Being stuck at home means spending more time on our phones. That’s just a fact. Between scrolling through Instagram and TikTok, I consume more content on social media apps than I do on TV. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing! All the best creators are stuck at home too, so they’ve been busy coming up with endless ways to entertain and teach and share their talents.

So many amazingly talented people and credible institutions have launched new live video series on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, giving us access to them in new ways that seem both intimate and exciting. I’ve included all of my favorites that my kids have been watching, that I’ve been watching, as well as recommendations from the Remarkably Average Parents facebook group.

Here is all the best content you could be watching on social media during the quarantine:

Art Tutorials for Kids:

1) Mo Willems, another well-known children’s book author and illustrator, has launched a show called Lunch Doodles that airs on the Kennedy Center’s YouTube channel everyday at 1pm. There are three episodes up already and accompanying worksheets to print out for your kid to follow along with each day!

2) NYT Bestselling Illustrator, Wendy MacNaughton, goes on Instagram Live every weekday at 1pm EST for her show, Draw Together with WendyMac.

3) Oliver Jeffers, the author of several of our favorite children’s books, is doing a Stay-at-Home Story Time on Instagram live. Every day at 2pm EST he will read one of his books.

4) Michael Woodside aka @animwoodsy is a Disney animator doing art tutorials on how to draw a different Disney character on Instagram Live everyday at 3pm EST. You can see all the tutorials he’s done so far on his Instagram account.

5) Author Illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka is teaching basic illustration every day at 2pm on Youtube on a series called Draw Everyday with JJK

6) Bardot Brush is one of Mazzy’s favorites because digital artist, Lisa Bardot, teaches tutorials for drawing on the Procreate app. She has been going live on Instagram around 1:30pm EST a few days a week so follow her for updates on when she’s going live next!

Stories for Kids

7) Josh Gad started the #GadBookClub where he reads a bedtime story every night at 7:30pm EST. Tune in the the live stream on his Twitter account to let your kids fall asleep to the sound of Olaf’s voice.

8) Save with Stories is a new account on Instagram from Jennifer Garner and Amy Adam. Each day celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Ellen Degeneres, and Kerry Washington read your favorite children’s books. You can see all the videos on their Instagram account.

9) You may be familiar with the Pete the Cat book series. You can tune into the Pete the Cat Club every weekday at 12pm EST on Instagram Live to join illustrator, James Dean, for storytimes, music sessions, and creative drawing tutorials.

Live Music for Kids

10) Laurie Berkner (minus the band) is doing Facebook Lives every day at 10am.

11) Jam with Jamie is a music lessons company started by a fellow NYC mom. Her company is doing live jam sessions everyday at 4pm EST on their Facebook Page. You can see all the past sessions here.

12) Emma Cook of @EmmaMakinMusic is doing a live concert on the Music For Sprouts Facebook Page at 10am EST Monday through Friday.

Science for Kids

13) Science Mom is an awesome YouTube channel where you can see new guided science experiments for elementary school-aged kids everyday. She also shares kid-friendly video breaking down what kids should know about the coronavirus.

14) The California Science Center is livestreaming “Stuck at Home Science,” a new video series of science activities you can do at home, every weekday at 10 a.m. PDT.

15) NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is sharing daily Facebook Live videos that pair with hands-on activities (instructions are available as free downloads) using materials that can be found at home. Topics include rocketry 101, tours of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, Astronaut Training Experience, and living on Mars.

Physical Activities for Kids:

16) Tiler Peck, a Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet, is teaching ballet classes on Instagram Live every day at 1pm EST.

17) Joe Wicks, aka the Body Coach on YouTube, has a new series called P.E. with Joe. Joe streams live on YouTube at 9am EST daily and then shares the full video to his account so you can watch at any time. Each episode is a 30-minute workout class for kids of all ages and doesn’t require any equipment.

18) Chris Field, aka the Serial Disruptor, has a new series on Facebook Live called Adventure Afternoons. Chris streams at 4pm EST every weekday for a one of a kind adventure with new guests. Last week some adventures included an exotic animal veterinarian hanging out with real giraffes, a conversation with a former NFL quarterback, and a tour of a local fire station. You can see all the videos he’s posted here.

Zoos, Aquariums, Museums + More:

19) The New England Aquarium has been posting a series of virtual visit on their Facebook page. You can also find tutorials for fun aquarium-themed crafts and printable activity sheets on their page.

20) Gatorland Orlando shares a new episode of the School of Croc on their Facebook page everyday at 10am EST.

21) The Cincinnati Zoo is doing a Home Safari series on Facebook Live each day at 3pm EDT, where they highlight one animal a day (yesterday was elephants and the day before red pandas) and include an activity kids can do from home.

22) The New York Botanical Garden shared a live stream and virtual tour of this year’s Orchid Show. You can watch here.

Entertainment for Moms:

23) Create & Cultivate is running a series on Instagram called “Ask and Expert” where different female business owners, experts and influencers are coming on and answering your questions based on their area of expertise. Check out their “Ask and Expert” story highlight for details of upcoming lives.

24) NYC Trivia League is doing live trivia at 8pm EST on Instagram Live. You can follow along on Instagram for fun or, if you have a second device and trivia partner, you can submit responses to play along.

25) Miley Cyrus has launched an Instagram Live series called Bright Minded airing Monday-Friday at 2:30pm EST. Each day she has on a new guest to discuss “how to stay LIT with love in dark times.” Her first guest was Dr. Daniel Amen, a physician, founder of Amen Clinics and BrainMD, double board certified psychiatrist and nine-time New York Times bestselling author. Yesterday, she had Demi Lovato and today will be Lauren and Cameron from Love Is Blind.

26) Don’t Panic Pantry is a new cooking show with comedian Iliza Schlesinger and chef Noah Galuten. You can find the recipe and ingredients ahead of time on Noah’s Instagram account and then follow along on Iliza’s account on Instagram Live at 8pm EST every night. You can see the full calendar of planned recipes here.

27) Antoni from Queer Eye has launch a new series on his Instagram account called Quar Eye: Cooking Lessons in Quarantine. Every day he shares a new video with step by step guide to make fun recipes like the Keep Calm-lette (“an omelette made in isolation”), Stripped of My Sanity Chicken Strips, and Sequestered Salmon Squash (“it’s just like regular salmon and squash except you’re not allowed to go outside”). So far there are eight episodes up on his channel and I highly recommend them all.

Live Music

28) Chris Martin performed an at-home concert on Instagram Live as part of a new series called #TogetherAtHome. Global Citizen and WHO created the series to spread awareness and information about COVID-19. You can watch Chris’ performance here. He then challenged John Legend to perform next. You can watch John and Chrissy Teigen’s full hour-long performance here. Next up, John challenged Charlie Puth who will be going live on his Instagram account at 4pm EST today!

29) Lizzo went live this week to do a half hour meditation and performed on the flute. You can watch that here and keep an eye out for more live videos.

30) Ben Gibbard, the former frontman of Death Cab for Cutie, has been performing every night at 7pm EST on the DCFC YouTube channel. He’s been performing songs from his career with Death Cab, Postal Service, and covers of well-known hits.

31) David Foster and Katharine McPhee Foster have started the Kat and Dave Show where they sing songs based on themes each night at 8:30pm EST on Katherine’s Instagram account. You can even email your song requests to them at fostersongrequests@gmail.com

32) The Seattle Symphony Orchestra is doing a live series  every Thursday and Saturday, as well as a daily series called Morning Notes where individual musicians perform a few songs solo. 

33) The MET Opera is streaming a nightly series of performances at 7:30pm EST on their website. The performances are part of the company’s Live in HD series and will be available to stream for 23 hours following their release.

Keeping Up Your Fitness Routine

34) Join my friend and trainer Jennifer Nyp (aka Zen Girl Fitness) on Instagram Live every Friday at 11am for a kid-friendly workout! The moves are really geared more towards moms (we did her first one last week) but she has her kids trying to follow along too. Harlow jumped around and did the best she could, so we both got a workout!

35) Dance It Out with Ryan Heffington, a choreographer and owner of the Sweat Spot on his Instagram Live at 1pm EST on weekdays and 3pm EST on Saturday and Sunday.

36) Rumble Boxing is going live on Instagram at 9am EST everyday with cardio & bodyweight workouts, which mean… no equipment needed!

37) SLT (which stands for Strengthen, Lengthen, Tone) is a NYC Pilates chain. They are doing sessions on Instagram Live and the posting them to IGTV everyday as part of a series called SLT At Home.

38) Barry’s Bootcamp, another NYC favorite, has different instructors going live to instruct virtual classes at 12pm and 3pm EST everyday on Instagram Live.

If you have found something streaming live that you and your kids are into, let me know in the comments below!