As of writing, it’s been over half a year since the entire world was swept with a pandemic, leading to major changes in everyone’s daily life. Businesses, individuals, academic institutions, almost everyone had to adjust to a brand-new way of life. When the pandemic struck the world, governments had to do what they thought of as the best way to contain its spread: impose a quarantine.
With that, businesses shifted to online platforms, children are now educated at home, and non-essential workers have to work from home as well. So many countries are still on quarantine, which means having certain restrictions in place when it comes to moving from one place to another.
In the beginning, staying at home may have seemed like a welcomed idea. After all that stress of being on the go every day, working and staying at home comes as a relief. But, after a while, it may have gotten boring for some. It’s challenging to work and go to school at home, on top of all the chores that have to be done. More so, the lack of any outdoor exposure can leave parents at a loss on how to entertain their kids, without too much dependency on gadgets and devices.
If you are one of those that are going stir-crazy at home, then you’ve come to the right place. This article gives you ideas for fun and relaxing activities you can do by yourself, with children or with the entire family while on quarantine.
- Paint It Out
You don’t have to be Picasso to enjoy a good painting activity. The right motivation and drive to create a masterpiece is all you’ll need.
Painting can be an enjoyable activity for the entire family. Plus, it’ll keep children occupied too, for quite a long time. Kids will finally get an avenue to mess around, rather than paint and color your walls. It’s a good bonding activity for the entire family, seeing each other’s work of art. You can even have these framed up as your souvenir from the year 2020 when staying at home was the only way to bond with family.
Children aren’t the only ones who’ll be benefiting from this activity either as painting is also a perfect way to de-stress and relax for adults.
- Knit Up
If you’re interested to learn a new hobby, knitting is a good one to try. It makes the time fly by, and it also helps to relax your mind and body.
If you already know how to knit but stopped doing it, now’s a good time for you to get back. Technology has made knitting even more fun with the use of knitting machines.
Let your creativity take you anywhere. You can make small coasters, jumpers for your kids, and even throw covers for your pillows.
- Play some games online
We’re all sick of boxsets right? You’ve been back through and watched The Office in its entirety, US and UK versions, but you still want a little bit of relaxing screentime. Gaming can be a great solution to this and can allow you a bit of much needed escapism – I’m sure we all know someone who got really into Animal Crossing in the first lockdown!
An alternative from traditional gaming could be to have a go at online bingo or a little bit of responsible gambling. Also remember, there are sites like gamblizard.com where everyone can get their offers and bonuses for the first game.
- Exercise
Family exercise can always be a fun time! Being on quarantine means that you’re more sedentary than usual, eating and lounging around more than you used to. Remember that this can be very harmful to your health.
After homeschool and your work-from-home-time, give the entire family a healthy break by engaging in exercise. Even giving just half an hour every day will have a significant impact on your life.
Here are some fun exercises to try out with kids:
- Hoola-hooping
- Jump rope
- Jumping jacks
- Write A Journal
This activity works for those of you that used to love writing but may have lost the time for it. Now that you’re at home more than usual, perhaps you can also spare some time to write in your journal.
Writing is a good stress-relief, as you’ve got an outlet to express your thoughts without lashing it out on everyone at home. While the pandemic isn’t necessarily a great memory to remember, it’s worth keeping and writing down about for your journal to have stories to tell in the future.
Writing in your journal is also a good way for you to take note of memories and any discoveries that you may have about your children, now that you’re all spending more time with each other.
- Blow Bubbles
If you’ve got toddlers at home, a fun afternoon activity would be to run around your house and blow bubbles. As simple as this may sound, kids love chasing around bubbles, trying to catch them, or break them.
Let your inner child break free and take turns blowing bubbles with your kids! That way, you can also be the one to run around and pop them. Imagine all the laughter that’ll emerge from your children with a simple activity like that. These happy memories are what turns a house into a home. At the very least, you’ll burn some calories from running around.
- Have A Karaoke Night
If you’ve got a karaoke machine at home, bring it out one night. Why not have a family karaoke night. If your quarantine restrictions allow other family members and friends to gather in houses, invite a few over. Just because you all can’t go out yet for your karaoke night, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy it! You can bring it to your home instead.
- Take A Hot Bath
After putting down the kids to bed, go ahead and pamper yourself. Even when you can’t go to the spa yet, you can try to imitate the same experience in your home.
Light some scented candles around your bathroom and take time to enjoy a hot bath. If you’ve got skincare products such as masks that you haven’t applied in a long time, use them too. It’s like having a staycation right inside your home.
You can still pamper yourself even when you’ve got nowhere to go. When you feel good about yourself, you also tend to be happier. This is very important for parents who need to keep everything under control at home.
Takeaway
With these activities, you no longer have to complain about the idea of being at home for too long. You should never feel like you’re stuck at home. Consider the quarantine as a vacation right at the comforts of home. Now that you’ve got new ideas to try out, take turns with applying these. You can finally bid your kids’ screen time adieu and make the most of this time with family to bond and enjoy simple but meaningful and fun activities in your home.