Virtual Activities - Champlain Community Services

We try to collect resource links here to give the CCS community valuable and enjoyable options for virtual activities. This page is a work in progress, (and is in need of updating, too) so check back often!

In the early days of COVID, CCS staff put together this amazing list of activities and resources. In addition to a mesmerizing beluga whale webcam, there are science experiments, recipes, virtual tours, music, movies and fitness options.

Summer Walks Inspiration

Make your walk more interesting and do this walking tour of Burlington murals.

If walking in Burlington, see and hear the Summer Concert Series: “Every Wednesday and Friday throughout the summer, the Summer Concert Series provides a lunchtime concert in City Hall Park, energizing the downtown district with vibrancy while supporting local musicians”

Have a tablet or smartphone? Download the Geocache treasure hunt game, or if you are walking in nature try Seek! by iNaturalist to identify interesting plants, trees, fungi and insects.

Out For Lunch

Looking for a new place to eat lunch? The Vermont food truck scene is growing as restaurants grapple with safe re-openings. Enter the town name or zip code on the Food Trucks In website to find a local food truck. Click on “About” to find the truck website. Most food trucks use social media for the most recent updates on menu, location and opening, so also follow them to get the latest info.

Beansies Bus opened in April at their usual spot in Burlington and is serving lunch regularly

Out Front Foods is open at Leddy Park and their Home Depot Williston location will open soon

Jamaican Supreme Food Truck is open for take-out at their Lime Kiln Road location in South Burlington

Still Smok’n VT is open and serves up barbecue at their Pearl St. location in Essex Junction

Farmers Markets

Farmers Markets are opening! NOFA-VT maintains a statewide list of farmers markets, searchable by season, county, or day of the week. Farmer markets are free to enter! Visit a local market for fruits and vegies, plants, arts and crafts, baked goods, live music, and community spirit.

Vermont Artists

Check out the latest exhibit from Inclusive Arts Vermont, ANEW (an exhibition of work by Vermont artists with disabilities). The exhibit will travel statewide 2020-2021. Scroll through to view the artwork, history, listen to audio descriptions and artist talks. A full range of accessibility services are offered including print materials in braille and large print, an audio tour, verbal descriptions of every work in the show, and specialized tours for people with low vision or blindness and memory loss.

The physical exhibition is currently at the TW Wood Gallery in Montpelier.

Opera for Free

There’s no music more beautiful than the sound of peepers in the spring, but the Nightly Met Opera Streamsare a close second. The New York Metropolitan Opera streams an encore production each night for free, for 23 hours. The free stream starts at 7:30 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m. the following day. Clickhereand scroll down for the schedule.

Developmental Disabilities Awareness and Women’s History Month

Meet the exuberant, barrier-smashing Jess Thom of Tourette’s Hero in an interview and peek at the “Backstage in Biscuit Land” production. Jess worked with the British Council to develop the ‘relaxed performance’ model in the British theater sector:

“There are two critical elements of relaxed performances: the reduction or elimination of barriers for people with diverse needs, and the literal relaxing of social norms around what’s considered “appropriate” theater behavior.” -Jess Thom

Learned more about relaxed performances at the A Noise Within Theater in Pasadena, CA, the Roundabout Theater in New York City, and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. Watch a full virtual relaxed performance from the Bundaberg Theater in Australia. (The Fly

Community Action

Local Love Brigade is a Vermont-based Facebook group that coordinates messages of love and support on handmade cards to victims of hate or hate crimes. Click here for the Facebook group or here for the spreadsheet with details on how to participate including current mailings, addresses, guidelines.

Get Outside (Spring will be back!)

Check out trails at the Winooski Valley Park District, and also the Sensory Trail at the Green Mountain Audubon Nature Center in Huntington.

While outside, it’s the season to help frogs and other amphibians. Attend the “Ask A Naturalist” talk this Thursday from the Audubon about Amazing Amphibians. Free but registration is required. Also, the Vermont Amphibian and Reptile Atlas needs help from citizen scientists. Submit sightings of snakes, turtles, frogs or salamanders and find out if they need data from your county.

The world’s worst weather is on top of Mount Washington, just next door in New Hampshire. The virtual classroom meets every Monday at 11:15 a.m., and is meant for all ages. Topics include weather forecasting, wind patterns, cloud types and atmospheric optics (think Northern Lights!) Registration is required for each class. Attend a live session or catch up on past classes that include worksheets and cool games and activities. To watch weather observers get blown around the observatory deck, Mount Washington also has a fun YouTube channel.

Space Travel

Have you been following the progress of the NASA Perseverance Rover? Browse their website for fascinating activites like the Sounds of Mars, where you can listen to Earth sounds on Mars or record your voice to hear what you sound like on the Red Planet. Also create photos of yourself on Mars, watch videos of the landing, or explore all the incredible features from the main NASA pages, including NASA TV.

This month we’re celebrating Development Disabilities Awareness and Women’s History Month. Watch the interactive United Nations debate (live from Switzerland) at 10 a.m. EST today on the rights of people with disabilities, and check out Women of NASA here.

Celebrate

Celebrate Black History Month (and adjacent, arts-focused Black Futures Month) with the Vermont Historical Society’s Third Thursday lecture series, “Buffalo Soldiers in Vermont, 1909-1913”. Browse book and movie recommendations from the Fletcher Free Library (also check out their calendar of events), browse this list of events and resources by the Howard Center, and also try delicious food from BIPOC-owned restaurants in and around Burlington.

Drop by the Special Olympics Vermont Friday Fun Series, free but registration required. Every other Friday at 3:30 p.m., connect with friends and athletes during a virtual cooking class, fitness class, and other virtual activities. Tonight is Hip Hop Hero Dance Class with Rose Bedard, and a Virtual Dance Party on Feb. 26.

The Arts in Vermont

Phoenix Books has moved their poetry nights and author discussions to Zoom. Their events calendar is chock-full of events including Virtual Poetry Open Mic night and an evening with Charlie Nardozzi. Like drama? See what local theater groups are doing, some activities are free and some are paid. Follow the Seven Days Arts & Life page for weekly updates of arts events.

Winter Fun

Waterbury Winterfest (Wanderlust) Jan. 29-Feb. 26

The Waterbury Winterfest is COVID-safe, and open to all. Create a team, choose a mascot, follow the challenges and upload to win prizes. Activities marked with a * are open for folks outside of Waterbury.

Backyard Bingo-Winter Edition

Vermont Land Trust offers a winter edition of Backyard Bingo! This scavenger hunt bingo experience can get the whole family outside for an afternoon of learning and adventure. When you see one of the items on the board, check it off. Get five squares in a row in any direction, and you win Bingo!

Super Bowl LV

Airing live on CBS (Channel 3) or streaming on the CBS app (free) or other paid TV subscriptions.

Don’t forget the Puppy Bowl at 2 p.m., see ways to watch here.

Jeopardy Labs: Build your own game or use an existing game. Browse for a range of topics. If using existing games, review the questions first to assess if they are reasonable and relevant. Share your Zoom screen to play the game. Full link: https://jeopardylabs.com/

PBS Field Trips: Go to PBS Learning Media and enter “Field Trips” in the search bar. This site is student-oriented so check ahead and review curriculum suggestions before launching an field trip activity. Share your Zoom screen to follow along. Full link: https://vermont.pbslearningmedia.org

Social Drawing: Learn to draw popular characters with animator Michael Woodside. Share the Zoom screen, draw together and chat about the classic movies these characters are from. Full link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbz0SRP7ftKQWKSHvIKPBzQ/videos

Viking TV (PBS sponsor): A library of free, short documentary videos on topics ranging from wildlife, art, food, travel, history and exploration. Browse through the videos together to find interesting topics. I recommend this 10 minute video on Abbey Road Studios for Beatles fans, or this 12 minute video Animals with Purposeabout working animals. Full link: https://viking.tv/

Major League Baseball Fan Page: Listen to player walk-up songs, browse the links on the page, and click on the club logos at the bottom of the page for team-specific activities. Full link: https://www.mlb.com/fans

Ailey Extension (of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) has a YouTube channel with free instructional videos including West African, Salsa and Theater dance. Also, for a limited time the Ailey Dance Theatre has posted free videos of past performances.

Dreamwalker Dance Company, based in Toronto, Ontario, has a free Vimeo channel with performance and instructional videos.

Birders and Citizen Scientists

All About Birds from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Learn about identifying birds, songs, and feeders. View bird cams from across the globe, learning videos and even create rap songs with bird and animal sounds. Use eBird to track your sightings and contribute the data to scientists at Cornell and Audubon. Can be shared over Zoom or in-person.

View the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium Facebook live presentation of the Great Convergence (Jupiter and Saturn on Dec. 21), hosted by Science Educator, Bobby Farlice-Rubio. The museum also has a YouTube channel (Convergence video not yet posted but lots of interesting videos on animals, astronomy and nature.) Also contribute your wildflower photos to the museum Virtual Flower Table.

Vermont virtual activities to check out:

Gardening videos with VPR’s Charlie Nardozzi: Chase off the winter blues and learn all about gardening with Charlie Nardozzi. He shares recommendations on controlling weeds, growing blueberries, and forcing spring bulbs and tons more.

Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe website: Using the menu at the top of the page, browse the site to find video, photo and written information to learn about Vermont’s first citizens history, the Abenaki Trails project, Abenaki artists and exhibits, preservation and much more.

Vermont Women’s Festival of Crafts Virtual Market Missing craft fairs? Browse products from over 80 talented Vermont artisans from home. Open until December 18.

Vermont lights and beyond:

Train enthusiasts, follow the Vermont Rail System on Facebook for their “Vermont Lights the Way” Holiday Display Train Schedule. They post stops regularly and will come through Burlington in the coming weeks.

John Wilking of South Burlington decorates his house with lights that sync to music playing on 88.1 FM (or 88.3 FM). Located on Dorset St. just south of the Nowland Farm and Old Cross Rd. crossroads. Once it gets dark cars typically line up to see the show, so plan your evening! Read more and find other places to view lights in this Burlington Free Press article. Take a photo and email to mreilly@ccs-vt.org and mlallier@ccs-vt.orgto share on the CCS Facebook page for the #VermontLightsTheWay campaign.

National drone light shows, sponsored by Wal-Mart and Intel are scheduled for Dec. 9, 10, 13, 16, 18 and 20 at cities across the U.S. View the light show live via Wal-Mart Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, find the links and more info on this Wal-Mart page.

Wellness

Check out Zumba.dance for an international selection of free and paid Zumba classes. Sorted by date and class time. Use the filter to select class type, timings and durations. Click on the class for description and Zoom link. Zumba Gold and Zumba Gold-toning are considered low-impact and good for beginners. An account is required to access the Zoom link.

Cooks and chefs, Vermont PBS is hosting a free Q&A with Lidia Bastianich on December 9 (tonight!) at 7:00 p.m. Visit the page to register, and browse past event videos with Rick Steves, Faye Fletcher (Bob Ross-style painting), and more.

Get outside:

Top Seven Vermont Sledding Spots, by the Seven Days. Five spots are in our area, Burlington, Underhill, Shelburne, St. George and Milton

All Trails.com: A comprehensive list of places to walk or hike in Vermont. Filter by town, trail difficulty, length or accessibility.

Vermont State Parks: Click on “Things To Do” for places to hike, winter activities, fishing, and other events and programs. Also includes safety precautions during hunting season.

Burlington Parks & Rec: Scroll down to view a list of Burlington parks and trails, including winter accessibility and activity options.

Geocaching: Download the app and hunt for hidden treasure all over Chittenden County and beyond.

South Hero Land Trust has shared three easy winter hikes with activities (see attached PDF), including accessibility information. More creative outdoor activities are posted here, including a Book Walk, Leaf Art, and Scavenger Hunts.

Stay In:

It’s Too Cold Outside, Stay In

Ever wonder if you can sing like Freddie Mercury? Try the FreddieMeter, a Google Experiment tool to find out (it’s hilarious). Check out other Google Experiments like AI Duet for music skills and Quick, Draw to add to the world’s largest doodle data set. Google Experiments is a lab for users to test technologies and develop new projects and platforms, and for the public to access and try out for free.

Also explore thousands of interactive exhibits, games and experiments in Google Arts and Culture. Try the Art Coloring Book and color in famous artworks with your favorite colors. Or create your own puzzle from major works of art using the solo or multiplayer Puzzle Party game experiment.

*Captioning available by request

**To find activity links from previous emails see here on the CCS Virtual Activities page (via the COVID page)

ollow the Vermont Land Trust for free virtual activities. Upcoming events include “Getting New Farmers on the Land”, “Over and Under the Snow: Virtual Story Ski and Tour of Northeast Kingdom Winter Recreation Spots”, and “Barks, Buds & Branches: Learn to identify trees in winter”. Events are free but voluntary donations are accepted and registration is required. Past events and farm and land tours are on the VLT YouTube channel.

Get Outside (or stay in!)

Get ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count global event starting February 12. Free, fun and easy, count birds for 15 minutes from the park, the trail, your backyard or from the comfort of your living room window. Register at birdcount.org to get started. Watch this video to learn more, and help birds and the environment around the world.

Social Media Users:

Debbie Allen hosts dance classes on Instagram Live! The classes are free and available to everyone.

While she doesn’t have a set schedule, Allen always posts when an upcoming class is announced, so follow along on her Instagram @TheRealDebbieAllen and her dance studio’s account @OfficialDADance!