Ever since the COVID 19 “stay at home” order has been in place, people from every walk of life and every style of the living arrangement have been relegated to staying in their homes. Unless a person had to make an essential trip out, such as grocery shopping or to pick up a prescription, most people stayed at home. This included children as schools as well as businesses were closed.
At first, most families found the stay at the home situation rather novel, and some even relished being able to stay up late to watch TV and then sleep in the next morning. After a few days, however, many folks found staying at home without the usual distractions such as sports, movies, restaurants, and parks became tiresome. What could people do to pass the time besides playing games on their smartphones and watching TV? Here are some suggestions for having fun at home:
- Try new recipes. Let all family members who want to try a hand in the kitchen, including children with supervision, look through cookbooks or check out recipes on their smartphones. You can pick a country, find out what some favorite dishes are, and try them out. The creative family can read about some of a country’s customs, such as eating with chopsticks and incorporate this as well.
- Write a play and act it out. This is especially fun when children can be involved. In fact, children’s books have lots of fun stories that are easy to turn into a play. Children like to make tickets to sell for older family members to purchase (fifty cents or a dollar)n order to watch the show. Creating costumes for the actors will also be fun and can be a learning experience as well.
- Go on a picnic. If your home has a yard, you can have your picnic outside. If there is no yard, you can create a picnic spot in your living room by putting down blankets or sheets. Have picnic food such as sandwiches, chips, and cookies with special drinks. If your picnic is inside, have drink containers that don’t spill easily. Use paper products so clean-up will be easy, and the picnic is fun for all.
- Have a movie night. Most homes have the capability to watch a movie on their TV. Let all who want to get in their PJ s, make several bowls of popcorn (or to make it more realistic put the popcorn in large cups for each person), and let each person have a soda and candy bar.
- Play board games and card games. There are many games to choose from, and most families have at least a few. Cards are inexpensive, and even young children can participate in simple games such as crazy eights and fish.
- Take turns serving family members breakfast in bed. Make a person’s favorite breakfast and provide a book or newspaper.
- Be creative. Think about a project you have wanted to do but just haven’t had the time. For example, you can garden, paint, rearrange a room, sort photographs, clean the garage, or sew an outfit. Young children enjoy doing art projects using things found around the home, including paper towel rolls, margarine tubs, magazine pictures, bits of cloth, yarn, and ribbon. Playdough is another favorite for children. Check online for homemade playdough recipes as well as recipes for goop and slime, other favorites.
When you think about having fun at home, you will likely think of other ideas to include with the above. Time and some imagination can work together to provide many happy hours while you are confined to your home. And, a final thought: take pictures of the various activities to create a collage of the months of being together to remind each other as life becomes hectic again, that staying home can be fun.