Resources for everyone at home for an extended period

LIBRARY SERVICES YOU CAN ACCESS FROM HOME

Although the Halswell Library Te Hāpua is now closed for the next month at least,there are still many resources that you can access with your library card online.  AND you can also get a library card if you don't already have one!

• Choose from over 50,000 titles that you can read or listen to on your tablet, smartphone of laptop for free. Explore popular eBooks, eMagazines and eAudiobooks.
• Take a free course to sharpen your skills with Lynda.com. Over 6,300 courses and 267,000 tutorials on software, technology, creative and business skills are available. Check out other free eLearning resources.
• Choose from 10,000 epic films and documentaries through video streaming service Kanopy.
• Study one of 60 popular languages from basic right through to advanced levels with Mango Languages.
• Tamariki can check out fun games, animated stories and other eResources for kids. This page also has loads of fun learning tools.  
• Family history buff? Get started on your family tree with online eResources.

You’ll need a library card and PIN number to access most of the eResources. No card? No problem, sign up online now.

If you need help, use the online chat service, LiveOnline, or call 03 941 7923. 

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WORKING OUT WITH AN ONLINE CLASS

Christchurch City council sport and recreation have a number of online classes available to help you work out at home.  Scroll down this page to check out the different options and if you like these you might like to join in real time each day.


https://youtu.be/gHUVJKkjmSY   dance exercise ______________

LISTEN TO A PODCAST

Check out thousands of podcasts on every imaginable topic here
and listen to a few of them.


Here are some interesting sites sent in by Sylvia Lukey 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/eating-fried-chicken  

https://thespinoff.co.nz/podcasts/business-is-boring-callaghan/27-03-2020/how-nanogirl-built-a-lockdown-ready-online-learning-platform-in-three-days/
 
Te Papa Museum 

Christchurch Art Gallery

Guggenheim Art Gallery

Tate gallery London

New South Wales Art Gallery

Learn about our night sky from these websites:

https://www.space.com/skywatching

World wide telescope
 
Skillshare  and Creative Live both offer a range of options for trying new stuff and learning how to do new things some free and some paid.  ‎  
 
 An article from Consumer on self–isolation and how to survive using technology. Good tips!

 
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LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Sign up free with Duolingo  or other language learning platforms and try learning a new language

www.coursera.org Some of the world’s leading Universities and organisations offer nearly 4000 free courses on science, arts, engineering, health, languages and more (including these new ones on COVID-19). Taught by enthusiastic lecturers who like to teach, they go from beginner through to degree level. 
Hint – most courses are free, but even the courses with a fee can be taken for free by selecting the ‘audit’ option at the enroll page.

Free on line learning at MIT-  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
Harvard University – some interesting free courses.


From a Stanford University experiment

here are some links to music 

NZ musicians 

Documentary about Cellist YoY o Ma. A wonderful documentation of what music is all about. 

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FIND MOVIES

Like movies?  Check out this website here and search for any movie to find out where you can get it and what it will cost.  

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WATCH OR LISTEN TO A TED TALK

Thousands of topics and speakers to choose from here

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Check out these craft projects  

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Activities to do in Halswell

1    We loved the 100 days of summer which provided 100 options of things to do around Christchurch and then got thinking about some of the things to do around Halswell.  This list is the result of that thinking.  If you can think of some more options then leave a message in the comments below.  

1.  1. Visit the model railway at the Halswell Domain on a Sunday afternoon and for a small fee, ride the trains.  You might also be lucky enough to see model yachts on the lake or you could hang out and enjoy the skate park, pump track and playground.

2.       Exercise your body and test your map reading skills:  Go orienteering at the Halswell Quarry. You can buy maps from Te Hāpua or download them online.

 
3.       Visit the community garden at St Marys or from the soccer clubrooms in the Domain. 

4.       Take a friend and a ball to the domain and kick or throw it around.

5.       Ride a bike on the Quarrymans Trail cycle path from Te Hāpua to the Sparks Road Wetlands and have a picnic and/ or a walk or ride around the wetlands.

6.       Camp in your back yard and look at the stars while you are out there.

7.       Make a tin and string telephone (look here if you can’t find anyone to tell you how) and check out how well it works with a friend.

8.       Walk around the Crater rim track in the Quarry. Paint some of your own rocks and hide them somewhere on the way.

9.       Walk up Kennedys Bush Track to the Summit Road and see what you can see (it takes 60- 90 minutes to get there).  Start your walk just past the roundabout at the top of Kennedys Bush Rd.   If you like walking, then cross the road at the top and find the tracks leading to the Sign of the Bellbird and Kennedys Bush where there are heaps of other tracks to explore.  Check out views of Whakaraupo/ Lytttelton Harbour.  Can you see Aoraki Mt Cook from the top?

10.   Visit the playground in Kennedys Bush Rd at the end of Quarry Hill Terrace or across the park from Rock Hill Drive. 


11.   Learn to ride your bike at the Knights Stream bike park.

12.   Play on your scooter skateboard or bike in the skate park in Halswell Domain

13.   Visit Halswell Pool and swim a few lengths or play in the water or on the hydroslide.

14.   Check out activities at the Halswell Hub to see if there is anything you’d like to do there.

15.   Check out holiday activities at the Library in Te Hāpua

16.   Explore Country Palms (off Halswell Junction Road or Sabys Road) to see how you can design a great walking or biking route using all the little parks and bridges.

17.   Ride on the Little River Rail link cycleway from Dunbars Rd to Hagley Park.  

18.   Visit the sister city gardens in Halswell Quarry.  What is a sister City and which Sister Cities have gardens in the Quarry?

19.   Forage for fruit and nuts in Halswell (best in late summer or autumn!). 

20.   Read a book, or do some painting under a tree in one of your favourite green spaces. 

21.   Using Google maps, Find all the playgrounds that you can around Oaklands and Westlake.  Play in them.  Walk or scooter to get between them.

22.   Walk or run around the whole Halswell Domain.  Try drawing a map of it!  

 23.   Make a map of Westlake Park.  How many entrances are there?  Where is the lake?  What are the names of all the streets that have entrances to the Park?  How many buildings are there?

24.   Visit Kaituna valley nature reserve.  What trees can you identify? Pick one to hug!  

25.   Walk around the Wetlands on Quaifes Road opposite Murphys Road –  Check out the ponds and bridges and the native plants there.  Wander further down the road towards Saby's Road and find another wetland area you can walk or bike around.

26.   Visit the skate park at Knights Stream Park and see what you can do there – what is the sculpture there called?

27.   Walk around Awatea Basin (wear gumboots if it is wet)

 

2  28. Go for a bikeride using only quiet streets  and see if you can find shortcuts and walkways to make your route easier.  You might find a good route by looking on google maps then testing it out. 

29.   Park in McMahon Drive and Walk or bike around Canterbury Park/Nga Puna Wai – What tracks can you find? what buildings are in Canterbury Park – what else is there?  Can you find a route out onto the cycleway along the motorway?

30.   Find the Creamery ponds in Sabys Road opposite Candy’s road and check them out.  

31.   Take a dog for a walk around Halswell on the Park using as many of the smaller streets and greenspaces as you can find.

32.   Visit Tai Tapu Domain and walk right around it.  Find the walking bridge across the creek. 

333.   Walk the length of Talbot Reserve in Country Palms through the long grass and back and have a play in the playground.

34.   Follow the Creek from the tunnel under the motorway though the greenspaces of Aidanfield or using the same tunnel to get to some of the green spaces in Wigram.  See if you can find your way through to the shops in Wigram from the tunnel - be careful crossing Wigram Road.

35. Spend an afternoon biking out to Prebbleton or Lincoln on the cycle path starting at Dunbars Road on the Wigram side of the overbridge.

t
36 Check out this post for more local walks

100 DAYS OF SUMMER

 by Chrys Horn

100 Days of Summer is a little brochure that provides 100 great ideas for families interested in exploring Christchurch outdoors. 

Miria Goodwin and her twin sister Anneke Beardsley put the booklet together to help people enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors.  Getting outdoors is great for children’s brain development, for social connection and for fostering a connection to nature. 

They aim to encourage people of all stripes to do more outside this summer and enjoy all the many beautiful places Canterbury has to offer.  The guide is also easy to read and carry, and provides a daily pointer that suits all ages.

 

Among the many suggestions are hugging a tītoki tree, looking for dolphins off Godley Head, searching for street art in the city, checking out the Sparks Road Wetlands or visiting the Prebbleton Nature Reserve, or watching model yachts at Halswell Domain.

You can pick up a copy of 100 Days of Summer at any Christchurch City Library or Council Service Centre.

If you are looking for things to do, you might also check out this post for some local ideas.

I wonder if we could come up with  50 free things you can do to explore Halswell?   All ideas gratefully received below in the comments!