Activities to Stave Off Boredom
In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, the world feels like its has changed it shape. The things we took for granted: spending time with friends, going to events, even going to school, have been put on hold, and it feels like our connections to everything are breaking. But humans are innovative, and coming up with ways to keep those connections alive, and in some cases, strengthen them. So here are some things you can do to connect with your people and the world while you’re practicing social distancing at home. And share in the comments what you’re doing to stay connected while remaining indoors.
Visit the National Parks on Virtual Tour
To help satisfy your wanderlust, go on a guided tour of five US National Parks with a 360° view. It works best if you have a VR headset, but a laptop or desktop experience isn’t a bad alternative either.
Kids Can Learn to Code
Generating an interest in the sciences is important right now. Kids can start by learning to code with these free resources, which will give them an important skill, and will hopefully keep them out of the office while you’re trying to work.
Learn Ballet
We’re all turning to the arts to help get us through this social distancing thing, so why not encourage your young ones to learn one? The Cleveland Inner City Ballet is hosting virtual ballet classes on Facebook Live for anyone who’s interested in learning to dance.
Get a Tarot Card
One of the many convenient features on the California Psychics app is the Tarot deck that’s available for your use. You can shuffle the deck with a tap of the finger and select a card in the same fashion. If you’re looking for answers during this difficult time, the Tarot could help shed some light on things for you.
Take a Virtual Field Trip
With schools having to cancel field trips, many museums and zoos are stepping up to help. Browse the collections of the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsey in Paris, the British Museum in London, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, just to name a few. You can also watch live feeds of animals in zoos around the country, notably San Diego, Cincinnati, and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Find links to all of these museums, zoos, and more, here and here.
Watch the Shedd Aquarium Penguins
Most aquariums have shut down in the wake of coronavirus, but the animal’s dedicated keepers are still going in to take care of them. You can see in this link how they let the penguins out to see some of the other exhibits while no one else was around, which should give you a little joy (it certainly did me.) And if you’d like to see more of the aquarium, they have a live cam you watch as well.
See Wildlife in Action
Many nature preserves around the world have live cams set up, and now kids and adults can enjoy watching gorgeous animals such as elephants, otters, gorillas, and wolves in their natural habitats.
Stream Broadway Shows
It was a huge shock when Broadway went dark, and a disappointment for many when their tours started cancelling everywhere else. Fortunately, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, sites like BroadwayHD and FilmedonStage are giving limited time to binge-watch as many Broadway plays and musicals as you can handle!
Daily Concerts from Broadway Actors
Speaking of Broadway, a new livestream concert series started up this week, hosted by a long time Broadway producer and Playbill correspondent called Stars in the House. It will feature many Broadway stars (and some of their spouses!) who will be calling in from their own homes—because of social distancing of course—to give all of us theater junkies a little bit of relief from what we’re missing with everything from Broadway to our local community theaters currently shut down. Learn more about Stars in the House here.
Live Stream the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has been livestreaming for a while now. You do need to register to watch, but it’s free, and you get to hear beautiful music!
Stay at Home Fest
Where would we be without artists right now everyone? Not only have major events like Coachella and SxSW been put on hold at the moment, but local concerts and gigs of all sorts have been too, in order to promote social distancing, but that’s not stopping musicians from sharing their wonderful talents with us. Welcome to Stay at Home Fest where musicians around the country are scheduling gigs online for the world to listen to from the comfort of home, and hopefully earn a little support at the same time. To learn more, find their website and a schedule for the concerts here.
DIY Spirituality
We at California Psychics are dedicated to helping you along your life path, even when you’re stuck inside your home. Our new DIY Spirituality series can assist you in achieving your goals while also helping with your self-care and inner growth, all from the comfort of your living room. For example, amp up your self-care routine and give yourself a moment to decompress with these DIY Lavender Rose Bath Bombs!
Take a Virtual Tour of Famous Homes
The tourism industry is also doing their part to keep us entertained and educated while we stay safe at home. If you’ve ever wanted to visit it, you can currently take a virtual tour of the Winchester Mystery House in California, or you the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
Be Your Own Bartender
Many bars and restaurants are closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a good drink. You’ll just have to make it yourself. Again, thank goodness for the internet, and YouTube. There are plenty of channels dedicated to teaching you the art of making cocktails, and your local library, while hopefully closed, probably has a digital library with books on the subject you can check out.
Learn How to Maintenance Your Car
This is a great time for parents and older siblings who enjoy working on cars to shine. It’s also a great time for single people who own cars to learn basic maintenance (YouTube will be referenced a lot in the article, and for good reason people.) Why not learn how to change a tire, your breaks, or even perform an oil change on your car while you’re stuck at home? There are plenty of free resources to teach you how to do these things, and much of it lives inside the heads of people you live with, so take advantage of it so you can save money in the future.
Plant a Garden/Yard Work
While your doing your spring cleaning, take it outside and clean up the yard. You’ll get some much-needed fresh air and sun, and you can start planning a garden too. You’ll have to do some research about what grows best in your area, but you can either beautify your home with a flower garden, try your hand at vegetables, fruit trees if you have the room, or create a small herb garden on your windowsills if you only have a small apartment balcony. You can find some great flowers and herbs to start with here.
Read
If you’re anything like me, you have a massive pile of books next to your bed that you haven’t had time to read yet. And a lack of a commute means more time to read! If you’re a superhero who’s read all of the books in their home already, the New York Public Library has over 300,000 titles on an app for everyone with a library card to use for free. So, young and old, singles and families, if you’re looking for new reading material, download the Simplye app for iOS and Android, and start browsing. And for Manga fans, over 450 titles have been released online to read for free, including magazine giants such as Shonen Jump.
Bedtime Reading
Share a book with your kids when you’re finally putting them to bed at the end of the day. And if you’d like a little help, astronauts are reading kids bed time stories from space! It will be a fun thing for kids to engage with, and maybe show them that STEM is fun too.
Crafts for the Kids
Trying to work from home with kids is difficult for many. So in between their digital lessons (they’re starting up again soon, I promise) get the kids started on a fun craft, like making decorations for the house to celebrate spring, Memorial Day, or another holiday you celebrate. There are plenty of free online tutorials that can teach you and your kids just about any handicraft you’ve ever wanted to learn, from sewing, to jewelry making, to safe science experiments you can do in the front or back yard. You could also, stick with me here, have the kids think of something they’d want to make for their relatives or friends as birthday or holiday gifts, because why waste the time?
Coloring Books
Coloring books are fun, bring out our inner artists, and are available for all ages. Don’t knock it till you try it adults, because there is a market specifically for adult coloring books now, and it’s a great stress reliever. You can even vent your frustration with the situation by coloring in your favorite bad words!
Create an at Home Escape Room
If your kids love puzzles and you want to give them a challenge, you can turn your home into an Escape Room using stuff you probably already have. I acknowledge that this isn’t an activity for everyone (I see you, WFH parents) but for those who are interested, here’s an excellent resource to show you how it’s done.
Spend Quality Time with Your Pets
You may be furious at the time you’re forced to spend indoors, but your pets are thrilled that they’re getting extra time with you. Take your dog for a walk (just stay six feet away from everyone else) or take them outside to play. Crumble up some paper or find a ribbon and play with your cat, or nap with your bearded dragons. Anything to make that bond stronger.
Foster a Pet
With as many people as possible practicing social distancing, adopting a pet is not really a high priority at the moment, but it’s also left many animal shelters low on volunteers and supplies. So, if you’re an individual living alone, or a family that’s been considering adopting for a while, why not consider fostering an animal to help take the strain off your local humane society or animal shelter? You’ll have a companion, and the animal can get acclimated to home life before they go to a forever home—unless they’ve already found it of course.
For the Homeschoolers
Whether you’ve always been a homeschooler, or you’re forced to start now, here are some resources on teaching remotely – lesson plans for k-12. Here are also some resources for teaching literacy to children.
Meditate
It’s an excellent way to reduce stress, and the let’s be real. The fact that we have to practice social distancing in the first place is stressful. If you have kids, have them join in too. It’s a few moments of peace and quiet for the home, and everyone will feel a little better for the effort. Learn the benefits of meditation here, and a special meditation technique here.
Discover New Podcasts
Once, families gathered around the radio to get their news and listen to stories, and while we have plenty entertainment on TV and streaming services to fill our story needs today, podcasts have quite elegantly taken up the radio mantel too. If you’re feeling binge-watch fatigue, give your eyes a rest and let your ears do the work. Here’s a list of podcasts that the whole family can listen to.
Catch Up on Your TV and Movies
Streaming services are earning their subscription prices right now. And to help you feel less isolated from your binge-buddies, Netflix has added a playback and chat feature so that you can enjoy all of your movies and shows with your friends in real time. Just remember to give your eyes a rest from you screens every once in a while.
New Movies
While some major movie studios have pushed back releasing films to encourage social distancing, other studios, like Universal, have released some movies that were already in theaters, such as “Emma” and “The Invisible Man”, onto streaming services so that you can catch up on them from the comfort of your home.
Plan Your Next Vacation
Think of this as an exercise in manifestation. If you’ve had to postpone a vacation due to the pandemic, reading about where you’re going when it’s passed can help keep the excitement alive. If you’ve always wanted to go somewhere, start doing research and making plans. Even if you won’t be able to go immediately, putting a plan in place makes it more likely to happen. Families can sit down with travel books, maps, or Google Earth and have each member pick out a place to visit and start a dream timeline. It’s a great way to get your kids interested in the world.
Start Learning a New Language
Have you ever wanted to learn a new language? Take this time to sit down with an app like Duolingo or invest in a webinar. If you have kids, you can even turn it into a group learning experience.
Game Nights
Game nights have been rising in popularity for a while now, so why not brush up on your skills while you have the opportunity? Card games, board games, video games, or party games, take your pick for whatever fits your family best. Parents, you can teach your kids your favorite games, and kids, maybe you can even share your favorite video games with your parents?
Cooking or Baking
While I’m very much on the bandwagon of supporting small restaurants by ordering takeout from them, one of my New Year’s resolutions for several years is to learn to cook. Fortunately, being inside for the time being gives me plenty of time to learn. If you’re an excellent cook, but your baking could use some improvement, here’s your chance. And for parents who are excellent cooks or bakers, or who would like to learn, turn it into a family affair. It will give you all a much-needed break from your screens (no shade to streaming services) and give you all an excuse to make a mess. YouTube is full of wonderful channels that can teach you everything you ever wanted to know about cooking and baking. Here are few of my favorites to get you started. Sorted Food, Rosanna Pansino, Donal Skehan, Cupcake Jemma.
Puzzles
This is an excellent individual or group activity that may pass more time than you think it will.
Work Out
Most of us either have work out routines that have been interrupted or have been planning on starting one for a long time. Thankfully, despite gyms closing in most areas, there are plenty of YouTube channels dedicated to fitness, and many major gym chain trainers are hosting fitness class livestreams from their own living rooms. Here are just a few to get you started: POPSUGAR Fitness, Fitness Blender, Blogilates, ClassPass, and Crunch Live.
Clean
Spring cleaning anyone? You can teach the kids how to deep clean the home while you’re at it, so they’ll be prepared when they have their own in the future.
Call Your Loved Ones
Let’s be honest everyone, living through a pandemic is sort of frightening. If you’re like me, you’re separated from people you love who you can’t easily get to, and who can’t work from home. So, take a moment, pick up the phone, and call them. Staying connected is the most important thing we can do right now; it will keep us grounded, and it will remind us why we are locking ourselves up in our homes. Your family will probably be just as happy to hear from you too.
Get Some Advice from Our Trusted Psychics
With everything else shutting down, you may have thought that we were also closed, but we’re not. California Psychics is still open and our advisers are ready to talk to you (don’t worry, they’re also at home) and guide you through this very difficult and frightening moment in our collective history. So, if you need some guidance or a friendly ear, call us, or you can chat with us in the app. We’re here for you, and we’re not going anywhere.
Make the Connection
As we continue to adjust to the current situation, it’s easy to let the stress take hold. But our connections run deep, and as the world adjusts, and makes more of the world easier for us to explore from our homes, we may end up making much deeper connections to people and places we’ve never known before, and that’s an encouraging thought.
Want to build a better future? A life path reading with one of our talented life path psychics can tell you where you’re headed. And if you don’t like where you’re headed, your life path psychic can steer you down a better path.
Find a life path psychic or learn more about a life path reading.
About California Psychics
California Psychics is the most trusted source of psychic readings. We have delivered over 6 million discreet and confidential psychic readings by phone since 1995. More than a prediction, we are your guide for life’s journey. Serenity, happiness, and success are just a phone call away. With over 400 psychics online to choose from, you’re sure to find the best psychics for you. Call one of our trusted and accurate psychics today! Confidential and secure, real psychics, accurate predictions, 100% guaranteed.
