Virtual reality
KEEP YOURSELF BUSY WITH FUN, ENGAGING ONLINE ACTIVITIES
The coronavirus pandemic has held the world hostage for almost a year now, taking lives, closing businesses, and changing the way children are educated. It has also led to isolation; people left to their own devices at home because so much of the world is shut down. Parades, road races, concerts, sandcastle competitions…all sorts of avenues for social interaction are on hold indefinitely. Those public recreational and fun events most likely won’t return to calendars until a majority of Americans receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Other than sitting at a distance on someone’s front lawn or back deck, the only real connection people can rely on is through social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Zoom. With increased leisure time but little to do at home other than read, binge-watch series and movies on Netflix, and make sourdough starter, people are looking for productive ways to occupy their time and have a chance to interact with other people.
They need only look to their own computers, laptops, tables, and other devices to explore an infinite number of online classes, courses, workshops and programs available through museums, libraries, continuing educational programs, and art centers. This is the time to take advantage of online learning, whether for professional development, to learn a new skill, for pleasure, to meet new people of similar interests, or simply to diminish boredom.
Some classes are designed for adults, some are tailored toward children, and others are appropriate for the whole family. Some are single sessions and some are on-going series. Some are free of charge and others have fees. Some fees are nominal—like the $30 charge for courses offered through the Lifetime Learners Institute at Norwalk Community College, and some are a bit more hefty—such as the $480 charge for one of the eight-week art programs available through the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The museum has a long list of “Live Remote Online Art Classes and Workshops Held via Zoom.”
Most online classes require registration but some, such as the complimentary Monday single sessions offered by the Lifetime Learners Institute, where winter registration and membership renewals are now being accepted, don’t. There are some Zoom and online classes that tackle typical subjects like foreign languages, art instruction, SAT preparation, guitar and other music instruction, genealogy, finance, tai chi, yoga, and knitting. Other programs take students on virtual voyages across the globe or offer instruction in meal preparation.
“With everyone stuck at home during COVID19, I’ve shifted my focus to virtual classes to encourage groups to enjoy a restaurant-grade meal at home,” Debi Rubel says on her website. In addition to her own offerings, Rubel is teaching an online, one-time class for the Lifetime Learners Institute on January 25 titled, “Dining Out at Home.”
“Our Continuing Education Program will be on-line in the spring. Hopefully, we can have in-person classes in the near future. This spring there will be many on-line courses,” according to the Greenwich Continuing Education Program website.
The website for the Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) at Albertus Magnus College says, “Our guiding principle is that lifelong learning is an important aspect of our continued growth at any age.” ILR, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, also came up with a slate of winter Zoom classes, including “Gargoyles & Grotesques from 10 Different Universities,” “Writing Creatively,” “How Weather Changed History,” and, for those who haven’t had their fill of politics, “Preliminary Interpretation of the 2020 Election.”
At the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan you can take a three-day “Zoom Watercolor Workshop for Beginners,” which “will explore watercolor materials, techniques, and color mixing,” and will feature demonstrations and lots of individual attention. The workshop begins on Feb. 26.
According to ctvisit.com, “Many popular Connecticut attractions are now offering a wide array of virtual experiences, from live animal webcams, arts and crafts classes, and science demonstrations to yoga classes for kids and nightly bedtime story readings.” Among them is Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, which is running a live “zoo cam” of its red panda, as well as a Facebook Live every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 2 p.m., featuring different zoo animals.
Staff at the Pequot Library in Southport asks, “Can’t sit still? If not, music and Movement on Zoom is the program for you. Jump, hop, dance, and wiggle to the music on ZOOM.” The program is for young children ages 0-5, and is free and open to the public. Classes are on Wednesdays from 10:30-11a.m., January 27, February 3, 10, and 17.
Pantochino Productions in Milford has an online streaming series for family audiences called “Let’s Learn Stuff,” a hodge-podge of unusual knowledge, arts and crafts, stories, quips, jokes, and much more. It “harkens back to such retro shows as Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, and Pee Wee’s Playhouse, among others. Its light-hearted, campy shenanigans are a perfect diversion for audiences of all ages.” Upcoming Let’s Learn Stuff includes, “The Be Mine Valentine Show” on Feb. 14 at 11 a.m.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield is providing “Virtual Poetry Playshop: Mood and Muse,” an intergenerational poetry workshop with Barb Jennes, Ridgefield’s poet laureate and Aldrich educator, who will discuss the mood-changing power of art in the museum’s current exhibitions on Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. Then, on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m., join Holly Lapine, art therapist and access specialist, for a virtual workshop, “Where Music Meets Art,” a conversation and art-making workshop inspired by Frank Stella’s “Stars, A Survey.”
Finally, check out the Shubert Theater in New Haven, which is staying connected by offering activities to create art at home for kids of all ages. The website is filled with a long list of story time themes and activities and challenges including a playwriting challenge, and instruction on how to make puppets and a puppet theater.