Language

Use the time in isolation to help your kids get ahead with the basic things.
Teach your young kids their alphabet, how to read or how to form letters. Older children could learn how to spell ten new words every day/week or how to use a thesaurus to find synonyms, for example. Here's some other things:

Crosswords

• Teach your children how to do a crossword
• Learn how a cryptic crossword works
• Do an online crossword every day
• Create a crossword and share it

Word games

• Make a word puzzle. Here’s a list of types 
• Play Scrabble, Lexicon or Upwords

Other languages

• Teach yourself or your children sign language
• What about the The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) – a system where each symbol is associated with a particular English sound?
• Why not learn the NATO or International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet?
• Learn a new language with Dualingo
• Watch a film with sub-titles

The language of maths

• Learn your times tables
• Learn how to count in binary and hexadecimal

Count other languages in

• Learn to count in Japanese
• Learn to count in other languages

Reading

Take an opportunity to read some of these books you have always wanted to read and encourage others to do so too. Enjoy reading with your kids too. Here's some activities that might work.

• Take it in turns to read a story to each other
• Create Jackanory Time and have a family story every night (same time and same place)

Find a ‘Classic’ Book and read it

• Try Shakespeare (again)
• Read Thomas Hardy
• Read Cider with Rosie
• Read or Listen to Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas
• Read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
• Investigate Science Fiction – find an anthology or read 2001 a Space Odyssey or watch it.
• Read the Iliad by Homer. Homer is free here
• Read Beowulf – get it here

Other things you could do

• Start a virtual book club
• Start a diary Anne Frank
• Find out why the word ‘decimate’ is often used incorrectly. What other words are misused?
• Learn the difference between fewer and less
• What is received pronunciation?
• Find out what an accent is and why it is important to keep yours
• Where's the Black Country?
• What is the difference between a Geordie and Mackem?
• Find out what natural language is