Coronavirus has sent billions of people under a lockdown. It is an unprecedented situation the world never faced before. Our ancestors lived through famines, World Wars, even several epidemics. But nobody would have ever thought a day would come when whole countries would become still and silent.
Obeying the lockdown and maintaining social distancing is essential to stay safe from Coronavirus. But these measures may also give rise to anxiety, depression, and boredom. Staying locked within homes for days can be especially hard for children.
At such a time, you need to keep yourself and your family engaged in interesting activities. Sure, binge watching Netflix or playing games on your phone and computer can be fun. But this kind of fun is not good for your eyes and health. Instead, try spending the lockdown days in other interesting and productive activities.
Here are some ideas for you:
Things you can do in a lockdown
Exercise and yoga
This is a perfect time for you to lose weight and get in shape. You are at home. You are getting bored. Use those exercise equipment you bought and then forgot. Or find some good exercise videos on YouTube and start exercising. If you can’t do strenuous exercises, switch on some music and try walking around in your home. Set up your weight-loss goals and use the lockdown days to achieve it. Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises help reduce stress and keep the blood circulation going. It’s always good to include some form of exercise in your life.
Innovative exercises during lockdown
Don’t have exercise equipment? Well, then create some! Innovate and use the things at your home to exercise. Share your exercising videos on social networks and motivate your friends to stay active too.
Plan your diet
You have postponed your diet plans long enough. Now is the perfect time to start eating healthy. Sit down and plan your diet. Decide what you need to stop or start eating. You may not get all food products during a lockdown. But your plan will help you eat better after the lockdown is over.
Read
If you are a bookworm, you will have no difficulty doing this. If you are not, give books a try. Choose the genre you think you enjoy. Mystery, fantasy, romance, historical, crime — there are plenty of choices. If you have books waiting in your To-Be-Read list, read them. If you don’t have any book at home, download some. There are plenty of free eBooks available for you to enjoy. Download the Kindle app or any other eBooks app on your phone, tab, iPad, and start reading.
Tell stories to your children
Telling stories to kids does not just help pass time. It is an excellent way to strengthen your bond with your kids. Stories help in firing up children’s imagination and can teach them valuable life-lessons too.
Listen to music
If you enjoy music, then this is the perfect time for you to run through your entire collection, dig up the old favorites, and discover new artists.
Dance
Why just listen to music? Dance to it. It will be fun. And dancing can be an interesting exercise, too.
Plan a family dance competition
Make dancing a family activity. You can organize a family dance show or competition. You can make your kids spend some days in practicing before the final dance performance. Children would love it, especially if you promise some reward to the winners.
Sing
If you enjoy singing, use the lockdown days to learn some new songs. And like dancing, you can organize family singing competitions too.
Learn musical instrument
Did you buy a musical instrument with great enthusiasm but then put it to a side and forgot? Pick it up again and start practicing. If you don’t have any book to guide you, use the internet. You’ll find plenty of music lessons online.
Learn to cook
Use lockdown time to improve your culinary skills. Make the best use of the food items you have at home. But be careful and don’t waste anything. Food is precious now.
Make a wishlist
Lockdown might have restricted your shopping fun. But that doesn’t mean you can’t browse the online retailers and line up your wishlist. Window browsing is fun too, isn’t it?
Clean your wardrobes
You don’t have the excuse of being too busy. So, clean your wardrobes now. After all, you need to make space in them for the celebratory shopping you’ve planned for post-lockdown days!
Clean your home
Why stop at just wardrobe cleaning? Your house can do with some sprucing, too. So, get down to it. Clean your kitchen, bathrooms and all your rooms. It will help you use idle hours. You will have a clean home. And it will give you good exercise as well.
Re-decorate
You can’t go out to shop for decorative items. But you can re-arrange the things in your rooms. So, do it. Try giving your home a new look by moving the furniture and other stuff to new positions.
Draw and paint with your kids
Your kids might get bored with drawing and painting alone. But if you join them and challenge them, it can keep them entertained for longer. It will be fun for you too.
Best out of waste activities
Challenge your kids at a best out of waste activity. Encourage them to use their imagination and make something interesting. You can help them, but let their ideas be in lead. Such activities can help you keep children away from phones.
Play funny games
Think up some funny games and play with your family to make everyone laugh. For example, hold a competition of making funny sentences using the given word, or giving an impromptu speech about a funny topic. Or just have a competition of making funny faces. Use your ingenuity to raise some laughter. It will make everyone feel better.
Board games
Have family tournaments of games your kids love. These can be board games, jigsaw puzzles, Lego toys, etc. Make these games more interesting by holding a tournament with various rounds and prizes to the winners.
Fun with neighbors
If you live in an area where houses are close together and balconies face each other, have balcony singing and dancing programs or competitions among the neighbors. All neighbors can participate from their balconies.
Have haircut fun
Give yourself a haircut. Or make it a couple’s activity and give each other a haircut. Enjoy the romance. But do it at your own risk! And be very careful while giving a haircut to your kids. If you mess it up, your children will never forgive you.
Make old clothes new
Dig out your old clothes and make something new out of them. You will find plenty of ideas on YouTube, Pinterest, etc. Check out some cool ideas from Lifehack.
Meditate
If the pandemic and resulting lockdown are making you anxious, try meditating. Sit in a quiet place. Close your eyes and try to focus your attention on your breath. Meditation can help you relax and feel more positive.
Weird sounds
Record the weirdest sounds you can create using stuff at home. Share with friends and family.
Start a blog
If you had been thinking of starting a blog, do it now. Just decide what you want to write about, set up your blog, and start blogging. It will keep you engaged for hours every day.
Write a book
Have you felt a book bubbling in your heart? Use the lockdown days to pour it out. You can use the quiet time to write a fiction or non-fiction book. It will keep you busy. And when you finish your book, the sense of achievement you’ll get will be an experience worth all the hard work.
Start a YouTube channel or a podcast
If writing is not for you, start a YouTube channel or podcast. Share your fun and knowledge with the world.
Drawing with kids
Did you enjoy drawing as a child? Maybe the busy life pulled you away from it. Well, it’s time to revive your hobby. Sit down with paper and pencil and start sketching.
Give yourself a beauty treatment
You can’t go out to a beauty parlor. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give yourself a beauty treatment. So, use the time to give yourself facial, manicure, pedicure, etc. Pamper yourself.
Give yourself a funny makeover
Not interested in beauty treatment? Have fun giving yourself a funny makeover. Use the stuff at home to give yourself a funny look. Then click photos or record videos and share them with family and friends. You can even have a family competition for it!
Quit a bad habit
With the pandemic spreading death around the world, you can see how precious life is. Take care of it. If you have been harming yourself with bad habits like smoking or alcoholism, quit it now.
Clean the junk out of your computer
You have cleaned your home, start some digital cleaning now. Remove the junk from your computer. Organize your files, photos, etc.
Clean the junk out of your phone
Like computers, smartphones also collect plenty of junk. Sit down and remove all those useless files. You might even reset your phone. But backup your valuable data first!
Clean your social media profiles
Take a look at your social media networks too. There might be some photos on it you find embarrassing or disturbing now. Remove them. There might be some connections that you no longer want or recognize. Remove them. Use the lockdown days to take control of your social networks.
Dig out the old family albums
How long has it been since you last looked at your family albums? Dig them out now and enjoy roaming through delicious memories.
Do an online course
This is the perfect opportunity to do an online course and improve your skills. Whether you want to learn a new language or gain some new technical skills, you have free time to do it now.
Build card castles
Of course, you can use the playing cards to play card games. But when you feel bored with playing, try to build a card castle. Click photos of your ‘architectural’ excellence and share them on social media.
Plan a treasure hunt for your kids
A treasure hunt at home can be entertaining for the whole family. Have fun setting it up. Then have more fun watching your family battling with your clues.
Start Gardening
If you have a garden or potted plants, tend to them. Gardening will also help you relax and feel less anxious.
Capture the sky
With the humans trapped in homes, the air pollution has reduced and the sky can shine clearer now. Click some nice pictures of the sky from your home or garden. You can have even more fun by imaginatively editing them using smartphone apps.
Discover beauty in your home
Click interesting pictures of your plants or objects in your house. Try to discover surprising angles and make ordinary things look extraordinary.
Start Making Plan
Make plans you had been pushing away. You might be thinking of starting a new business. Or you want to renovate your home. Use the lockdown time to complete your plans.
Plan your next vacation
Here’s another plan you can complete while you are confined to your home. Gather all the information you need from the internet and plan out a perfect vacation for yourself and family.
Be social
Observing Social Distancing is important to be safe from the Coronavirus. But you can still stay in touch with your friends and family through your phone. Such social interactions can help you relax and improve your mood too.
Revive old friendships
Get back in touch with old friends you haven’t contacted in ages.
Bond with your family
Spend quality time with your family. When you sit together, be together. Talk, instead of staring at your phone. Enjoy family time.
Spread motivation
With the world under a pandemic attack, we all are feeling anxious and gloomy. At such a time, reading motivational and funny quotes can help in improving your mood. You can browse for them on Pinterest. And if you find something you love, share it with your friends and family. Everyone can benefit from motivation and smiles, especially in these trying times.
Enjoy the quiet time:
Life is a hectic race. Enjoy the quietness of these days. Just sit down comfortably and let your mind wander. But try to keep your thoughts happy and positive.
Do weird googling
Google using the weirdest phrases and see what you stumble upon.
Journal
Write a journal of the lockdown days. Pour out your thoughts and worries. Note down your experience of this extraordinary time. It will help you relax.
Sleep
We don’t realize how much sleep-debt we accumulate in our busy life. Sleep deprivation can lower your immunity and affect your physical and emotional health. So, use the lockdown days to rest yourself. Relax and sleep. Rejuvenate yourself to face the hectic days that will return once the lockdown is lifted. But don’t over-sleep either! Discipline yourself. It is very important to stay happy and healthy in the long lockdown days.
Conclusion:
With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the world, we are living through days that are almost too shocking to believe. At such a time, keeping your mood happy and morale high is important. You cannot step out of your home. But you can still have fun and stay busy in activities that are engaging, entertaining, and can help you stay healthy.
