To help the millions of people having to stay home, many companies have made stuff free that you normally pay for, both for kids and grown-ups. We’ve done a round-up of some of the best online freebies – here are some headlines:
1. Enjoy 100s of free Audible kids’ audiobooks, incl Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland and The Secret Garden. Norm £11-£15. Handy if you’re struggling with home-schooling or entertaining the kids, as they’re available for as long as schools are closed. See Audible Stories.
2. Free workouts for 6 weeks with Chris Hemsworth. Norm £23/mth. The actor (aka Thor from the Marvel films), known for his ripped abs, has free high intensity (HIIT) and other online workout classes right now – see free fitness classes.
PS: If the little ‘uns are getting restless, they can join 100,000s doing the free Joe Wicks daily kids’ fitness classes.
3. Free meditation sessions created for the crisis. Norm £50-£60/yr. The Headspace and Calm apps, which normally require a subscription, have both released free content to help with understandable stress and anxiety right now. Free meditation & mindfulness resources
4. New free box sets to binge on via iPlayer, eg, Spooks, Wallander, French & Saunders and The Missing. Instead of Amazon, Apple, Netflix etc subscriptions. The iPlayer service is free for those with a TV licence anyway, and the BBC has added more box sets because of the demand, incl the quartet above. Free box sets
5. Help kids learn with Carol Vorderman’s popular maths school and the Sir Linkalot spelling app. Norm £2/wk-ish. See Free home-schooling.
6. Free 3-month language course for kids from Rosetta Stone. Norm £50 for 3 mths. Incl French, German and Spanish. Free language courses
7. Free ballet and opera broadcasts from the Royal Opera House. As its London venue is closed, it’s bringing opera and ballet into people’s homes, including Peter and the Wolf and Acis and Galatea. See free online opera performances.
Free online guitar lessons for 3 months. Norm £10/mth. It’s a great time to learn something new if you’ve extra time on your hands, and manufacturer Fender is offering free guitar classes.
PS: It’s not just music, there are a whole host of things you can learn for free at home, including computer coding, Open University courses, languages, cooking and more. See free online learning.
