1. Play a party game over Skype/Google Hangouts/whatever with your friends! Jackbox Games like Quiplash and Fibbage are great for this, since only one person needs to own the game and share their screen, and everyone else plays on their phone remotely.
Thanks so much to #Zoom and #JackBox for keeping our friends and family together tonight at this time . 3 hours of laughs and fun
Currently, a number of Jackbox's games are on sale, and they're a lot of fun! Be warned, some of them require some in-person interaction, so you can't play ALL of them remotely, but Quiplash, Fibbage, and Drawful are good bets that most people can play.
2. Play Flip Cup with your friends on Zoom — you don't necessarily have to use alcohol, either!
3. Order a watercolor set from Amazon and follow a step-by-step YouTube tutorial to create a beautiful masterpiece.
4. Learn new recipes by watching Bon Appétit's YouTube videos. The videos are also just entertaining on their own if you're not much of a cook.
5. Upcycle your candle jars into food storage containers to give your pantry a less cluttery look.
6. Check out some of the world's most famous museums via a virtual tour.
7. Binge the latest season of Love Island (UK) on Hulu. It's my favorite reality TV show on the planet.
8. Clean out your closet using the KonMari Method and give away things you don't need.
9. Learn to draw Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters with these official Disney Parks video tutorials.
10. Find a DIY project you can make with things you have around the house/things you can find in your backyard.
11. Give your home a nice deep-clean. It might not be very fun while you're doing it, but your space will feel SO MUCH BETTER and you won't believe how refreshed you feel afterward.
12. There are lots of great yoga videos on YouTube. The videos are great ways not only to stretch, but also help you feel calm.
13. Bake some bread! Not nearly as hard as you think and so satisfying. Both Tasty and the New York Times have excellent and simple recipes.
14. Make a collaborative playlist on Spotify with your friends! I'm making one right now with a friend in Texas — we're switching off every other song and sending each other a message with our favorite picks so far and when it's the other person's turn. Honestly, so simple but so fun.
15. Listen to the Desert Island Discs podcast. A classic BBC production with literal decades worth of episodes — everyone from Daniel Radcliffe to Stephen Hawking to Tom Hanks. The concept is so simple: what eight songs would you bring with you to a desert island? Endlessly listenable.
16. Check out Peloton's 90-day free trial. There are so many amazing classes that don't require weights or equipment.
17. If you like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and more, check out The Ringer's Binge Mode podcast! Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion hilariously break down the series in an addicting way. You won't be bored!
18. Learn a new skill or hobby through some virtual classes! Online hubs like Udemy and MasterClass offer a ton of different courses at varying price points, so you can find something that really excites you.
19. Download The Sims! If you can't go outside, why not create little virtual people that can??? LOL but seriously, it's super fun. And if you played it at all during your youth, it'll bring back some much-needed nostalgia.
anyway I built a cute lil cottage in the sims <33
20. Binge Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu. Four episodes are out right now. It's based on the novel by Celeste Ng (you can spot a cameo from her in Episode 2!) and it's super addicting. Plus, it gives you something to look forward to since new episodes drop every Wednesday.
22. Bake Chrissy Teigen's banana bread recipe. Everyone is learning how to bake bread now, so why not start off easy?
My boyfriend made Chrissy Teigen's banana bread and the day feels slightly more bearable. And @chrissyteigen, please forgive the lack of chocolate - these are trying times!
23. Learn a new language! There are lots of free apps (like Duolingo) and YouTube videos that can help you learn at least some basic phrases.
Duolingo knows what is important for flirting.
24. Hold a costume party with your friends over Google Hangouts or Zoom.
25. Dress up and hold a fancy dinner party with your family or friends over Google Hangouts or Zoom.
26. Check out digital books from your local library.
No library card? No Problem! Libraries are offering digital library cards to #homebound readers 💳 https://t.co/Zneffwwj8I
A lot of libraries offer digital checkouts. Also, if you don't have a library card, you might be able to sign up for one online.
27. Take dance classes! YouTube is filled with instructional videos for all types of dancing!!!
28. Virtually visit theme parks around the world and check out all the rides with SoCal Attractions 360.
29. Binge-watch a new show or watch a movie with your friends or family using Netflix Party.
Netflix party getting the troops through 🤷🏼♀️😇 Also bumper from pitch perfect is an absolute mood.
30. Treat yourself to a ~spa day~ (make a mask and take a bath). Go all out by making spa water and playing serene music or nature sounds.
31. If you love desserts but don't know how to make them, watch Preppy Kitchen videos on YouTube. The host, John Kanell, does a great job breaking down how to make all sorts of treats.
32. Stream a free audio book.
33. Bust out your bead kit and make some friendship bracelets for your buddies.
34. Set up a "glam" photo session at home. I know this sounds silly, but pull out a bunch of different outfits and take photos using a bed sheet as a backdrop (play with lamps for lighting). Nobody will see them if you don't like them, but you might get a Gram-worthy pic out of it.
35. If you have extra paper around, give origami a try! There are tons of how-to videos and websites that will teach you.
36. If you have the supplies, try to bake some ~fancy~ recipes from the Great British Baking Show! There's a list of recipes you can follow for both technical challenges and contestant creations from the show.
37. Make yourself a custom photo book, tote bag, phone case, or a bunch of other items on a site like Shutterfly. There are often coupon codes out there to help with the cost. Even if you don't have the money now, you can still put together a photo book and save the project to buy later.
When life hands you a free shutterfly phone case....
38. Stream classic Broadway shows, BBC Shakespeare productions, and other plays on BroadwayHD, which is currently offering a seven-day free trial.
39. Pick your favorite actor and do a marathon of their movies. See how many you can hunt down on various streaming channels or in your DVD collection.
41. Have you always wanted to train yourself to do the splits? Well, now's your chance! There are a ton of great TikTok tutorials on it, like this one.
42. If you've got a furry friend, give them the best days of their lives! Bathe them, take them on long walks, play fetch, and snuggle the hell out of 'em! Here's my dog Louie looking just like my white shag pillow after his bath:
43. Give yourself a mani-pedi. And have fun with it! Not many people are gonna see it, so why not get a little wild?
44. Make a quiz about yourself and test your friends to see how much they know about you! Buddy Meter has a fun one.
45. Start a book club with your friends or family. You can hold your meetings over Zoom or Google Hangout.
46. Have a Zoom or group FaceTime wine tasting with friends!
47. Or if you and your friends are looking for something else fun to do together, try a virtual scavenger hunt with things you have around your home! Better yet, write your own — give it a theme, and make it as innocent or rated-R as you'd like (wink)!
Our company really just did a virtual conference scavenger hunt inside our homes and not gonna lie it was pretty fun 😂
48. And if you're into true crime, a virtual murder mystery party is a cool way to have an in-home whodunit!
49. Make your own Picasso-inspired self-portrait using crayons, markers, paint — whatever you have on hand! There are plenty of online tutorials to help! And if you have kids, they'll love doing it too!
50. Theater nerd? Get together with your friends on Zoom or FaceTime and have a Broadway musical sing-along! Go ahead and assign parts for extra fun!
51. Try a YouTube makeup tutorial! Always wanted to learn how to contour or perfect your smoky eye? Now's the time!
52. Lose yourself in a Magic Eye book! It's even more fun with a glass of wine and as a date with your significant other!
53. Find tons of new recipes while cleaning out your fridge with Supercook! It's a website and app that lets you input whatever ingredients you have on hand, and then generates thousands of potential dishes you can make.
54. Play the We're Not Really Strangers card game with someone via FaceTime or Zoom! It's a series of cards with unconventional questions aimed to help deepen and strengthen relationships. Great to do with your S.O. or even someone you just met.
55. Shop for some cute and cozy lounge clothes. You might as well work from the couch in style! MeUndies is having a 50% off sale on their loungewear. Keep an eye out for other sales too!
56. Learn about houseplants, buy some, take care of them, and watch those babies flourish! Here's a great guide to indoor plants that are REALLY hard to kill (aka right up my alley).
57. If you miss the great sport of golf, turn your IKEA bookcase into indoor target practice.
58. Stream Dua Lipa's new album, Future Nostalgia. It's a bop-and-a-half!
59. Watch every movie that's won best picture in the past 20 years, starting with the 2020 winner, the Korean film Parasite.
60. Re-read your fave young adult series over again, and then after you finish that, read books similar to your fave YA series!
61. Get really, really good at chess by practicing against your computer.
62. Or Google "tic-tac-toe" and play a game to pass some time.
63. Learn a new cocktail recipe (or perfect one of your faves!) so you can impress your friends and family when this is all over.
