While it’s apparent that we will all be spending a lot more time indoors over the coming days, weeks or possibly longer, we thought we would create a list of wonderful ways you can entertain yourself while at home! If you are self-isolating to protect others, we salute you - you are a hero! For many, going into self-isolation is paramount in order to keep safe. Remember, this isn’t forever and make sure to reach out to others during this time. Looking after your mental health while isolating is super important, so finding different ways to exercise your brain and beat the boredom is something you should consider. With your extra time, why not try some of our following ideas…
- Read a book
Stay away from the screens for a while and dive into a book. Some of our recommended reads include ‘ The Happy Newspaper’, Hilary Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’ and Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’.
- Learn a language
If you’re up for a challenge than learning a new language is a great brain exercise. Duolingo is a great free resource for hundreds of languages! Empieza a aprender!
- Watch a film
Whether it’s action, comedy, drama or musical, choose your favourite film or watch something new. Our top picks are ‘A Quiet Place’ for jump scare fans, ‘Flushed Away’ for family fun and ‘Mamma Mia’ for a classic musical.
- Learn to bake
If you’ve got the ingredients you could teach yourself how to bake a cake, cookies, or a simple flapjack. Go online to find a recipe, you can even search for a recipe based on the ingredients you have!
- Learn to sew
Learn a practical skill like how to stitch up that hole in your jumper, or even how to make your own clothes from scratch! Or if you’re looking for something more intricate, you could try embroidery or cross stitch.
- Play a board game
If the whole family is quarantined, why not try a bit of family fun in the form of a board game. You could play a classic like Monopoly, something more sophisticated like Chess or Draughts or for an older crowd try a cheeky card game like Exploding Kittens or Cards Against Humanity!
- Do some spring cleaning
Not everybody’s cup of tea but now is a great time to tidy the house, the garage, the garden. Take a picture of the space you want to tackle before and after you clean it. That way, by the time you’re finished, you’ll be able to see how much you’ve achieved and feel much better for it.
- Do a jigsaw puzzle
Dig out that 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle hidden under your bed and get stuck in. (We’re obviously big fans of this idea!)
- Watch a series
Most households now have some type of streaming service, be it Netflix, Amazon Prime or Now TV. Browse through their box sets to find something to binge!
- Grow a plant
Not sure if you’ve got green fingers? Now’s the time to find out! Cut the top off an old plastic bottle to make a plant pot, add some drainage holes in the base, fill with soil and plant a seed!
- Learn an instrument
It’s amazing how many people have an instrument in their house that they’ve never even touched. That keyboard your daughter learnt to play in school, or that guitar you promised you would learn some day! Now is a great time to get your teeth in to learning something new. There are hundreds of free resources online, YouTube is a great place to start!
- Write a short story
Boredom can sometimes be a great source of inspiration! Use that empty head space to create a world filled with dragons, or write a romantic poem for the love of your life. Pick up a pen and see what comes out… Here are some completely random words for inspiration -Haphazard, pickle, sunflower, ranch!