News and Events for Seniors

If you are self-isolating and staying inside your home more often during the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some ideas of activities you can do from home.

Seniors' Centre Without Walls

This telephone-based social group for seniors offers social and health programming, free of charge, and provides seniors opportunities to socialize, learn new skills, and stay connected. Seniors' Centre Without Walls is open to seniors age 55+ living anywhere in Alberta.

Learn more on their website and call 780-395-2626 to register.

Aging with Pride Phone Program for 2SLGBTQ+ Seniors

Age Friendly Edmonton Podcasts

The Shared Mic: Conversations for the Ages intergenerational podcast brings together people from all ages, stages, and backgrounds to discuss topics like navigating relationships, finding space to be ones’ true self, and the evolving role of technology in our lives. By creating space for intergenerational discussions, AFE hopes to build a city that values, respects, and actively supports citizens from all walks of life.

In each podcast episode, guests are assigned a topic and given free reign to discuss that topic while sharing different perspectives, but also finding common ground. At a time when we like to focus on what divides us as “Boomers”, “Millennials” “Gen Xers”, and so on, the Shared Mic brings us together to create a shared understanding of the human experience.

You can access The Shared Mic online or through your favourite podcast streaming service, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. 

U of A MOOCs

The University of Alberta offers several free non-credit courses called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Courses include Astro 1010, Bugs 101, Dino 101, Mountains 1010, Introduction to the Arctic, Indigenous Canada and several paleontology topics.

EPL Online Resources

Edmonton Public Library offers a wide variety of online resources - courses, language learning, magazines, books, music (streaming audio) and film (streaming video). All you need is your free library card!

Open Culture

Open Culture curates and centralizes free online cultural and educational content from around the world. Their resource collections include audio books, eBooks, movies, online courses from top universities, and language learning resources.

Virtual tours of world-class museums and heritage sites

• This article in Southern Living magazine highlights virtual tours of 12 prestigious museums around the world.
• MCN has created a guide to virtual museum resources, tours, online collections, and digital archives.
• 6 Beautiful Italian museums to visit for free online
  
• This article in House Beautiful highlights virtual tours of 10 historic homes
  

Music/Theatre/Film/Literature

• The Story Calls program by Storytelling Alberta connects you to talented storytellers who will read you a story over the phone.  
• The Metropolitan Opera will host free Nightly Met Opera Streams of past performances from its Live in HD series. The encore presentations will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST each night on the company’s official website and will then be available for an additional 20 hours thereafter.
• The Seattle Symphony will share free rebroadcasts of past performances via the Symphony’s social media channels on YouTube and Facebook.
• BroadwayHD has a library of hundreds of Broadway productions (paid service)
  
• CBC introduces Movie Night in Canada
  
• Online Music Education Games
• Audible presents a collection of their stories including more than 25 literary classics for free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.
• Joe’s Pub Live offers a free series of live-streamed and archived performances from their stage in New York City each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8 PM Eastern.
• The National Film Board of Canada’s online Screening Room features more than 3,000 films that you can stream for free or downloaded for your personal use for a small fee.
  
• The Social Distancing Festival is curating an ongoing list of cultural live stream events including literature, dance, music and theatre.
• Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8 p.m. Eastern l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will stream a concert from its archive.
  
• CBC Music will be keeping an eye out for Canadian musicians' live streams and updating this list as often as possible.
• Uke 101: Learn to play the ukulele

• National Arts Centre: The NAC is broadcasting #CanadaPerforms concerts via their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). You can also search these platforms using the #CanadaPerforms hashtag. The NAC will also share other content such as podcasts, suggested online theatre, dance and music performances, past NAC Orchestra recordings and videos. NAC Orchestra musicians will also offer individual performances and more.

• National Theatre in London presents National Theatre at Home. Every Thursday beginning April 2 they will release a new play along with bonus content including cast and creative Q&As and post-stream talks. Each week’s content will be free for one week.
• The Citadel Theatre presents the Stuck-in-the-House Series featuring performances by Edmonton artists. You can watch live on their Facebook page or see past performances on YouTube.The series runs until April 20.
• The Edmonton Journal is tracking Alberta-based arts and entertainment livestreaming events in The List.
• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is airing professionally-filmed Shakespeare plays every two weeks for free. Other free content includes readings of Shakespeare’s works and performances of Shakespeare plays in multiple languages.

Science

• Browse NASA’s massive online collection of images, sounds, and videos
  
• The Cincinnati Zoo is hosting a series of Home Safari Facebook Live sessions which will feature their animals at 3 p.m. weekdays starting Monday, March 16. The videos are also available on their YouTube channel.
• This Forbes article provides links to live feeds of wildlife and beautiful vistas.

Fitness

• Westend Seniors Activity Centre released a great 8-week fitness program including an instructional manual and accompanying videos for exercises you can do from home.

• Yoga and meditation classes: Edmonton Seniors Centre is offering the following live, instructor-led classes using Zoom March 30 - April 29. To participate in these classes, seniors must receive a Zoom invitation that gives access to the class. Email the instructor to receive an invitation. Review Zoom instructions.

  Monday: Senior Yoga, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

  Tuesday: Stress Reducing Meditation, 9:30 – 10 a.m.

  Wednesday: Senior Yoga, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

  Wednesday: Chair Yoga, 10:45 – 11:45 a.m.

• Chair Zumba Gold: Edmonton Senior Centre’s longtime Zumba instructor has created a playlist on YouTube that seniors can use to participate in Chair Zumba Gold activities. The instructor will be adding to the playlist, so seniors can also subscribe to get updates when new videos are posted.

• Be Active - Warming Up for Daily Life Poster 
• Free Workout Videos (list compiled by SEESA) 
  • 20-minute seated and standing workout 
  • Seated yoga  
  • Yoga for older adults
  • Yoga for older adults    
  • Light cardio salsa   
  • 7-minute yoga for older adults  
• Keep fit with free exercise and wellbeing classes through YMCA 360.
• Online Zumba classes with local instructor Jodi Jubinville: Monday noon and 7:30 PM, Tuesday 6:30 PM, Wednesday noon, Thursday 6:30PM and Saturday 11 AM

• Edmonton Seniors Centre has started Zoom fitness classes. Fun & Functional Movement (Tuesdays, 11-12 p.m.) and Stretch (Thursdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m.). For more information and to register, email donna@edmontonseniorscentre.ca.  

• Mill Woods Seniors Association is hosting yoga using the Zoom videoconferencing application weeknights at 7 p.m. For more information about these sessions, download the poster or email Shambhu at ed@mwsac.ca. 

• Prana Yoga Studio offer classes online.

Religious Services

• Central Synagogue (Judaism): Friday 6:00 PM and Saturday: 9:30 AM (Shabbat) EST
• Holy Trinity Anglican Church (Anglican): Sunday: 8:30 AM (Traditional Eucharist) and 10:30 AM (Contemporary Eucharist)
• St. Joseph's Basilica (Catholic): Sunday Mass: 10:30 AM
• McKernan Baptist (Baptist): Sunday: 9:00 AM
• Hope City (Pentecostal): Sunday: 8:45AM, 10:00AM, 11:30AM
• Beulah Alliance (Alliance): Saturday: 6:30 PM, Sunday: 9:15 AM and 11 AM
• Immanuel Canadian Reformed Church (Reformed): Sunday: 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM
• Bethel Lutheran Church (Lutheran): Wednesday: 7:00 PM and Sunday: 9:45 AM
• St. Anthony's (Ukrainian Orthodox): Sunday: 9:00 AM (Divine Liturgy)
• Spiritual Seekers United in Community (United): Sunday: 10:00 AM

• Holy Cross Monastery (Russian Orthodox)

• McDougall United Church: Sunday: 10:30 a.m.

• Al Rashid Mosque (Islam)
  

  
  

Games

• This post from Lifehacker outlines board and card games you can play online. 
• This post from Boston.com lists board games you can access online.
• Tabletopia has 800 board games including Bridge
• Play a game of scrabble through the Internet Scrabble Club
  

Socialize 

• Edmonton Seniors Centre has started a new Joyful Chats Peer Support Group using the Zoom videoconferencing application. Upcoming sessions are Gratitude (April 10, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.), Changes (April 13, 1 - 2 p.m.), New Beginnings (April 15, 1 - 2 p.m.), and Most Memorable Spring (April 17, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.). For more information and to register, email donna@edmontonseniorscentre.ca. Sessions take place Mondays and Wednesdays, 1 - 2 p.m.; and Fridays, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Coursera

Coursera offers hundreds of free courses featuring on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, and community discussion forums.