As of March 24, Governor Holcomb has ordered Hoosiers to stay home through April 7. Parents are working from home, kids are either on extended spring breaks or doing e-learning (or some combination of the two) and everyone's sure to get bored. A change of perspective, though and suddenly this is an opportunity... an opportunity to spend more time together as a family, sure, but also an opportunity to learn something new! 

Morgan County arts organizations, businesses and more are standing by with fun virtual activities to keep you busy! From story time to martial arts to music class, here are where you can find fun virtual activities and classes provided by some of Morgan County's favorites. Best if all, you don't have to be in Morgan County to participate! 

Art Beyond Crayons

This fun arts based business in Morgantown is owned and operated by a former elementary school art teacher! She's always sharing her time and knowledge with customers at Art Beyond Crayons, but now she's sharing on Facebook Live as well! Check out her first video on the Science of the color wheel, and be sure to like the Art Beyond Crayons Facebook page so you don't miss future lessons! 

Bradford Woods

Join our friends at Bradford Woods for a variety of fun activities on their Facebook page. Their staff is sharing Facebook Live videos and photos of a variety of fun and educational topics, including how to properly set a table, what kind of life can be found in their pond this time of year, how to draw trees, a virtual wildflower hike and more! Download this fun wildflower scavenger hunt and keep an eye on their Facebook page for even more to come.  

Brooklyn STEM Academy

Ever heard of a tournament of books? Well, the Brooklyn STEM Academy is hosting one on their Facebook page. If you're in need of storytime videos to keep your kiddos occupied, you'll want to keep an eye on this "tournament" as it develops. You can even vote for your favorites! 

Charles L. Smith Arts Academy PE & Dance

Sing and dance along with the PE and Dance teacher from Smith Fine Arts Academy in Martinsville! Smith is an elementary school serving grades Pre-K through 4. The PE and Dance page on Facebook is posting fairly regular videos to keep kids moving and smiling while stuck at home. Thanks to Mrs. Cheeseman for these fun diversions! 

 

Other teachers and staff at Smith Fine Arts Academy are also reading fun stories and even chapter books online for kids to enjoy. Check that out on the Smith Fine Arts Academy Facebook page.

 

Indigo Birding Nature Tours

Typically, our friends at Indigo Birding Nature Tours lead fun birding tours at locations all over south central Indiana. Now, they're spending a lot of time at home like the rest of us, but they did venture out to Morgan-Monroe State Forest where they filmed this fun Facebook Live video featuring early spring birds, including the Louisiana Waterthrush. Give it a watch to learn more about these birds, then keep an eye on their Facebook page for more birding fun!

Lynne Medsker Art and Photography

Martinville artist Lynne Medsker has a selection of her beautiful coloring sheets available on her website for free! The creator of two popular coloring books (both available for purchase via Amazon), Lynne's designs are whimsical and organic - perfect for all ages! Check out the samples below, then download the full size images on Lynne's website at lynnemedsker.com.

Lynne Medsker Coloring Sheet - Face Lynne Medsker Coloring Sheet - Tree Lynne Medsker Coloring Sheet - Sunrise

Fables and Fairy Tales Story Time

The staff at our favorite local, independent bookstore, Fables and Fairy Tales, is featuring live storytime on their Facebook page. Join a staff member for storytime with Facebook Live or go back and watch the videos on your own. If you've got a little one who loves to read, this is such fun for them as they discover new books (or maybe old favorites).  

 

Farmhouse Market

The Farmhouse Market in Mooresville normally offers a variety of fun workshops and classes for shoppers to enjoy. One of their most popular classes over the past couple of months has been creating adorable little gnomes. They've done Valentine's Day gnomes, St. Patrick's Day gnomes and Easter gnomes... and now you can follow along on their Facebook page with a live gnome-making video! (Order a gnome kit ahead of time, so you have all the materials on hand before you start.) Keep an eye on their page for more creative fun! 

Gentry Martial Arts

Martinsville area business Gentry Martial Arts is offering a basic class for kids via Facebook Live. The class will take place on Wednesday, March 25, beginning at 1 pm for pre-K through first grade and 1:45 for grades 2-6. This will be similar to special programs they have done at area schools, but if well received it may become a weekly series until schools are back in session. Check out the Gentry Martial Arts Facebook page for more info.

Grades PreK-1

Grades 2-6

Martinsville Arts Council & Merry MAC Players

Keep a close eye on the Martinsville Arts Council and Merry Mac Players Facebook pages... they're cooking up some fun virtual classes and activities in cooperation with several are organizations and individuals. Offerings will include drama, art, dance, music and more! Follow the Martinsville Arts Council and/or Merry MAC Players on Facebook for upcoming notifications. Classes will be held on Zoom. Register in advance or watch the recorded videos at your convenience! Current schedule below:

MAC Meets: Building Confidence in the Arts
MAC Makes: Introduction to Art (multi-part series)
MAC Moves: Introduction to Dance
MAC Acts: Introduction to Musical Theatre
MAC Makes: Introduction to Photoraphy (multi-part series)
MAC Acts: Live Acoustic Concert w/ Miah Ferran
MAC Makes: Pour Painting
MAC Moves: Virtual Flash Mob
MAC Moves: Dance Class

Mooresville Arts Partnership 

Our friends at the Mooresville Arts Partnership are putting together a virtual art exhibit, featuring works from area artists of all ages. Check their Facebook page for information if you'd like to participate, or keep en eye out for notification that it's ready to be viewed from afar! They've also been posting some Facebook Live videos for their regular class participants, if you'd like to give that a try. 

Mooresville Public Library

Staff at the Mooresville Public Library is going Live for story time with staff members! Checkout their first video below, then be sure to follow the Mooresville Public Library Facebook page for more live videos featuring fun children's books. 

Studio J2 Dance

Martinsville area dance studio, Studio J2 Dance is posted a live improve/freestyle dance break video on their Facebook page. Go live with Justine and get some activity in your day through dance! Watch for more to come.

Tom Fiddlery and the Main Street Stage

Martinsville's resident musician, Tom Henson, of Tom Fiddlery and the Main Street Stage, recently posted a Music 101 class to Facebook live! If you've never had a basic music theory class and you'd like to learn the basics, be sure to check it out on their Facebook page and watch for more fun to come!  (This one's a bit of a longer commitment at about 30 minutes.)

Visit Morgan County... Virtually 

We may have a few surprises up our sleeves as well. We're combing through our photos to put together virtual visits on our blog! Our first virtual visit will be an opportunity to see the daffodils at Link Observatory. Typically open on weekends in April, the observatory grounds are currently closed. If you've never been, or you'd just like to see it again, we've compiled a few photos to create a virtual visit! Keep an eye out here on the blog, or on our Visit Morgan County Facebook page for more!

Morgan County Jigsaw Puzzles

Check out some of our favorite local photos as fun jigsaw puzzles! Play our favorites here on our blog, or visit our profile page at jigsawplanet.com for the complete collection. We'll add more in the coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back.

We will continue to update this list as we find out about more fun virtual activities and classes for you to enjoy!