The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Activities

** Thank you to MCN for making this extensive “ultimate guide” to virtual resources available free of charge to non-members during this health crisis.**

The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Museum Resources, E-Learning, and Online Collections

In the blink of an eye, once-crowded museums sit empty. So during these times for social distancing and potential quarantine. This is the time for museum technology to step up and fill the void.  So until it is safe enough to complete an outdoor urban adventure such as an EscapeTrails there are plenty of great back ups for a scavenger hunt, sightseeing, escape room and other activities that can be done virtually!

So after all this is over this will still be a great resource for when we just fancy curling up at home but want to explore at the same time.  So if you do not fancy the weather in Boston, MA or Burlington, VT and an EscapeTrail (part scavenger hunt and part escape room) then check out some of these stay at home activities.  So even when you do not fancy going out there are still plenty of things to do in your own home.

This list is by no mean exhaustive but will give you a great start of what is available!It is by no means exhaustive.  If you have any suggestions share more with MCN and help them update their list @museumcn on Twitter!

Every resource is free to access and enjoy. 
Much of it, though not all, is also open content, in the sense that it’s freely reusable and re-mixable under Creative Commons licensing.Open content is clearly labeled on its respective website.

PORTALS

• Google Arts & Culture: +2000 partners from +80 countries
• Heritage on the Edge: A project of Google Arts & Culture
• Europeana: 50,000,000 European works of art, books, music, and more
• Smithsonian Open Access: Search 2.8 million images and 3D Models
• ArtUK: Art collections from 3,200 UK organizations
• Mexican Ministry of Culture: Short films, books, radio, paintings, from all cultural orgs
• Memorica: Open access Mexican culture content portal
• China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration: Virtual portal of 100 institutions
• OpenGLAM: Aggregates 88 unique open collections
• Museum Crush: Select objects from a variety of museums
• NASA Image & Video Library: All NASA content is in the public domain
• DPLA: Digital Public Library of America
• MIMO: Musical Instrument Museums Online (64,000+ instruments)
• BioExplora: Natural science open collections portal (3D images, bio diversity)
• Science Museum Group: Collections from five UK science museums (325,000+ objects)
• York Museums Trust: Collections from various museums in Yorkshire, UK
• Archaeological Analytics: Archaeological Open Access Collections
• Digital Agnes: Canadian portal for curatorial research and online exhibitions
• English Heritage: Variety of mediums of British content (Podcasts, videos, etc.)
• Creative Commons: Aggregates all CC-licensed content and collections globally
• Wikimedia Commons: Over 20,000,000 open images
• Wikidata: “The Sum of all Paintings” metadata initiative via Wikimedia
• GLAM Portals Google Search: Courtesy of Mia Ridge (context on her blog)
• Open Culture Coloring Pages: 113 museum coloring books
• Global Museum: Portal for museum news, jobs, and resources
• V21ArtSpace: Over 100 exhibit virtual tours
• Arte.tv: Cultural documentaries, films, and more.
• SHOW ME: Games, collections, videos, stories, homework help and family days out from museums and galleries

VIRTUAL TOURS / ONLINE EXHIBITS

Art and Culture Museums

• Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford: Virtual Tour
• The Louvre, Paris: Virtual Tour
• Vatican Museums: Virtual Tours
• Dalí Theatre-Museum, Catalonia: Virtual Tour
• Hallwyl Museum, Stockholm: VR Tour
• Byzantine and Christian Virtual Museum: Virtual Tour
• Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: Virtual Tour
• Finnish Art Gallery: Virtual Tour
• Cranbrook Art Museum, Michigan: Exhibit Virtual Tours
• São Paolo Museum of Art: Virtual Tour
• Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum: Virtual Tour
• The Hermitage, Russia: Virtual Tour (YouTube)
• Arizona State Museum: Virtual Tour
• The Kremer Museum: VR Tour (Requires download)
• The Frick, Pittsburgh: Virtual tours, online collections, activities

History Museums

• Canadian Museum of History: Virtual Tour
• Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum: Virtual Tour
• The Palace Museum: The Forbidden City, China, 360-degree Virtual Tour
• American Battlefield Trust: 360-degree Battlefield Tours
• National Archaeological Museum, Spain: Virtual Museum
• Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello: Virtual Tour
• George Washington’s Mount Vernon: Virtual Tours, timelines, etc.
• Westminster Abbey, London: Virtual Tour
• National Museum of the Great Lakes: Virtual Tour
• Florence as it Was: 3D models of Florentine buildings, artworks, and squares
• Mexican National Institute of Anthropology & History: Virtual Tours (Flash)
• The Science Museum, London: Shipping Galleries Virtual Tour
• Cliffe Castle Museum: Virtual Tour
• Museum of Flight: Virtual Tour
• National Museum of the U.S. Air Force: Virtual Tour

Natural Science Museums

• National Museum of Natural History, US: Virtual Tour

National Parks

• Yellowstone National Park, US: Virtual Tours
• Yosemite National Park, US: Virtual Tour

Online Exhibits

• Girl Museum: Online Exhibits
• Virtual Migration Museum: Interactive Online Experience / App
• JFK Library: “Moonshot” App and Online Interactive
• Virtual Museum of Canada: Virtual Exhibits and Cultural Content
• Museum of Ontario Archaeology: “History of Ste. Marie II” Online Exhibit
• Monterey Bay Aquarium: Animal Live Cams
• Canadian Museum of History: Online Exhibitions
• Remembering Lincoln, Ford’s Theatre: Interactive online exhibit
• M Woods, Beijing, China: Experimental Online Exhibition
• Second Canvas Apps: 30 Museum Apps (Google Sheet)
• Reina Sofía Museum Radio: Audiovisual resources; an acoustic museum experience
• History Colorado: Online Exhibits
• Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum
• National Museum of the U.S. Navy
• National Women’s History Museum

E-LEARNING

• Smithsonian Learning Lab
• MoMA Learning
• Speed Art Museum: At-home art-making videos
• The Field Museum: The Brain Scoop (YouTube)
• North Carolina Museum of Art: Learn, (collections, videos, curriculum)
• Sketchfab: 3D Models (link goes to cultural-specific search)
• The Hammer: Contemporary Art programs, (YouTube)
• Royal Albert Memorial Museum: Exeter Time Trail (Interactive timeline)
• Les Fruits de Mer: Activities, books, films about Caribbean wildlife
• Museum of Early Trade and Crafts: Recipes, Games, Coloring Pages, etc.
• Museum Strathroy-Cardoc: Sydenham River Discovery online exhibit (Flash)
• Denver Art Museum: Artist videos
• Thomas Cole National Historic Site: Videos
• Virginia Museum of History & Culture: Lecture series videos
• Age of Revolution: Interactive Timeline
• Better World Museum: Draw Together in VR, Bob Ross-style videos
• Contemporary Jewish Museum: Learn about Jewish history, art, and culture
• Discover XR: The Future of Social Media & Online Learning (YouTube)
• KaiXR: Free Museum VR Field Trips (no VR gear needed)
• HistoryView.org: Virtual Reality Tours
• Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum: Activities, Coloring Pages
• Paleontological Research Institution: Resources for Families, K-12 Students, College Students
• Bronx Zoo: Field Sight
• The Ringling: Lesson Plans and Read-Alongs

Created for Kids

• Tate: Tate Kids (Games and quizzes, videos, kids’ art, etc.)
• Metropolitan Museum of Art: MetKids
• The Andy Warhol Museum: Online Lessons
• Speed Art Museum: Art Projects for Kids
• Roald Dahl Museum: Make Stories Like Roald Dahl
• Rhino Palast: Games and Information (German only)
• Exploratorium: Science Experiment “Snacks”
• American Museum of Natural History: Ology science website for kids
• Shedd Aquarium: Sea Curious- Kid Questions, Animal Answers (YouTube)
• Monterey Bay Aquarium: Games, Activities, Coloring Pages
• Glazer Children’s Museum: Online Activities
• Children’s Museum of South Dakota: Recipes for Play
• Suzhou Museum: Online Mini-Games
• Pittsburgh Children’s Museum: The MAKESHOP Show (Makerspace Blog)
• The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis: Museum at Home
• Long Island Children’s Museum: Play Outside Ideas
• Norton Simon Museum: Art Projects for Kids (scroll to section)
• The Kennedy Center: ArtsEdge, art education resources
• Canadian Museum of Nature: Coloring Pages, Arctic, Garden, Dinosaurs
• MCA Chicago: “Art Like Me” Culturally-Relevant Art Workbook for Kids
• National Museum of Australia: “Fun at Home” DIY activities
• Smarthistory: Source of history content for Khan Academy
• Frist Kids: Art activities and videos
• The MAKESHOP Show: Projects and Activities
• iCivics: Virtual games (free beginning with Covid-19)
• International Association of Children in Museums: Coronavirus Guide

ONLINE COLLECTIONS

Art and Cultural Collections

• Rijksstudio: Remix collections from Rijksmuseum
• SMK Open: National Gallery of Denmark Collections
• Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway (art by Edvard Munch)
• Birmingham Museums Trust, Birmingham, UK (art and history)
• Paris Museums: Over 300,000 works
• Paris Museum of Modern Art
• Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain
• Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
• Kröller-Müller Museum, The Netherlands
• The Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
• Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland
• Open Access at the Met
• Corning Museum of Glass, New York
• The Guggenheim, New York
• Cooper Hewitt, New York (historical and contemporary design)
• Albright-Knox, New York
• New Museum Digital Archive
• The Barnes Collection, Philadelphia
• The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Pennsylvania
• The Walters, Baltimore
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
• Akron Art Museum, Ohio
• Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University
• Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
• Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
• Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (visual, performing, media arts)
• The Hammer, LA (contemporary art)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
• Crocker Art Museum, California
• Oakland Museum of California
• The Khalili Collections: 35,000 works of art
• M+ Collections: 5,000+ Cultural Objects
• The Leiden Collection
• The Rainbow Museum: Art and Photography
• Delaware Art Museum
• Latino Cultural Arts Center, Denver
• Clyfford Still Museum, Denver
• Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, New Mexico
• Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts, Arizona
• McMaster Museum of Art, Canada
• Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
• Museum of New Zealand
• The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires (MALBA)
• Xul Solar Museum, Argentina
• National Museum of Fine Arts, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts

Science Collections

• Naturalis: 40,000,000 natural science collections objects

History Collections

• Canadian Museum of History
• UK Postal Museum
• Brooklands Museum, Surrey, UK (cars, motorcycles, aircraft)
• South West Collections, England
• Royal Armouries Collections
• National Museum of African American History & Culture
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
• New York Archaeological Repository: Nearly 1,000,000 objects
• Chicago History Museum, Illinois
• Digital Cleveland History
• The Henry Ford, Michigan
• Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Virginia
• National Museum of Korea

DIGITAL ARCHIVES & LIBRARIES

• US National Archives Catalog
• Library of Congress
• The National Archives, UK
• Bath Archives, UK
• Trinity College Library Dublin
• Trove: National Library of Australia images, books, newspapers, maps, etc.
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Endangered Archives, British Library
• Cambridge Digital Library
• National Archives of Japan
• Amsterdam City Archive
• Louisiana Digital Library: 400,000+ digital items from archives, libraries, museums
• Internet Archive: The Wayback Machine, digitized film, books, music, etc.
• American Literature Portal, WikiSource
• English Literature Portal, WikiSource
• New York Public Library: 880,000+ digitized prints, manuscripts, videos, etc.
• Villanova Digital Library
• British Library of Illuminated Manuscripts
• Arctos Database: Access to 3 million specimens and observations in 210 collections

Huge thanks to the many who have written helpful blogs with their favorite museum tech resources. Your contributions are all included here: Cuseum, Mia Ridge, Jenni Fuchs, and Alicja Peszkowska.

Well once we are able to explore Boston, MA and Burlington, VT again may be you have a few places you want to check out and things to do as you explore once more.  If you would like to explore some of these places then you may find some of them included on an EscapeTrail urban adventure combining the best parts of an escape game, scavenger hunt and sight seeing into one awesome experience.  Have fun, be social and explore the city in a whole new way!