Enrichment Activities
AllArts: a free streaming service of performances from around the globe, including dance, theatre, music, spoken word, and 70+ short films that were set to appear at this year’s SXSW.
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Activities: virtual therapeutic programs, including as music, art, dance, yoga, and exercise, with new programs live each week via Facebook.
American Baroque Opera Company: enjoy the full-length production of La Serva Padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, performed in English.
Animal Bytes: one-page fact sheets from SeaWorld with information about some of the interesting creatures found in the animal kingdom.
Animal InfoBooks: Explore the in-depth details about animals, environments, conservation issues, and much more in these free e-books from Seaworld.
Aquarium of the Pacific – Lectures: watch videos of top scientists, artists, journalists, and staff members speak on topics such as ocean research and conservation.
Art Spark: art project lessons, plus a series of Texas Tales that involve some historical content and art projects, all form Austin-based non-profit Art Spark.
Austin History Museum: the history, current events, and activities of Austin and Travis County are preserved so that generations to come will have access to our collective story.
Avant Chamber Ballet: Watch the 360-degree world premiere video of 19th Amendment recorded on February 15, 2020, at Moody Performance Hall, spotlighting choreographer Katie Puder and composer Quinn Mason.
Banksy Murals Around the World: check out the satirical stencil-style work on buildings and walls around the world that mysterious graffiti artist Banksy has been creating for almost 30 years.
Be Brain Powerful: a weekly virtual event series featuring fun and easy way to get great brain health tips from the experts.
Biodiversity Heritage Library: curated collections with books from Charles Darwin’s personal collection to field diaries from explorations of Antarctica.
Blanton Art Museum: explore the museum's collection of modern and contemporary American and Latin American art, Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, and prints and drawings.
Broadway Living Room Concerts: performances by theatre stars and creatives, in videos they shot in their homes.
Bullock Museum: Opened in 2001 as the official history museum of the State of Texas, explore the artifacts and stories of Texas from around the world.
Central Intelligence Agency’s Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room: items from FOIA and CIA release programs, including more than 50 years of CIA information on UFOs and a collection dedicated to the oldest classified documents in the U.S.
The Collections: The University of Texas: download the free ebook offers the first sweeping guide to the University’s irreplaceable artifacts.
Courses from Ivy League Schools: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) of 450 free online courses available for anyone to enroll.
Crash Course in World History: Best-selling author John Green gives you a playful and highly visual crash course in world history, taking you from the beginning of human civilization 15,000 years ago through to our modern age.
Cyber Seniors: free weekly Zoom-based seminars to help older adults stay connected and learn online skills by bridging the digital divide and connecting generations through technology.
Davis Art Gallery: explore the contemporary artists and works in the collection of this Austin fine arts gallery.
Digital Libraries of America: online collection of more than 36 million free digital materials from libraries, archives, and museums – everything from the 1918 influenza pandemic to the golden age of comic books.
DuoLingo: The free site lets you learn new languages — including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and many more.
Free Textbooks: a meta collection of free textbooks available on the web. It covers everything from Art History to Biology, Math, Physics, and Psychology.
Getty Publications Virtual Library: an impressive collection of art books, with more than 300 publications that can be read and downloaded for free, including some that are out of print.
Gutenberg Project: an online library of more than 60,000 free eBooks
Harry Ransom Center: explore the University of Texas – Austin Center’s extensive collections of manuscripts, rare books, photographs, artworks, and other materials document our cultural history and the creative process.
The Harvard Classics: Harvard’s influential president, Charles W. Eliot, said that if you spent just 15 minutes a day reading the right books, you could give yourself a proper liberal education. He published a 51-volume series, now known as The Harvard Classics, and they’re available free online.
Learn to Draw: Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems invites you into his studio every day to draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing.
Library of Congress: digital archives of the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution.
National Library of Science: a vast collection of digital materials related to health and disease – from the earliest anatomical drawings to the history of forensic medicine.
Nautical Archaeology Digital Library: a collaboration of Texas A&M University and ShipLAB, the online library contains searchable shipwreck databases and ancient ship models.
New York Public Library: nearly 890,000 digitized books, prints, photographs. and more unique collections – including a massive database of over 17,000 historical restaurant menus.
Rhode Scholars Lectures: From early Viking settlements in Northern France to the evolution of Native American cuisine in Santa Fe, New Mexico, explore topics featuring expert instructors from around the world.
“The Science of Well-Being”: Yale University’s wildly-popular course – available for free through Coursera – will help you increase your own happiness and build more productive habits.
“A Shakespeare Sonnet a Day“: Acclaimed actor Patrick Stewart will perform a different Shakespeare sonnet each day, via his Twitter account.
Street Art: explore the stories behind street art across the world with audio-guided tours and online exhibitions.
TED Talks: hundreds of videos from experts on every possible subject.
Texas Archeological Research Laboratory: Housed at the J.J. Pickle Research Center at UT-Austin in North Austin, explore Texas with the nationally recognized archeological research facility that is the largest archeological repository in the state.
Texas History at Home: Explore Texas history videos, downloadable activities pages, and more resources from the Texas Historical Commission.
Texas State Capital: take an educational tour of the towering three-story building that sits in the middle of downtown Austin and housing the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and the governor.
Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum: view some of the works displayed at the museum dedicated to world renowned artist Charles Julius Umlauf.
U.S. National Archives: The National Archives is the nation's record keeper. Our mission is to safeguard and preserve these records of our Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use and learn from this documentary heritage.
Watercolor Techniques: break out the paint brushes and paint along with professional illustrator Annie Bowler.