Sunshine Coast Council

Being creative is beneficial throughout all stages of life. It can help to relieve stress, boost self-esteem and provide a sense of accomplishment. Simply put, it can make you more awesome! So take time to get creative, work on a project you’ve always wanted to and learn new things.  

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.” Maya Angelou

Learning online

• Free online TAFE courses 
  Access online skill sets and micro-credentials in food service, community care, health support, customer engagement, digital literacy and cyber security
• Coursera 
  Offers free courses from top universities such as Yale, Michigan, Stanford, and leading companies including Google and IBM
• Lynda.com 
  Gives you access to more than 6,000 top-quality courses for learning the latest commercial software, creative and business skills and more
• Future learn 
  Offer online courses to continue studying, build professional skills, and connect with experts
• TED Talks 
  Stir your curiosity and broaden your horizons
• YouTube
  Is full of expert video tutorials where you can try something new, here are 60 YouTube channels that will make you smarter!

Here is a comprehensive list of free online classes where you can gain useful knowledge without having to pay for expensive instruction or courses.

Entertainment 

• Eventbrite 
  Have rounded up the best events that you can join from anywhere
• Many books 
  Have more than 50,000 free ebooks waiting to be discovered
• What's On
  Search the calendar of council events and events held at council venues.

Art and craft

• Creative Arts Alliance
  Have complied a comprehensive resource list of creative programs, funding, opportunities, professional development and support in the time of COVID-19
• ArtsHub 
  A guide to digital arts activities and online tutorials to help you skill up, webinars and streaming services to inform and entertain, through to an array of resources designed to educate children

Here is your complete guide [57KB] to enjoying art at home, including links to: 

• art contests - submit your art for cash prizes
• museums - take a virtual field trip to museums around the world
• art games - compete against yourself and others
• digital art - create art on your device
• art education - learn about art
• art at Home - art tutorials and prompts for you to create where you are.

If you are feeling crafty you will find plenty of tutorials online

• Blossom 
  Welcome to your cheat sheet for creative and unique DIY projects, mixed with daily life fixes that keep you and your family in mind. Consider your life hacked!
• Skill Share 
  Discover free classes on DIY crafts and creativity, watch, play, learn, make, and discover! 
• Learn how to crochet 
  A series of tutorials to learn basic stitches that will get you on your way to making fabulous items

Learn some new cooking techniques

• BBC good food 
  Have a great guide to cookery skills for children by age
• Food Techniques BBC 
  Selection of cooking videos from beginners to advanced
• Bon Appétit video channel 
  The magazine’s test kitchen chefs have become cult celebrities with their offbeat-yet-gripping shows
• New York Times cooking team 
  YouTube channel where Melissa Clark, Alison Roman and guests such as Jamie Oliver and Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski do baked ziti (pasta), cookies and more

DIY and home improvement

Start that home project you have been meaning to do!

Leading home improvement YouTube channels include:

• House Improvements 
• FIX It Home Improvement 
• Better Homes and Gardens 
• Handyman Magazine 
• DIY Hip Chicks 

Gardening and sustainability

• Spare Harvest 
  A movement of like-minded people who relish and practice the value of living more sustainable
• Living Smart 
  Find useful life hacks to save time and money while creating a healthy living environment with your family
• Our Permaculture Life 
  A selection of films with Morag Gamble where you can browse over 100 permaculture how-to films, garden visits, interviews and masterclasses
• Good Life Farm 
  A series of helpful videos on lots of topics including no-dig gardens, hot compost, and how to get some fresh food growing fast
• Permaculture College Australia 
  Robyn Francis has put together a planting guide for an abundant garden, perfectly suited to our sub-tropical climate
• RetroSuburbia 
  David Holmgren co-originator of the permaculture concepts, the book is currently available for download for whatever people choose to pay
• Gardening Australia have an awesome array of fact sheets and ideas on how to nurture your garden and grow vegies. So get out there!
• Milkwood 
  Learn at home education resources for home based living, including, healthy DIY food and medicine making, gardening and growing
• Kookaburra Organics Facebook Group
  To help all those who are embarking to grow food simply and without spending money
• Sustainable Gardening Australia 
  Take the opportunity to learn how to grow your own edibles all year round.
• Marty’s Garden Show 
  Introducing you to four Australian native foods you can grow at home.

Sunsine Coast Libraries

• Access thousands of documentaries and movies including quality international content.
• Stream unlimited music and download five tracks per week for free.
• Read a wide range of online magazines including craft, art and home repairs, you have access to all the ideas you need to get creative. 
• Learn a new language with LingoLite access phrases and vocabulary in 30 languages using images, text and video.
• Open the world up with encyclopaedias and infomation, search your ancestry, learn about antiques and collectables, discover world culture and explore national and regional cuisines and special occasion foods.

If you aren’t already a member of Sunshine Coast Libraries join online.