Due to COVID-19, more and more Americans are practicing social distancing. While working at home, schooling from home, and sheltering in place, it’s understandable to wish for a simpler time when you could leave the house or interact with others outside of your household without worry. With new recommendations from the White House to continue social distancing through at least April 30, it’s more important than ever add a variety of entertainment to your life to keep yourself from feeling stir crazy. Here is a list of activities to help pass the time at a socially responsible distance:
- Utilize social media and video apps to stay connected to friends and family. Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts and Zoom are all video options you can use to connect with your long-distance friends.
- Walk, jog, hike or bike outdoors (while practicing social distancing from others).
- Read your neighborhood forums to see what types of social-distancing activities they have in place. For example, many neighborhoods are participating in bear hunts, where community members place teddy bears in windows so that kids can look for and count bears during their walks.
- Take a virtual tour of the Yellowstone National Park: https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm. Many parks, aquariums, and zoos are offering free online tours or virtual experiences at this time.
- Write letters to your friends, family, nursing homes, and first responders.
- Do some spring cleaning.
- Play cards, board games or do a puzzle with your immediate family.
- Cook dinner – make a pizza from scratch or try a recipe that you’ve never made before because it was time-consuming.
- Join an online book club or meet with your friends virtually to discuss a book.
- Take a nap.
- Watch a movie or your favorite TV series on Netflix.
- Dig out your old coloring books. Coloring isn’t just for kids!
- Call the elderly people in your life and check on them. This would be a great time to interview your grandparents to learn more about their lives.
- Make a photobook online by uploading your favorite pictures from this past year.
- Buy gift cards from your favorite local businesses to use after social-distancing ends.