15 boredom-beating activities for kids in Prague and the Czech Republic during lockdown

We're all stuck at home, no end in sight to school closures, and travel options are limited so how to keep kids preoccupied and your own sanity intact?

Just because museums are closed doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared.

It’s possible to virtually wander through the exhibitions at the Prague Technical Museum, complete with English information. In the virtual Transport Hall you can even “sit” inside some of the vehicles which are usually off-limits. Start exploring at ntmvp.cz.

For budding artists, Prague City Gallery has a range of worksheets available for download, from painting with watercolours to studies of works usually on display. All are in Czech, but many have photographic step-by-step instructions. Get inspired at www.ghmp.cz/artoteka/

The National Museum offers a selection of printable activities. English-friendly printable activities include paper dolls with folk costumes from around the country and a stage and characters for productions of “Othello”, “Romeo and Juliet” and the Czech operas “Libuše,” “Lucerna,” and “Prodaná navěsta”. The creativity starts at www.nm.cz.

Leaving screens behind can be a challenge especially when there’s nowhere to go outside. So what about going out to look for a hedgehog in a cage, helping a historical figure, or rock-hunting? (Remember to wear your masks and check the current restrictions before you head out.)

For the past few years people all over the world people have been painting, hiding, and searching for rocks and now Prague is in on the fun. Facebook group Kaminky is the hub of the activity in the Czech Republic. Search your local area for painted pebbles and share your finds on the group along with the creator’s PSČ code that should be written on each decorated stone. Keep or re-hide them, as you wish. Contribute by decorating and hiding rocks (don’t forget to include your PSČ). See how far your creations can travel! Posts in the group are mostly in Czech but it really is all about the pictures.

The iPhone/Android app Skryté příbehy (Hidden tales) allows you to go back in time and give historical figures a hand. Adventures all over the country include helping Einstein complete his Theory of Relativity or Count Silva-Tarouca creating Průhonice park. Download the app to find a path near you, listen to the tales, and answer questions. At the end of each path, you can take a selfie with the figure you’ve helped. For now, the game is in Czech only, but the app's creators are slowly putting together an English version (volunteer translators are encouraged to get in touch). Find a local adventure at skrytepribehy.cz.

A scavenger hunt based on the Rychlé šipy (Rapid arrows) novels by Jaroslav Foglar is available around Old Town until Monday, March 8. The trio of novels tells of a club of five boys who solve mysteries, have adventures and do good. In the scavenger hunt, you can find objects from the books, including the famous Hedgehog in the Cage wooden puzzle. Answer questions from the route in order to unlock an unpublished chapter and go into a draw for prizes. Instructions and guidebook (Czech only) for the 4-hour scavenger hunt are at www.rychlesipy.org.

What better way to escape a global pandemic than to lose yourself in a new book?

Public libraries are now able to partially operate through windows. Although it’s still not possible to leisurely browse the stacks, if you have a library card you can reserve books to pick up. Currently the library is offering a grace period on overdue books as well as offering five reservations for free (typically you'd pay a nominal fee). 

Prague Municipal Library has all the details about their knihokno, including opening hours for each branch, at www.mlp.cz/en. For those who would rather stay home, the library has 200+ e-books available in the English language. The Moravian Regional Library has a number of free children's books that can be enjoyed on a tablet or device.

If you don’t have a library card (or you have a tendency to forget to return library books) a monthly subscription service is another option. Flowers and Dinosaurs University, a service operated by the Book Therapy store in Vinohrady, will send your child two carefully selected books a month, in English or Czech. Children up to 8 years old can begin to discover the joy of reading at flowersdinosaurs.com.

Of course there’s the old-school classics like Monopoly and Scrabble and newer ones like Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne, but why not cause family arguments over Czech classics for a change? These games are widely available at bookshops, toy shops and online retailers.

Dostihy a sázky (Racing and betting) is a Czech treatment of Monopoly where players buy horses instead of properties. An English version under the name of “Betting on Horses” can be found here. Similarly, the wonderfully titled “Člověče, nezlob se!” (People, don’t be angry!) is a Czech version of Ludo with identical rules. Various standard and themed versions are available.

Even younger players can join in with “Černý Petr” (Black Peter), a simple card game where the goal is to make and discard matching pairs of cards while avoiding the single černý Petr card. The favorite versions in our house are Lichožrouty and Pat a Mat but there are themed versions available for almost every children’s franchise from Krteček to Paw Patrol to Disney princesses.

For children in 3. trida and above struggling with the dreaded vyjmenovana slova (the lists of words containing a y instead of i, which schoolchildren are required to memorize), a game by the name of “Ypsilonie” comes to the rescue. It uses the words as the basis for four different games where players must collect items from different locations, assisted by helpers, and sometimes hindered by experiences such as being bitten by a mosquito (hmyz). It is Czech-only but at a level understandable for a students learning these words. Find it here.

Scientific-minded kids going stir crazy and trying to build lasers from electronics around the house might be at least temporarily satisfied by these activities - at least enough to keep the laptop safe for remote learning.

The amazing science center in Liberec, iQLANDIA, provides instructions for experiments you can do at home using material from around the house or easily available. Filter the colour from coloured drinks, make a rainbow in milk or skewer a balloon with the instructions and videos at iqlandia.cz. Czech-only, but Google provides a usable translation.

Follow Anička and her alien friend Nebešťánek to the Prague Planetarium for all things space-related. There are printable activities like coloring pages, paper models, and worksheets (divided into preschool, 1. stupeň and 2. stupeň) as well as videos, experiments and video lectures. Start discovering space from home at www.planetum.cz. Czech only although the coloring pages and paper models are self-explanatory.

The European Space Agency has you covered for all the space-themed experiments, videos, games, news, and competitions you could imagine. Read about spotting penguin poop from space, learn how to grow food on the moon, or enter a competition to get your artwork on the side of a rocket headed for Jupiter. That’s just the beginning of the adventure at www.esa.int/kids/en/home.