55 Fun Ways To Survive a COVID-19 Staycation
No doubt the COVID-19 Coronavirus staycation isn’t something you wanted to do. Perhaps you had travel plans canceled. Perhaps you’ve lost your job temporarily. Here are some ways of surviving it.
This is a great time to cook with the kids and pass on an essential life skill. Pick an easy dessert for kids to make, and use the opportunity to teach them how to read a recipe, gather and measure ingredients, and put it all together.
Families can then grab their blankets, cushions, and chip clips to build an epic fort to cuddle up under for an awesome family movie night, with delicious homemade treats!
Stay busy during the quarantine making masks for yourself or to donate, even if you don’t have any sewing skills! We created a DIY Pre-Stitched Fabric Face Mask Kit for people will no sewing experience to have everything they need to be able to create real face masks to wear during the pandemic. Because the masks are mostly pre-stitched, there is just a bit to do to finish it off. This makes for a good, fairly quick family-activity that doesn’t require any equipment that might be dangerous for kids, like a sewing machine.
All profits from the sale of the kits are being donated to health organizations to buy desperately-needed masks and personal protective equipment.
If you’re like many Americans caught in the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re doing the heroic thing: sheltering-in-place. Sometimes you’re stressed; sometimes you’re bored. But if you collect vintage comic books, your favorite superheroes are ready to come to the rescue—to help you relax and fill those vacant hours and possibly make some money. Now’s the time to enjoy—and update or cash in your comic collection!
It’s no coincidence that comic books came of age during the Great Depression and World War II, when Americans needed an escape from grim reality. Comic books are pure, escapist entertainment, where good overcomes evil and reassuringly saves the day. Couldn’t you use some of that right now?
There’s no ignoring the fact that we’re living in difficult times. But there are ways to make it more bearable…and who better to turn to in times of strife than Superman, Batman, and company? Up, up and away!
In order to stay occupied and thrive indoors during these uncertain times, consider a regular meditation practice. Help improve the depth and quality of your meditation with a Tibetan singing bowl. This bowl can be used to create positive, uplifting, and relaxing sounds which ancient civilizations believed could help disperse negative energy and permit fresh new chi to flow through the home. Tibetan singing bowls are also great aids for at-home meditation and yoga sessions.
Create a short film: With many apps like TikTok gaining in popularity, we now have resources at our disposal that were previously only found in recording studios.
So why not create a short film? It’s not only a bit of fun, but you can also learn some skills along the way. And if your video is creative enough, you might even gain some popularity.
Recreate a scene from your favorite movie or come up with your own story. Creativity, communication, story-telling, multimedia production, and even costume design are just some of the things that you will learn.
Listen to a podcast (or multiple podcasts). TV, movies and video games are great at first but can get very old over time. However, podcasts offer entertainment with a twist. Now that podcasts are available on almost every topic and for every demographic, it’s a way to really change things up and be entertained, laugh, or de-stress while doing a puzzle, taking a walk, running on the treadmill, etc.
Beat cabin fever with virtual natural attractions. View the second largest animal migration in the world at home with Rowe Sanctuary’s virtual crane cam in Nebraska. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is live-streaming their Blacktip Reef, Jellies Invasion, and Pacific Coral Reef exhibits. Viewers can zoom in, zoom out, and toggle the cameras around. Visit the nest of a Cahow, a Bermudian bird thought to be extinct for 300 years! Cute alert: there are baby chicks this spring. South Carolina’s Table Rock Webcam takes hikers past mountain streams and waterfalls to the tops of Pinnacle and Table Rock mountains. Learn about the incredible work astronomers do through virtual tours of the country’s observatories and planetariums like the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory to the ESO Supernova Planetarium.
Lena Young
A great way to stay busy, healthy, and connected is through group fitness challenges.
Within your group of friends or family, each day one person challenges the group. They choose a specific exercise, record themselves doing it, share it with everyone else, and then everyone has to try to beat it.
At the end of each week, whoever has the best performance on the most days gets a free meal paid for by the rest of the group. We order only from local restaurants to help support the community during this time as well.
Informative Podcasts are a great way to pass the time during the COVID-19 Coronavirus staycation.
Find a topic you’re passionate about and search for a podcast about it. For example, if you like gardening, you’re going to learn an incredible amount of things from other people who are experienced in that line of work. This is different than just reading a Wikipedia article. These people do the research and share what works with you! Just give it a try while you’re cleaning the house, you might just find your new hobby.
I’ve been a wildlife, landscape, and travel photographer for 10 years. To get through the COVID-19 quarantine I came up with several at-home photography projects to enhance my skills and stay engaged with my passion. Here are some of my favorites:
One Subject: Take a picture of the same object every day in different settings.
Abstracts: Take photos of everyday objects from a unique perspective. Play with lighting, colors, and textures and see what you come up with.
100 Steps: Go for a long walk and every 100 steps or so, look for something to photograph.
I got trapped at my brother’s house during this COVID-19 Staycation. He has a 4-year old niece who was in the habit of creating ruckus if nobody participated in her abrupt dancing sessions on loud music. It was irritating her parents but I found her dancing skills enchanting. I not only kept myself busy by joining the dancing sessions of my little niece but also helped her parents to start a Youtube channel for her cute dancing skills. So, we can combine our Staycation with those of our family members and solve small problems in a creative way.
I’ve found myself practicing different skills, talents, and hobbies to keep myself occupied during my COVID-19 staycation.
One of the biggest things that have kept my family and me busy has been online music lessons. I use “Lessons In Your Home” (based in Atlanta) and they offer music lessons online and in person. It’s perfect in the midst of isolation, as online lessons help my kids grow and continue their pursuit of music. I would highly recommend them. The lessons are incredible, and they keep our family busy throughout the week practicing our instruments. You can find them online at lessonsinyourhome.net
Do a research project. Reading books and articles and listening to podcasts willy-nilly while stuck at home during a COVID-19 staycation is better than mindlessly watching TV. However, you’re not likely to get much out of it. If you want to learn, be a student. Pick a topic to focus on, find relevant books, blogs, and podcasts on it, interview experts remotely, take notes and write a report. Doing so will leave you with a much more useful takeaway from your staycation than tendinitis from Instagram swiping and PTSD from excessive news consumption.
Cook along with an expert chef! Spend your time on your COVID-19 staycation by signing up for a Virtual Chefinar with Avital Tours, a culinary experience company. Each Chefinar features an expert chef as they lead guests through a recipe via interactive, live video chat. Taste your way through a recipe as you talk with others from around the country in this tactical culinary experience. Guests can choose to have an ingredient box delivered to their house (we ship to all 50 states!) or use what they have on hand. Sign up solo, invite friends, or treat clients! Public or private experiences are available.
Learn about Asian cultures and languages by watching dramas and movies on Rakuten Viki (https://www.viki.com/). Find the most popular trends and learn the history of Asia by watching shows being aired in Korea, China, Taiwan, and more. You can even use Viki’s ‘Learn Mode’ and turn on 2 subtitle languages so you can learn a new language while you watch. Viki offers free video streaming of premium Asian TV shows and movies giving millions of people the chance to discover, watch and subtitle international shows and movies in more than 150 languages.
My favorite things to do at home during the COVID-19 staycation are activities that are both enjoyable and useful. For me, that’s cooking elaborate meals to feed my family. Each weekend for the last few weeks I’ve been making things that require a bit of time than I normally have: handmade ravioli, pierogi, etc. (Anything that requires different types of dough.) It’s fun, it’s productive and rolling out the dough is very meditative.
Alexis Haselberger / Alexis Haselberger Coaching and Consulting
Keep busy in quarantine by throwing a family-friendly cocktail party! Enjoy a fun family experience with a nice cold cocktail (for the parents) and a mocktail (for the kids)! To take the experience up a notch, consider these premium authentic copper mugs handcrafted traditionally which are ideal for a number of different cocktails and beverages. At Moscow Muled, all copper mugs are premium and handmade using 100% pure high-grade food-safe copper. In order to protect your health, the interior of our copper mugs are lined with high-grade stainless steel. The company sells exclusively online and ships its products worldwide from the United States.
Why not try a free virtual escape game from ONIGO and see if you can unlock the treasure before the time runs out!
Using items from around your home, you will have 60 minutes to solve the clues and crack the code. You can play either as a household or via video call, making it a great activity to do with your partner, friends, roommates or family!
Use your time in your COVID-19 staycation to learn how to bake or, if you already bake, how to bake something new!
If you’re starting out with baking and want an easy recipe with simple ingredients that your family will be sure to love, try making banana bread or cinnamon rolls. If you already know how to bake but want to increase your repertoire with something more complex, consider learning how to make sourdough bread or a cake from scratch. If you’re gluten and/or dairy-free, there are still many recipes that work well. The possibilities are endless, and, once coronavirus quarantine is over, all your friends will be amazed at how your baking skills have improved.
Since schools are closed, create a schedule for learning activities and relaxing or fun activities. Make a schedule for you and your children that has time for structured activities as well as free time. This can help children feel more secure and better behaved. Kids learn and process through play. As a family, take advantage of being asked to stay home and practice social distancing and use this time to interact while following your regular routine.
During the COVID-19 Staycation, consider:
1- Experiment and practice new recipes together as a family, maybe even create competition. I personally spend a good chunk of my time cooking and taking this time to learn about the ingredients and paying close attention to what goes in my body, it keeps me busy and healthy at the same time.
2- Take a bicycle ride yourself or as a family or go on a hike will help you improve your family’s mood and give you something fun to do and it will keep you busy. It will give you the chance to work out some energy whilst having fun.
I finally found time during the past few weeks to detox my beauty routine. What does this mean? Getting rid of the products that contain toxic ingredients is liberating (sulfates, parabens, and phthalates are known to be bad for you and the environment). Unfortunately, the majority of products on the market (90% of haircare!) contains these ingredients. Take time to educate yourself on what’s in your products and get rid of old expired products, toxic products and swap them out for clean beauty. Your body will thank you.
A lot of people are slacking during the quarantine staycation. The best way to stay busy and stay focused is to make a list of things to do. A lot of people are cleaning out their garages and getting ready for a garage sale. Many people are deep-cleaning their houses. Some people are gardening while other people are remodeling their house. These are all great things to do but what do you do with the kids! Create a list of things your kids like to do. Then create a list your kids can do for long periods of time with our assistance. This way when you are busy, and you don’t need interruptions you can keep the little mind’s busy as well.
It’s great to do free youtube exercise, dance and yoga videos along with your children to get those happy endorphins flowing together!
Also, we’ve been enjoying having family reunions via Zoom. All ages can enjoy spending time together at these fun meetings. We’ve enjoyed singing songs, putting on shows, doing Mad Libs, and having scavenger hunt contests while Zooming.
What’s more embarrassing than living in a country without being able to speak the local language?! Especially when you have been here a while. Even more so if your girlfriend is Iranian. That’s something I’ve always struggled with living in Iran, no thanks to myself. This is why, during the COVID-19 staycation, I am looking to use a variety of methods to start from the beginning to learn the language. Words, sentences, and numbers that may be easy for school children may be difficult at first, let’s see what can happen in 14 days…or more!
I think this is the opportunity for lots of us to learn another language, where for a purpose or a passions
As a family, we love a good barbecue, so we haven’t let this COVID-19 staycation stop us from doing that, but with a twist. We get all the family on skype, and we grill up! We’ve tried out new recipes together, as well as get to show each other our setups for the ultimate grilling experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone in quarantine who can, barbecue helps you to forget what’s going on and you can focus entirely on food and family!
Whilst searching for something different to cook for my family, I came across this great website yummly.com. It has over 130 vegetarian American meals and they are really easy to follow. A lot of the time the recipe uses ingredients you already have at home or easy to get hold of from any local store, which is great when things are more scarce during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have always taken great care in what I eat, so finding a website that gives people like me the meat-free choices without removing the great flavors is a win from me.
Bingeing on Netflix might be one of the most popular activities right now since we are all staying at home under less than ideal circumstances. However, this is not the only thing available to you during this stay at home vacation.
Some of my favorite activities for any occasion such as this COVID-19 staycation would be doing puzzles, especially those detailed huge ones that you never have the courage to start otherwise, reading some of the novels I have piled on my bedside table or finally getting my closet in order.
Another great idea would be to set up a DIY corner and start that hobby you always wanted to try, like painting, embroidering or knitting!
Help your kids turn their focus from what they are not GETTING to what they can be GIVING. There are more people than ever in need of help and kindness. Why not get your family involved in some virtual volunteering during this COVID-19 staycation? Not only will volunteering help conquer your children’s boredom and sense of helplessness, but it also will help hardwire their brain with skills and behaviors essential for life success and happiness: compassion, generosity, empathy, and commitment. They will also learn that even they can make a real difference in the world—and have fun doing it!
Declutter. You’ll be surprised seeing things that you bought but you didn’t recall that you did because they are just hidden. Set some ‘general cleaning’ days during this COVID-19 Staycation, where you assign family members on tasks to keep your things at home organized. And after a tiring day, there comes a delicious meal to look forward to when you’re done!
Coloring is an excellent way to occupy your time when experiencing your COVID-19 staycation. It can help calm your mind. When you color, you are engaged in focusing your mind while creating something unique and beautiful. Stressors fall to the waist side as you shift your attention to something more pleasant and calming. Coloring can also be used for socialization. Use it for virtual date night or a virtual party. While enjoying your staycation at home with family, color together and share your creations.
For me, I workout during the COVID-19 Staycation. With gyms, schools, parks, beaches, etc. closed the Get Yoked Program by Todd Durkin fills the void. It’s a 4-week digital training program for teens but doable for adults of all levels.
This in-home program includes lifting, customizable nutrition, conditioning, and recovery using bodyweight exercises. Meaning NO equipment necessary. I’ve gotten stronger, sleep better and I feel better since I started. It comes in a mobile-friendly format allowing you to do it anywhere. You also get access to challenges, audio messages, motivational quotes, meditations, the chance to win prizes, and MORE. You can’t go wrong. To get started on the Get Yoked Program at www.todddurkinuniversity.com
Moms and daughters will love the games, guides, and gratitude journal pages in Rainy Day Playbook. There are dozens of puzzles, mazes, writing prompts, coloring pages, anagrams, sudokus, mini vision boards, and even a few mantras and breathing exercises to help you stay calm during these long staycation days.
Host an online dinner party: Plan an online “get together” with friends. Call those people who you have been meaning to connect with and ask them to “dinner”. Have everyone make their favorite dish and plan to meet online at a designated time. Once there, enjoy a nice glass of wine, a delicious meal, and amazing company, together.
Start learning a new language! This is an activity that stimulates the mind and could come in useful if you want to travel after the COVID-19 lockdown is over! You can study alone or with friends; decide to learn just a few useful phrases or go all out and dive into the grammar, syntax, and history of a language. There is something new here for everyone – however little or large the amount of time you have. Alzheimer’s Research UK even says that speaking more than one language can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by around 5 years!
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a huge laundry list of “to-dos” – like fixing leaky faucets, replacing water filters and valve seats, and much more (just ask my wife!). This coronavirus lockdown is a great time to empty my to-do list and dig into a bunch of DIY projects I’ve been eyeing for a while. The kids love to get involved too – so it’s a great way to reduce screentime and teach the kids some useful life skills!
I’m using this downtime to brush up on my coding skills. Software skills are in higher demand than ever – especially with everyone working from home now. With so many excellent free learning resources online, all you need is an internet connection to dive into an effectively endless learning resource. Whether you’re looking for a new job or looking to get better at your existing one – improving your coding skills can help further your career!
With the quarantine forcing us to slow down, it’s a great time to take extra time for self-care – and there’s no evening activity better than spending some extra time on your skincare and getting introspective by putting pen to paper. Light a candle, put on your favorite face mask (we love clay masks to give our skin a deep cleanse!), and write down how you’ve been feeling during this time.
Pretend You’re On A Cooking Show! Everyone needs to eat during the COVID-19 Staycation, and it’s the perfect time to learn a new recipe. In order to keep things exciting, don’t simply make a new dish. Rather, prepare all of the ingredients beforehand and place them in an aesthetically pleasing way along with your countertop (think cute bowls, utensils, etc.). Then pretend you are on a cooking show, narrating what you are doing while magically having all of your ingredients chopped and diced just like the pros do. This will make an otherwise mundane task exciting and fun.
Pursue a career certificate for your professional development. By the time the pandemic is resolved, you’ll be prepared for greater responsibilities at work or even a career shift should you so desire. Talk to a mentor or colleague in your industry to pinpoint the certificates with the greatest ROI. Many certificates can be obtained for free, but for certification courses that come at a cost, it’s worth talking to your manager or HR director to see if your company will sponsor your continuing education.
While everyone is already watching TV or Netflix already, I recommend that people change their habits a bit. Instead of binging a series all day that you know that you’ll tolerate, why not use this time to expand boundaries, randomly watch the first things that come into view, and seeing what you like at the end of it? Treat it as an adventure, and it’s more fun with friends. If you want to add even more randomness into it, insert the number of TV channels you have into a random number generator, and commit to a half-hour of whatever luck decides.
Our travel plans were thrown into a spin due to the near-global lock-down. Fortunately, I have worked from home for many years and already practiced a number of healthy habits that are making the “staycation” more enjoyable. Instead of going out and sightseeing or trying new restaurants, we are using this time to be productive – super productive. From 8 am every morning to late in the evening, we are writing and editing new content, processing photos, building our Pinterest community, developing a new podcast, and engaging more writers… all in preparation for when the travel industry bounces back eventually, we will be ready. The #1 key to thriving during this situation that we’re facing is not just thinking positively, but engaging our minds – focus on a positive future and do something every day that gets us closer to it. Even if you are not an entrepreneur, why not look into starting a business and generating a new income stream, or teach yourself a new skill, such as a new language? All these things will come in useful once borders re-open, and planes start flying again.
Designate a specific area to work from, don’t carry your laptop and work from different spaces around the house. Keeping a designated space really helps to get into the “work” headspace while home. Then, put on some music or a podcast, whatever you normally listen to while at work at the office. This is also a really great method of getting into the headspace to complete your daily work tasks as normal. Turning on the TV can be a big distraction.
Travel the World with Geography Dinners: Our family created a bucket list of countries we want to visit. We pick one country a week then research that country’s traditional foods, customs, music, history, fun facts, and heroes. On Friday, we prepare a meal together with local dishes. It’s a fun way to incorporate history and geography into this new homeschooling adventure while getting excited for the day when we can travel again.
Start tackling the seemingly onerous task of sorting and storing your children’s sentimental paperwork and art with the Kid Chronicles kit from Henry & Higby. This simple system makes organizing their mementos from birth through high school easy and you can put it together with items already in your office.
A themed dinner is a great way to bring parents, kids, or other people living in the household together for some fun during this unprecedented time! Ideas for themed dinners include a hibachi night, tropical cookout, garden tea party, or a western picnic. Some people have even been celebrating some of the holidays as a way to lift spirits! For example, there are people who have hung their Christmas lights up again to help spread joy. You can decorate your home, make foods that fit the theme, and dress up to have some fun with it. You could even have someone pretend to be the server!
Cook more of your own meals. One of the biggest potential upsides to a COVID-19 staycation is your frequent proximity to your own kitchen! Unlike typical life which involves frequent commuting and time spent out of our homes, while quarantined we’re frequently close to our fully equipped kitchens. Take advantage of this by not only preparing yourself delicious meals but healthier meals than you’d typically get when you don’t have the time to work in the kitchen or the frequent access to it.
Garden as a family. Young children can get involved with planting and watering. Older children can plan what to plant and can work on spacing the plants and weeding. It’s good for everyone to get outside and into the sunshine. Gardening is a rewarding experience as the plants grow and bloom and produce.
As the global pandemic unfolds, we’re all reinventing routines and creating new, transformative habits.
Make sure you recharge during the work-from-home experience! We launched PushApp: an app to help you reap the research-backed wellness benefits of just 10 minutes a day of exercise.
Rip through your workday with hourly micro-workouts. PushApp takes the concept of micro-workouts and combines it with a habit-forming regiment that consists of 1-2 pushups, done slowly and with perfect form, every hour of your workday.
With many of us working from home and practicing social distancing, we’ll likely be finding ourselves with more time than we’re used to in our homes and otherwise. With the state of things, some of us may also be feeling higher levels of anxiety or loneliness. To counter these feelings, there are a variety of things you can do to stay connected as well as take care of yourself–mentally, physically, and emotionally. Get fresh air as much as possible, even if it’s just for a walk around the block or sitting on your balcony/backyard if you have one. Keep a schedule for yourself and keep up with your normal routines. Don’t allow yourself to sleep in too much or binge too much as a means of distraction. Play upbeat music and have your own dance party!!
Adopt a new pet! My family recently added a new member: Wilby, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy. In just a few months, this little guy hasn’t just brought us joy, laughter and love—he’s also brought us some surprising health benefits!
It’s harder to be depressed in the face of unconditional love and companionship. Recent studies suggest that an optimistic attitude leads to all kinds of health benefits, from a lower risk of heart disease to greater longevity. Even when Wilby is naughty, he makes us smile…who knew that when he runs off with our slippers, he’s really protecting our health?
Writing is not only great for expressing your thoughts but it does wonders in letting out your emotions. You can write just about anywhere, and about anything, also it can be as private as you let it be. which means you can share with the world on your blog or social media or keep it to yourself in your diary.
Lots of people are nattering with the neighbours over their garden fences at a safe distance.
I’ve taken that as inspiration and broke out the badminton rackets. Using the fence as a net me and my neighbour have been playing for 30 minutes almost every day.
It allows us to get our daily exercise every day without breaking social distancing rules.
To be totally safe we don’t touch our faces and ensure we wash our hands thoroughly before and after playing, as we both handle the shuttlecock.
I grow both two main types of parsley – curly and flat-leaved parsley.
I grow them in garden beds and containers, both of which are definitely on the list of the best herbs for container gardening.
My best tip for parsley is to slow-release organic fertilizer at planting time to maintain the plants and keep them herb happy from spring through late autumn.
Parsley appreciates full sun, but can take some light shading no problem.
One of my ways to keep busy during the COVID-19 staycation has been simple – starting an automotive digital marketing business. This is a great time for people to focus on building a secondary business for themselves. We have time to build out web sites, develop content, create social media postings, and more. An amazing time to develop business and strategies! Check out my site at shawnryder.com – Automotive Marketing to learn more!
Shawn Ryder / Automotive Marketing
I hope you liked these tips. Comment below and tell us your favorite things to do during the COVID-19 staycation!
Rick
Rick Orford is the co-founder and Executive Producer of Travel Addicts Life. He has a passion for traveling, healthy living, and making friends all over the world. Aside from travel, Rick is a best selling author and writes about personal finance on The Financially Independent Millennial.
These tips are really cool in these times COVID-19 Staycation…Thanks
Well said. Ready to get on the road again asap!
Thanks for the helpful advice, Covid-19 is so terrible, we join hands to fight the disease from the smallest actions.
This is extremely helpful info!! Very good work. Everything is very interesting to learn and easy to understand. Thank you for giving information.
Thank you!