Often the phrase “I’m bored” is heard from a child’s mouth, but even more of us suffer to come up with things to do when social interactions are limited and there are no more new movies to watch on Netflix. These are our 15 best ideas for lockdown activities, most of which you can do alone from your couch while some can be done even with family members.
1. Learn a new skill
This can be anything between building a bird house, making origamis, learning magic tricks and playing an instrument. YouTube is a great source for instructions while you can use online shopping for materials. Duolingo is an excellent app for learning a new language which is a good way to spend your spare time productively!
2. Gardening
With summer approaching and weather becoming warmer, buying some plants will give more colour to your garden or living room. Maybe build a mini-garden for some vegetables and herbs?
3. Podcasts
Podcasts have increased their popularity during the past couple of years. You can find many on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
4. Games and puzzles
These will help you lose track of time and keep younger family members entertained too. Maybe you have a Wii or a PlayStation in the basement? Or a 1000-piece puzzle and board games? If not, there are several puzzle games available on App Store, for example 1010! and Tetris.
5. Calling your friends and relatives
Especially during times like these it’s important to stay connected with your close ones. Maybe you have a spare hour in the evening for facetiming your friends or grandma? Even group video calling is easy on Facebook Messenger!
6. Build a time capsule
Find an empty box, put in some meaningful items, leave it in your wardrobe and forget about it until you remember it again years later. This is a fun activity to do with family members. You could also write a note to your future self!
7. Make a top 5 list of your favourite movies or series
After being in lockdown for a while, you might already know on what’s available on Netflix or Amazon Prime, but listing your favourites is harder. Perhaps you’ll end up rewatching some old favourites!
8. Cooking
Having several takeaways a week becomes expensive quickly. A productive way for spending your time efficiently is learning to cook a new go-to dinner for your busy weekdays and might also save you some money.
9. Going through old photos
This can be done alone or with your family members. If you don’t already have a photo album, it is easy to order one online! Now you would have the time to go over the photos on your phone and get some of your best memories printed out.
10. Exercise
Spending your time by getting some fresh air outside or even doing a short stretching session indoors is good for your health. Yoga and pilates are something you might want to try out – YouTube is again an excellent source for inspiration and short 10-minute sessions. A simple bodyweight workout is another option!
11. Reading books
Even if you aren’t much of a reader, another option is to listen to audiobooks or read comics.
12. Documentaries
It’s not only series and movies you find on Netflix: there are some eye-opening documentaries too. TED Talks are a way to learn more about the topics that interest you the most.
13. Organise, redecorate or renovate
This doesn’t have to be anything major because even moving furniture around and buying plants can make a difference! At the same time you can go over some old items and consider getting rid of the things you no longer use.
14. Write a letter
A small thing that can really cheer up someone’s day. You could write one to a childhood friend you haven’t spoken to for a long time, a friend from work or someone you look up to.
15. Take a nap
Even if you’ve been given furlough and have the pressure to be productive in order to accomplish something with your spare time, spending time on your own wellbeing is a great idea. Remember to relax!