We were so excited to watch as Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter himself!) reads chapter 1 of “Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone” at the “Harry Potter at Home” website here. Have you checked it out yet? An amazing cast of narrators – plus several surprise guests – will be reading sections of this first book in the widely popular and beloved series by J.K. Rowling.

Here are several online sites that we have found to entertain and encourage tweens and teens to learn something new and maybe even be inspired to volunteer a little time to an online project, right from the comfort of home. Students could even inquire at their schools or community groups to see if any of the online volunteer opportunities could be counted toward service hours.

Fun sites:

• Coding with Scratch
• Discovery Education, virtual field trips
• Fact Monster Dictionary
• Fact Monster Encyclopedia
• Figure This, math challenges
• Harry Potter at Home
• Hour of Code
• NASA Science

Volunteer sites:

• Do Something
• Library of Congress, By the People
• NASA Solve!
• National Archives, Citizen Archivist
• New York Public Library: What’s on the Menu?
• SciStarter
• Smithsonian, Digital Volunteers
• Students Rebuild
• Teens Give
• Zooniverse