Children’s author Mo Willems is hosting daily ‘lunch doodles’ throughout coronavirus school closings

If your kid’s school has closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, you’ll probably need all the help you can get to endure the next few weeks or months. Parents across the country are trying to help their kids keep up with their studies and stave off boredom, and it’s easier said than done.

But children’s author Mo Willems has something that will help entertain the little ones during self-isolation or quarantine: a daily lunchtime video in which Willems will make some art and encourage his viewers to embark on their own creative endeavors.

Every weekday at 1 p.m. ET, Willems will post a new “Lunch Doodles” video to the Mo Willems page on the Kennedy Center’s website. Willems, who is the current Education Artist in Residence at the Kennedy Center and the creator of the Pigeon series, “Knuffle Bunny,” and “Elephant & Piggie,” says his livestream is suitable for “learners of all ages.”

Viewers will be encouraged to draw and write with Willems, plus they can send him questions at lunchdoodles@kennedy-center.org, which he’ll try to answer during his videos.

“I know a lot of you guys are not in school. You’re at home right now, because of all the things that are going on. Well, guess what? I’m at home, too,” Willems said in a video press release, per Washingtonian. “We’re gonna hang out together. Matter of fact, I’m really looking forward to it.”

“You might be isolated, but you’re not alone. You are an art maker. Let’s make some together,” he added on the Kennedy Center website.

And Willems has given his permission for teachers to use his books as online teaching resources during the COVID-19 outbreak. He did so on Twitter, with a little help from Pigeon, one of his best-known creations.

“During the current COVID-19 school closures, districts & teachers are working to connect with their students and families online,” he wrote. “I applaud that. You have my permission to read my books & use them for digital story-times to your students for the duration school closures. (sic).”

https://twitter.com/The_Pigeon/status/1239237352935116801

The first episode of “Lunch Doodles” aired on March 16 and is available to watch on YouTube.