School Appropriate Live Streams

I’ve been working part-time at a school for a few years now. One of my daily tasks (that I love) has been finding a new Live Stream to run in the background on a large Promethean Board in the Library everyday. It’s a lot of fun finding new streams or going back to old favorites - sometimes they have to do with timely current events (like a NASA launch), other times it’s a nature-related live stream, and other times it’s a peek into a different part of the world and their culture. We always mute the streams so they’re not disruptive and just add a fun element running in the background. Here I thought I’d share some favorites and I’ll be sure to add to the list periodically.

DISCLAIMER: Please use your best judgement and double check links before showing. At the time of writing this post, these links point to the topics described but there’s always a chance the streams/channels may change in the future. Also while all of these streams would likely be considered “school safe” for most grades/age groups, they are LIVE and therefore there’s always the chance of something unexpected happening on them. Stream at your own risk.

Nature

• Bird Feeder in Gettysburg, PA - I particularly like this one because it's pretty active and often you see deer in the field in the background too.
• Ryan's Bird Buffet in Brownville, ME - this one is more local to us (in the Northeast) so it's a favorite.
• South Africa Bird Feeder/Wildlife Cam - This stream has some very exotic birds and when it turns to night there (afternoon our local time), they switch the foods over to attract fruit bats. Very cool channel to watch!
• Sea Otters at Monterey Bay Aquarium - these otters are just so cute and playful!
• Bald Eagle Nest in Big Bear Valley, CA - very scenic eagle nest which is especially interesting to watch during hatching season.
• African Penguin Live Cam at New England Aquarium - always enjoyable watching the penguins, especially during feeding or training.
• Giant Ocean Tank at New England Aquarium - very relaxing view of fish swimming around the tank.
• Namib Desert Live Stream in Namibia (Africa) - this stream shows a watering hole in the desert and it almost always has some animal activity.

Science

• SpaceX Launches - I'm linking to the general SpaceX channel here, since new live stream videos will be made as new things are launched. SpaceX launches happen pretty frequently, and they're always exciting and interesting.
• NASA Launches - Linking to the general NASA channel here. NASA Launches happen less often than SpaceX ones but are still fun to see.
• International Space Station (ISS) Stream - This shows a live view of Earth as seen from the ISS. A very relaxing and neat stream to run in the background.

Around the USA

• Rotating New England Live Streams - we enjoy this stream because it rotates amongst many locations around New England. We often put this stream on when bad or snowy weather is coming in (we're local to New England) to see how the weather is in other areas and how much snow they're getting. (Many of the videos featured have their own stand-alone streaming channels too and you can look them up individually if you choose to.)
• Mount Washington, NH Live Stream - Mt. Washington is known as "Home of the World's Worst Weather" and can be an interesting channel to live stream.
• Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Live Cam - busy stream of traffic coming and going across the Brooklyn Bridge and surrounding area.

Around the World

• Sydney Harbor, Australia Live Cam - since it's on the other side of the world it's usually dark/night when we're at school, but you can still see the lights and boats.
• Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy - very scenic bridge with lots of gondola and boat traffic.
• Lucerne, Switzerland - beautiful views of this scenic city.

Planes, Trains, & Boats

• Midway Airport, Chicago IL - always super busy live stream of planes coming and going at the busy Midway Airport.
• Trains in Ashland, Virginia - a set of railroad tracks that gets a lot of train traffic.
• Soo Locks, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan - interesting feed that shows the Soo Locks and lots of boat and other commercial activity around.

Seasonal

• Bank of America Winter Village Skate Cam at Bryant Park, NYC - This is a favorite live cam to run in the library around the holidays/Christmas. The kids love watching the ice skaters and the wide range of skills they have ;)
• Boston Marathon - no link for this one because coverage changes every year. But when "Marathon Monday" (which is the 3rd Monday in April) rolls around every year we put on some kind of live stream or news coverage of the Marathon.
• Everest Base Camp - I can't find the link for it now, but last spring we were able to watch a live stream of Everest Base Camp.

Current Events

I won’t link anything here because these are often temporary or one-time events… but here are some general ideas of things we have streamed or could stream for current events:

• Weather coverage of a current weather event somewhere in the US - like an incoming nor’easter snowstorm or hurricane

• Presidential election coverage or inauguration

• Local election coverage

• Royal wedding or coronation abroad

• 9/11 or Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony

• Olympics coverage

• SpaceX or NASA Launch

• News conference regarding a science discovery

• Baby watch of an animal about to give birth (like a giraffe at the zoo)

• Livestream of a local event

DISCLAIMER: Please use your best judgement and double check links before showing. At the time of writing this post, these links point to the topics described but there’s always a chance the streams/channels may change in the future. Also while all of these streams would likely be considered “school safe” for most grades/age groups, they are LIVE and therefore there’s always the chance of something unexpected happening on them. Stream at your own risk.

DIY Library Tote Bag {FREE Printables for Iron-On Transfer!}

If you have kids you know how tricky it can be to keep track of library books in your home… you bring them home, read them on the couch, and then before you know it they’re mixed in with your own books and quickly forgotten… until you get that late notice from the library (ooops). The best way to keep track of them is to have a designated place to keep them - for us we made a special library tote that has served us well. We use it to bring home books from the library, and as we read them we make sure to return them to the tote so they’re never misplaced. I’ll show you exactly how I made ours, along with two free printables so you can make your own! | This post contains affiliate links |

Materials:

• Canvas Tote
• Iron-On Transfers (make sure you purchase the right kind for the printer you have - ink jet, laser, etc.)
• Printer
• Scissors
• Iron

How-To:

1. First, run your canvas tote bag through the washer and dryer - you need to make sure it’s clean and there’s no more sizing on it from manufacturing which might keep the iron-on transfer from adhering well.

2. Print out your design on the transfer paper. (Please note that the designs I have available for download are ready-to-print PDFs for printing on iron-on transfers, therefore they are already in mirror image - aka backwards.)
*You can find links to download our designs at the end of this post - there are two different designs to choose from!*

3. Cut out the iron-on transfer design, leaving a border around the edge of the design to help ensure the design will adhere well to the fabric and not lift at the edges.

4. Make sure to read the instructions for your particular brand of iron-on transfers as these next steps may vary slightly from brand to brand. For the transfers we used, the next step is to heat up the iron then pre-iron the bag to get rid of wrinkles and preheat the fabric for the transfer. Our directions recommend working on a hard surface with a piece of scrap fabric underneath.

5. Carefully place your design face down on the bag and iron it on using a LOT of pressure. I actually stand on a chair to put my full body weight down on it too. You want to iron over the whole design, paying particular attention to the edges to make sure it really adheres well.

6. After going over your design like a thousand times (an exaggeration, but make sure you go over it a lot to adhere it well). Let it cool completely before carefully pulling the paper backing off and you’re done. Time to go to the library!

Download FREE Printables for Iron-On Transfer Here:

Explore Books Logo (prints to approximately 4”x5”)

Go on an Adventure Logo (prints to approximately 4.5”x4.75”)

*Please note that the downloaded PDF files will have the logos in MIRROR IMAGE (aka backwards), since it needs to be printed in reverse on the iron-on transfers.

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Want to make a Custom Design?

I made the designs for these library tote logos by using design files from my husband's Creative Market Shop. If you want to edit these designs or make your own, you can purchase the files from Creative Market and personalize them yourself!

The designs I used were from his Vintage Outdoor Travel Logos and Retro Industrial Logos, Volume 2 series.

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Paper Pizza Craft

Our little one made this Paper Pizza at story time at the public library the other day and I thought it was so cute I wanted to show you all.  The story time lady read several pizza-related stories and then had the kids make their own paper pizzas to bring home.  The kids really enjoyed this project and I think it would make a great activity for a pizza-themed kids' party.  

They gave the kids paper plates and a brown crayon to color the "crust" (our daughter skipped this part), then a paper red circle "tomato sauce" to glue down, shredded yellow paper "cheese", as well as paper mushrooms, pepperonis, and meatballs.  After the pizzas were done, the kids took them home in actual pizza boxes which was the perfect finishing touch to the project.  These brand new boxes had been bought ahead of time at the local pizza shop for a few cents each.  

I don't remember the actual books she read before the project, but I've linked some cute-looking pizza stories here (affiliate links):  

• Curious George and the Pizza Party by Margaret & H.A. Rey
• The Pizza Delivery Mystery by Natalie Shaw
• Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
• Pizza for Paul by Schneider Deve
• Little Nino's Pizzeria by Karen Barbour