With the stay-at-home order continuing until further notice, it may be a challenge to keep entertained while indoors for an extended period of time, but some local webcams that offer sights of beloved, familiar views and links that offer entertainment can help keep boredom at bay.
San Diegans – or anyone for that matter – can keep cabin fever at bay and enjoy local sights from the comfort of their own homes. With the numerous webcams available, viewers can immerse themselves in the wild that is the San Diego Zoo, the serene mountain views of Mount Palomar and the tranquil waves along our coast.
Activities
Inspiration for at-home entertainment
Here is a list of local webcams you can watch if you miss some local spots:
- San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park
- Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- San Diego Bay and Coronado Bridge
- San Diego Web Cam
- Live Beaches
- La Jolla Beaches
- Hotel del Coronado
- Mount Palomar
- Downtown Julian
- Borrego Springs
In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and artists got creative and began to utilize webcams and livestreams for consumers and fans.
Artistic Amusement
Liberty Public Market's own Lovejoy Creations Studio is streaming paint sessions online via YouTube while Artist Leslie Pierce And Something Different Studio plan to have online art classes beginning March 31.
The San Diego Museum of Art, located in Balboa Park, is offering patrons a chance to visit virtually during its closure. The SDMA mobile app provides content in various languages about works of art from the museum’s collection and even offers virtual tours from the lower rotunda to the galleries and the building’s façade.
Visitors can listen to audio clips on the app while looking at various works from the SDMA’s exhibitions, including “Art for All.” The SDMA also has a robust YouTube channel that includes short, interactive where curators tour and comment on several works of art.
Do your creative little ones enjoy coloring and building? Then Legoland may help them stay entertained and busy.
It has a weekly art challenge in which children can color printable sheets of Lego characters. You don’t have to worry about having missed out on previous challenges since all of them have been posted online. If your kids prefer to build, they can partake in Lego’s Building Challenge, in which they’re asked to make a sheep, flower, skateboard and more.
Looking for a creative outlet while staying indoors? Liberty Public Market’s FX Dojo is offering animation, 2D drawing and 3D animation classes online. Classes are already available for booking at come at two different levels that include beginner and intermediate.
Also from Liberty Public Market, Monart School of Art is offering several online courses via Zoom. From drawing fundamentals to advanced drawing techniques, several classes are available for various ages.
Cultural Captivation
Balboa Park and the museums and cultural organizations within it are currently closed but, if you’re missing the sights, the San Diego landmark is offering something called Balboa Park TV.
The online resource offers video content produced by the Cultural Partnership across 21 channels, including videos about The Fleet Science Center, the San Diego Zoo, the World Beat Center, and the Natural History Museum. The website also has those videos curated into playlists.
Although a difficult period in time, the novel coronavirus is already a historic event that we’re currently living through, and the San Diego History Center wants to capture that history.
It is documenting how San Diegans have coped through the pandemic and is asking people to submit their stories for what may be referred to as one of the most important times in history. Stories, photos and videos are currently being accepted.
Into trains? Then the San Diego Model Railroad Museum’s YouTube has several videos to entertain train enthusiasts. Although the museum is closed, train aficionados can enjoy videos of model railroads and learn about how the museum came to be at Balboa Park.
With more artists and bands taking their performances to digital platforms, Seaport Village is doing the same with its Seaport Sessions.
As per usual, the sessions will include music and art, just online with a livestream instead of in-person. Its free concert is curated by the Casbah, Vinyl Junkies and Sonic San Diego
Educational Entertainment
The San Diego Zoo launched its #WereHereTogether program that provides educational content for students K-12, wildlife enthusiasts, educators and parents.
Video stories, hands-on activities and games and information on how to help save species will be available for younger participants. Meanwhile, middle and high school students can enjoy the program's education on conservation and posts that show what goes on in the pathology lab of the zoo's Disease Investigations.
If your children are interested in animals, SeaWorld is offering online classroom activities for grades K-12 that will pique the interest of kids of all ages. The activities cover a range of topics from populations, adaptions, animal care, behavior, geography, microbiology and more.
If you have a love for all things scientific, the Fleet Science Center’s FleetTV may keep you entertained. It’s packed with hands-on activities, experiments, science jokes and even bloopers, to show that even great scientists can make mistakes sometimes.
Fitness Fun
With many people staying indoors, Planet Fitness established a free series of workouts on Facebook Live.
Joining in on helping residents stay fit while quarantined, Little Italy-based health club Saffron & Sage is offering a daily series that will guide viewers in yoga poses, meditation and breathing practices.
Locally, Santee dance studio, Expressions Dance & Movement Center, has allowed students to continue their lessons through a livestream.
Marvelous Museums
The USS Midway Museum has also launched a virtual experience for visitors to explore the landmar aircraft carrier from home. The digital tour is available on the USS Midway website here, and visitors can explore exhibits and ship spaces, listen to an audio tour of the museum and view an extensive naval aircraft gallery, to name a few bells and whistles.
The 360 Virtual Tour takes you to the flight deck, hangar bay and other spots via 360-degree imagery.
Online visitors can also hear from the Navy sailors who served on the USS Midway through a docuseries feature available on the website dubbed “United Stories of America.”
The museum said that a kid’s activity element is now in development for the website, too.
Joining the digital world for tours, the San Diego Museum of Man is offering a mobile tour via the Balboa Park App. With the app, users can discover the efforts made into designing an exhibit, venture up the museum’s secret staircase and check out its impressive, century-old chapel.
Need some natural history back in your life? The San Diego Natural History Museum is allowing everyone to continue exploring with various at-home activities.
Lesson plans and guides are also available online so parents can keep children busy educational activities. Older visitors can enjoy venturing through the museum's research library, where references and journals contain fascinating details on a wide variety of topics.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is offering a peek into its space flight history with as part of its SDASM TV. It also sends parents and guardians weekly ideas for activities and experiments from its Virtual Little Engineers program.
