Fountaindale’s Outreach Department has compiled an array of virtual kits for our senior patrons. These interactive kits include eBooks, streaming movies, music, at-home crafts and virtual tours to keep you entertained at home using our eResources and Digital Collection.
Our selection of themes includes Tales and Travel, Hooray for History, Mystery Madness, Incredible Inventions and much more! Explore on and keep your eyes open for many more to come! And if you want a new virtual activity made, please email us at outreach@fountaindale.org.
Tales and Travel: Italy
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Learn about Italian culture with CultureGrams.
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Try your hand at Italian cooking with the help of Universal Class. (To access this course, first log in with your library card, search “Italian Cooking,” then click Join this Course.)
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Watch From the Vine on Kanopy.
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Read The House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden on Libby.
Tales and Travel: National Parks
- Watch Nature Watching: How to Find and Observe Wildlife on hoopla.
- Use the Park Finder tool from Find Your Park to pinpoint the places that match your ideal trip.
- Take an online art-journaling class on Creativebug and learn how to document your park visit in a creative way.
- Learn what to pack when heading to a national park. Learn more about the history of these legendary places and how essential their protection and preservation are to ensuring they are enjoyed for generations to come.
- Take a virtual tour of five national parks in the US, offered by Google Arts & Culture.
Tales and Travel: Mexico
- Read Travel Guide Mexico on hoopla.
- Read Lonely Planet Mexico on hoopla.
- Watch Frida (2002) on hoopla, starring Salma Hayek.
- Tour the National Museum of Mexican Art, one of the most prominent first-voice institutions for Mexican art and culture in the United States.
- Make a Mexican food dish with these recipes on Universal Class.
- Learn Mexican history and culture on CultureGrams.
- Learn Spanish on Mango Languages.
Chicago: My Kind of Town
- Read Devil in the White City by Erik Larson on Libby.
- Watch Chicago, Academy Award Winner for Best Picture (2003) on hoopla.
- Check out Chicago magazine for insight into the best dining and shopping, to interviews with fascinating figures shaping the future of Chicago. Available on Libby.
- Watch Passionate Nature: Chicago Parks of Alfred Caldwell on Kanopy to learn about Caldwell’s life and career.
- Take virtual tours of Chicago’s world-famous attractions and iconic landmarks through ChooseChicago.com.
Old Hollywood
- Read From Old Hollywood to New Brunswick by Charles Foster on hoopla. Discover tales from the golden age of film, radio, theatre and music, including international adventures from Moscow to Berlin and beyond.
- Watch How Hollywood Does It: Creating the Magic of Film on Kanopy. Enjoy discussions and clips from some of the films that made this era of Hollywood so memorable.
- Connect with other future filmmakers in Studio 300. Take a class or get creative in our studio spaces.
- Listen to Scandals of Classic Hollywood by Ann Helen Peterson. Learn about America’s fascination with celebrity culture from the golden age of American cinema.
Mystery Madness: British Murder Mystery
- Read The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman on Libby.
- Watch the classic 1978 Death on the Nile starring Angela Lansbury on Kanopy.
- Make classic British Foods with these recipes from The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook by Emily Ansara Baines.
- Take a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace, offered for free by the official website of the British Royal Family.
Hooray for History: Elvis Presley
- Learn more about the King as you listen to Being Elvis: A Lonely Life by Ray Connolly on hoopla.
- Relive the legend of Elvis as you watch The King: The Rise and Fall of Elvis Presley on Kanopy.
- Treat yourself to this Elvis Presley-inspired cake from AllRecipes.com.
- Learn to play the guitar from home. Take a lesson on LinkedIn Learning.
Hooray for History: The 1960s
- Read An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin on Libby.
- Relax as you listen to Surfin’ Safari by The Beach Boys on Freegal.
- Create retro 1960s food with The Mad, Mad, Mad, Made Sixties Cookbook on Libby.
- Learn the craft of macrame, popular in the 1960s, with virtual classes on Creativebug.
I Love a Good Yarn: Knit and Crochet
- Read The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber on Libby.
- Learn tips and tricks for knitting with Knits 101 on Kanopy.
- Use Creativebug to knit a baby hat, slippers, necklace and more!
- Browse digital editions of Fun Crochet Magazine. Every edition is filled with crochet patterns for home projects, wearables, and gifts.
- Do you want to learn how to knit? You can take an online knitting course through Universal Class.
- Are you interested in giving back? Check out some of these knitting and crocheting charities.
Incredible Inventions
- Watch the Inventions that Shook the World television series on hoopla.
- Watch this series from The Great Courses: Inventions that Changed the World on Kanopy.
- Create your own invention with Instructables.
- Listen to the audiobook, How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World, by Steven Johnson. Explore the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences.
Just for the Health of It
- Read materials covering all areas of health and wellness in the Consumer Health Report database.
- Read The New Rules of Aging Well by Frank Lipman, M. D. and Danielle Claro on hoopla.
- Watch Food, Inc. 2 on hoopla.
- Try art therapy. De-stress with a relaxing craft from Creativebug.
- Take a yoga, Reiki, homeopathy or meditation class on Universal Class.