minutes of simultaneous singing, smiling and sharing songs and stories.
The Royal Opera House have a free programme of curated online broadcasts and musical masterclasses
The Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestra also have an abundance of digital orchestral experiences to keep you occupied.
Home-made creative ideas to make with most household materials
Try out the Photography activity pack, The Photo Club
Messums Wiltshire are launching a series of online exhibitions, events, interviews, essays and virtual tours. More details at https://messumswiltshire.com/
A series of dance and movement sessions over the next few weeks from Rosaria Gracia. More at https://rosaria-gracia.com/virtual-learning
Crafts Council has granted free access to digital edition of Crafts magazine for a month: https://ocean.exacteditions.com/magazines/21416/issues/#
CreativeBug has shared 50 free creative classes https://www.creativebug.com/classseries/50-free-classes-with-creativebug
The National Theatre are streaming plays from their archive every Thursday from 7pm on their YouTube channel and will then be available on demand for seven. Find our more at https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home
Royal Shakespeare Company – enjoy shows, features and other work while the theatre is closed https://www.rsc.org.uk/at-home-with-shakespeare
The Holburne Museum, Bath is hosting weekly creative sessions via their website every Wednesday between 2-3.30pm https://www.holburne.org/learning/community-engagement/pathways-to-wellbeing/
Yodomo creative online courses (some are free): https://yodomo.co/collections/discover-courses
For those with children at home at the moment, here’s a set of creative learning and entertainment resources being developed https://discovercreative.careers
The BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts has new programmes as part of Culture In Quarantine. More details at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p088hhjd
Tilly and the Button: six free sewing mini projects
Get Creative at Home #GetCreativeAtHome or https://getcreativeuk.com/
The Philharmonie Berlin and their digital concert hall https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/titelgeschichten/20192020/digital-concert-hall/
Metropolitan Opera live streaming https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/coronavirus-the-metropolitan-opera-to-stream-free-operas.html
Virtual museum tours https://www.top10.com/virtual-museum-tours
Learn something new through Open Learn https://www.open.edu/openlearn/
Online music courses https://alison.com/courses/music
Search youtube for arts and crafts activity https://www.youtube.com/
Visit the Museum of Modern Art https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/moma-the-museum-of-modern-art
Project Gutenberg free e-books https://www.gutenberg.org/
Open Culture free colouring books from museums http://www.openculture.com/2019/02/download-free-coloring-books-from-113-museums.html
Wiltshire Library Services has YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNQy_yxjik915x9rdiWj1g – rhyme time recordings from libraries. More recordings, picture book readings and instructional videos about using Library online resources will be available soon
BookTrust – interactive books to read online or watch with singing https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/storybooks-and-games/
World Book Day’s Storytime Online https://www.worldbookday.com/storytime-online/
Storyline Online streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations https://www.storylineonline.net/
ASCEL have resources, such as the Toolkits for RhymeTime and BumpBooster, https://www.ascel.org.uk/bump-booster/rhymes-for-parents
Resources from National Literacy Trust http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/
The Reading Agency has collated ideas, activities and challenges from across their books & shared reading programmes to engage with in isolation. Find out more at https://readingagency.org.uk/hub/
Earlyarts has compiled a list of creative ideas for families and schools:
Music and Singing
soundLincs have an early years resource pack called First Steps Into Music: http://www.soundlincs.org/early-years-resource-pack/ plus musical ideas at 11.30am every morning on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soundlincs; also a First Notes app, available free on IoS and Android – a resource with 120 creative ideas for use in schools or at home to help build up music making skills and knowledge: http://www.soundlincs.org/2016/06/first-notes-app-share-special/
Community musician, Stephen Grocott, is sharing five musical stories from his album of children’s music – listen for free up to three times: https://stevegrocott.bandcamp.com/
Babigloo’s non-verbal music for babies 0-12 months: https://www.facebook.com/babigloomusic
Maestro Bebe – performances for babies. Three episodes here: https://youtu.be/6tdlWmUVZ1g, https://youtu.be/f0hMLDRmQRw and https://youtu.be/8aDSRf8vmPo
Online music workshops for children aged 0 to 7: http://www.activemusic.ie/
Uplifting sing-a-long every morning: https://www.facebook.com/musictotswhitby/
Made with Music – providing a virtual early years class every Thursday using story books, props, favourite songs and more, with musicians Kathryn and her family: https://bit.ly/39x7SAO
Concerteenies – live music series for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups is now freely available online: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsErPP9-JhLN8qJIjtK4AnQ
Art, Design, Materials and Mixed Media
The National Association for Gallery Education, Engage, encourages hands-on exploration with objects, materials, music and collections, and shares its resources for early years: https://artlabworkshops.wixsite.com/artlab/post/manage-your-blog-from-your-live-site
Printmaker and artist, Helen from ArtLab, shows how to create art books, including simple book binding techniques: https://artlabworkshops.wixsite.com/artlab/post/manage-your-blog-from-your-live-site
Resources from experienced art teacher, Sarah Crowther, with great ideas on photography, drawing, mark making, painting and art lesson ideas for your home or school: https://theartyteacher.com/art-home-learning-inspiration-for-art-teachers/
Creativity for Wellbeing by arts facilitator Richard Potter https://www.creativity4wellbeing.com/easy-activities
Teacher Tom writes a daily blog on the many creative and educational activities his children taught him when he ran his preschool https://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/art
Dance and Movement
Dance East offer Dance Tots sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as part of their Home is where the Dance Is programme: https://www.danceeast.co.uk/get-dancing/home-dance/
Wake Up and Warm Up form Circus Central These 10-10.15am weekdays: https://www.circuscentral.co.uk/classes/wake-up-and-warm-up-20200322-195309
Social Distancing Festival: https://www.socialdistancingfestival.com/dance
Wriggle Dance Theatre has produced a series of daily, online bite-sized creative dance sessions for children age 2-5 and grown-ups. https://artlabworkshops.wixsite.com/artlab/post/manage-your-blog-from-your-live-site
Bouncing Boogie Mites are running daily free online live music and movement sessions for under 5’s: https://artlabworkshops.wixsite.com/artlab/post/manage-your-blog-from-your-live-site
Dance artist, Jo Cone, is facilitating weekly family dance sessions. Join at https://www.facebook.com/peekaboomoves/
Sadlers Wells performances https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2020/digital-stage/ and family workshops https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2020/take-part-family-dance-workshops/
Museums
Tate Kids – insights into living artists and a range of activities: https://artlabworkshops.wixsite.com/artlab/post/manage-your-blog-from-your-live-site
Creativity at Home from Glucksman contemporary art museum in Cork, Ireland http://www.glucksman.org/events
Drawing activity book from The National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/assets/files/pdf/learning/NPG_activity_book_playful_portraits.pdf
Kids in Museums fun digital activities https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/2020/03/10-museum-activities-to-keep-children-entertained/
Story and Theatre
The Ministry of Stories have put together Top Ten Tips for writing stories and other activities for recording audio stories and making sound effects: https://artlabworkshops.wixsite.com/artlab/post/manage-your-blog-from-your-live-site
Traveling Light Theatre, in partnership with The Egg, bring you their beautiful early years performance of The Snow Mouse https://vimeo.com/204511734
Treehouse Theatre specialise in interactive performances and workshops. Enjoy their beautifully read bedtime stories, bringing famous tales alive in your imagination: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbGf_tfJZW4T3wnPCRV8NBg
The Scottish book trust’s online experience of the Long Nose Puppet’s adaptation of Polly Dunbar’s book, Arthur’s Dream Boat https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-on-demand/polly-dunbar
keep updated by signing up for Earlyarts bulletin
Wiltshire Music Connect are creating a list of links to useful, fun and educational musical activities that you and / or your children can use from home: https://wiltshiremusicconnect.org.uk/families/musical-resources/
Wiltshire Music Connect has collated online resources for schools to use: https://wiltshiremusicconnect.org.uk/schools/musical-resources/
Get involved as remote DJs, reporters and contributors, Malmesbury Community Radio: https://theartsinwiltshire.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/opportunity-djs-reporters-and-contributors-malmesbury-community-radio-2/
Work Wiltshire has compiled a list of learning from home free resources https://workwiltshire.co.uk/2020/03/23/learning-from-home/
Wiltshire Music Centre has a youtube channel with performances and pre-concert talks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZxtI–Izm4eNJg6rjasnCA This includes a Celebrating Age concert that was recorded as a live performance was not possible during the covid-19 outbreak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-EoX707Kt4&feature=youtu.be
Wiltshire Council has a dedicated website page http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-coronavirus where you can keep updated on information about council services that may be affected by COVID-19. It includes:
COVID-19 Community Pack to support you and your community.
Community Groups Directory to find out about the volunteer support throughout Wiltshire. Can you get involved?
COVID-19 Volunteer Pack for those who want to set up your own volunteer group. It contains useful advice, guidance and support.
Active Communities Resource page – ideas of things to do, stay active and keep mental health in a positive place
Some resources to support your mental health:
- https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51873799
- https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/looking-after-your-mental-health-during-coronavirus-outbreak
- https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips/
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mindfulness/
- https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/
- https://llttf.com/
- https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/pandemic.htm
Here are some ways to help connect and implement all of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing during this time:
- https://turn2me.org/aboutturn2me A lifeline online. There is free access to online support groups, great resources including podcasts on a wide range of subjects (Connect, Learn)
- https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene Online free yoga (Take notice, Be Active, Learn)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3q5e1pV4pc Walk a mile from home
- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnsScxyI5Y30foF9JDMhVbrcg6Hi-2N-QSC2_bBSLbfzB1nQ/viewform Sign up to be a community volunteer during this time if you are able (Give)
- https://llttf.com/ Free online CBT courses (Learn)
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines NHS helplines (Connect, Learn)
Meril Morgan, Arts Lead, Wiltshire Council
Editor’s note:
Disclaimer – This information and links organisations outside of Wiltshire Council are being provided for information only and do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Wiltshire Council’s Arts Service and bears no responsibility for the content on these external sites.
We recommend that, for safeguarding purposes, parents / carers / school staff should check that content on external sites is appropriate before using it with children and are particularly cautious where any registration, sign-ups, in-app purchases or online interaction between young people could take place.
