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Lockdown Virtual Activities

We've researched a number of places to go online that offer some fun virtual tours, activities and online experiences to keep you and your kids entertained while on lockdown.

Museum and landmark links

Take a tour of the British Museum and experience history from your sofa.

There are plenty of virtual tours of museums and landmarks worldwide. You can visit the Taj Mahal or Great Pyramid of Giza. You can can even take a tour of the International Space Station. Travel the world over a cup of tea…

Zoo Tours and Live Feeds

You can now enjoy virtual Zoo trips from around the world, see the animals in their enclosures and perhaps learn something new.

Chester Zoo Learning Resources
Create and play with downloadable masks:  there are downloadable animal masks, perfect for colouring in and wearing on a Facetime call to family and friends.

Read and write with animal fact files:  take a look at these animal fact files.

On top of lots of live videos already on Chester Zoo's Facebook page, they'll be hosting all-day live virtual tours featuring favourite animals, so you can enjoy a whole day of animal antics from home.

Watch the red pandas, Rothschild's giraffes, Asian elephants, and butterflies, before catching up with sun bears, the Sumatran tigers, the Humboldt penguins and the aquarium.

Edinburgh Zoo
Live webcams are available to watch via the Edinburgh Zoo website, although the zoo has warned that there may be some technical difficulties at the moment due to extra traffic on its site.

The Zoo has advised viewers to visit its YouTube channel or its Facebook page if they cannot access the webcam feed.

Cotswold Wildlife Park
This zoo and wildlife park has live webcams to enjoy on its website.

Paignton Zoo
An array of live webcams are available including access to the flamingo, lemur, giraffe and penguin enclosures.

Cincinnati Zoo
The Zoo holds a daily Home Safari on its Facebook Live Feed around 3pm which is 10am BST.

Zoo Atlanta
The Georgia Zoo keeps a "Panda Cam" livestream on its website.

Georgia Aquarium
See African penguins and Beluga whales on the aquarium's live cam.

Houston Zoo
There are plenty of different animals you can watch on with this zoo's live cam including some very playful elephants!

San Diego Zoo
Plenty of live cam options - you can switch between koalas, polar bears, tigers and many more.

National Aquarium
Walk through tropical waters to the icy tundra in this floor-by-floor tour of the famous, Baltimore-based aquarium.

Meet the Virtual Zoo Animals

If animals are popular in your house then try out Google’s 3D animals. All you need to do is think of an animal, search for it in Google, and see if there's an option to 'view in 3D'. For example, if you Google 'panda', photographs will come up with a description by Wikipedia. Underneath this, you will then see a message that says "Meet a life-sized giant panda up close." You can then click the 3D option.

Species available include lion, tiger, shark, cat, hedgehog, duck, penguin and horse.