Over the past year or so, COVID-19 has really caused social and recreational activities to suffer. Many of these involve social interaction and are not safe due to social distancing protocols. It is best to stay safe and stay home in such circumstances. However, this does not mean that you have to give up on all of your activities and socialization. In fact, you should take this time to nurture your activities and maybe even learn something new. It won’t help anyone if you just stay in front of the TV and get some good use out of those Cox bundles you subscribed for.
Instead, you should work on something that is more productive, like learning a new skill, or catching up with people you haven’t talked to in a while. Furthermore, quarantine does not mean that you should be completely isolated from society. In fact, you should take the opportunity to explore online and find your community. Whether you have a certain hobby, or just want to talk, you will find something for your needs.
So, if you’re sitting at home and bored out of your mind, here are a few socially distanced activities you can go for.
Virtual Book Club
This is a great way to catch up on your extensive reading list. You can reach out to fellow readers on social media and figure out a way to communicate with each other. Whether you want to go for an audio chat, video call, or simple text communication, there are a multitude of options out there.
You can meet up virtually to discuss what book to choose or follow one of the popular online book clubs such as Oprah’s or Resse Witherspoon’s book clubs. Then, you can allocate a time period within which everyone has to finish the book. Once everyone’s done, you can all meet online and discuss it. This is a great way to read more, and also have interesting conversations with other people.
Online Workout Sessions
Many people decided to take quarantine as an opportunity to improve their wellbeing and fitness. Resultantly, many online fitness programmes and classes popped up. As physical gyms remained closed for long periods of time, most people took up some exercises at home.
You can either go for proper online classes or get a console which supports fitness video games. The Nintendo Wii and PlayStation VR have a large number of options for this purpose. Many gym trainers have also created their fitness programmes online, and there are also some great equipment rental and purchase options out there. So, why not take the opportunity to make yourself fit and healthy?
Trying New Recipes
Everyone remembers when sourdough bread became the culinary symbol of the COVID-19 lockdowns. A tedious thing to make, it was quite an experimental choice to go so viral. However quarantine gives you the time you need to polish your culinary skills. Whether you take online cooking classes, or just try new recipes you come across online, have fun with your kitchen experiments.
If you want to take it a step further and turn it into a social activity, get some people to coordinate a time and do a video call together to try a recipe. This will be a fun activity, and all of you can enjoy it without breaking social distancing protocols.
Taking Up A Hobby
Apart from regular activities, you can also try and learn a completely new hobby. There are online classes and communities for any activity you can find under the sun. You might want to try knitting, dancing, or whatever activity suits your interests. During quarantine, you can practice it as much as you want, and even end up making your newly learned skills marketable. Many people discovered their newly found crafting skills and gave up their day jobs to sell their handiwork online.
Your new hobby can also include learning a musical instrument or language. Take the chance to develop new skills, and you’ll find yourself feeling refreshed and active even during the strictest lockdowns.
Video Chat With Friends & Family
With everyone at home trying to be safe, many people may be feeling lonely and isolated. Take the time to reach out to your family and make it a point to regularly talk to them. You can even turn this into a fun regular activity like Zoom trivia quizzes or play party games online.
The aim is to connect with your loved ones so that social distancing does not lead to isolation. Now that many people are not going to their offices and are rather spending time at home, all of you can take some time out of your week to talk to each other and reconnect.
In conclusion, there are loads of socially distanced activities you can do during quarantine. Most of these do not require much time and effort, and are actually beneficial for your wellbeing.