Photograph — Wikimedia Commons

Owing to the ongoing lockdown in tackling COVID-19 in Nigeria. Schools, businesses, and religious institutions have been shut down. One of several issues this period is parents being concerned about how to keep their kids educated and entertained to free up time and space for them to work remotely. Below is a list of applications, channels, and platforms that will help.

  1. Bolo – Improve their reading skills with Bolo, a free app that works offline (no data or wifi needed once it’s downloaded). Targeted at primary grade children, Bolo is available in English and uses Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech technology, to serve as a personalised reading tutor for kids. It encourages them to read out loud and then provides individual, customised feedback to help improve their reading capabilities.
  • Google Assistant – This artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant is common and can easily be overlooked as an educational tool. But the Google Assistant is quite a useful educational tool that is as much fun as the next virtual assistant. Ask it anything, even to tell a joke (it’s the uncontested champion of bad dad jokes) or play a game. Kids get a ton of fun and giggles. You can see a list of ideas here.

  • YouTube KidsThis platform was created to help kids safely explore online videos through YouTube.  It includes curated selections of content, parental control features, video filter for content deemed inappropriate, and has all of your kids’ favourite shows.

  • Google TranslateGoogle Translate can help your kids learn a new language if they are so inclined. It can translate from or to Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and a host of languages from other parts of the world. To get something translated, you can speak, write, type a phrase, or aim your camera at any written text to get an instant translation.

  • Google Arts & CultureThis application puts the treasures, stories and knowledge of over 2,000 cultural institutions from 80 countries at your fingertips. Immerse yourself into the world of culture through modern technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, street view and AI. Explore ancient Maya temples, Van Gogh’s bedroom paintingsthe women’s rights movement, sports in Australia, Puerto Rico’s heritage, Spanish cuisine, the Indian railways and much more.

  • Google Play – The Google Play store has a collection of games and fun apps that are suited to the family – from colouring to educational games, there’s something for everyone. It makes recommendations based on your recent activity, so as you use it often it’ll give you tailored suggestions for new games you might enjoy.

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