Family activities to try at home

As COVID-19 spreads across the U.S., more and more cities have shut down while local governments ask their citizens to stay at home and social distance. Social media has allowed communication between friends and family to continue, but even with this, people may be getting bored inside their houses all day. This has caused some people’s creativity to spike, finding something new and exciting to do every day. If you’re looking for more ideas, keep scrolling.

Cooking competition

If you live with your family or friends, this is a great way to create some friendly competition and hopefully some yummy food. First elect your judge, then have everyone else who lives in your home find a dish that they want to make. You can even make this a themed competition, where everyone makes a certain kind of food under the same broad category 

If you want a more intense competition, add in a time limit for the food to be on a plate and ready to be eaten. Scores are based on presentation, creativity/meal selected and flavor, just like any other intense cooking competition on TV. Get your mixing bowls ready, and go!

Get some fresh air

There are so many ways to do this, like going on a walk or a run, but you can plan a whole day out of your outdoor adventure as well. As it begins to warm up outside, our boundaries of quarantine may be extended, as long as we stay six feet from others. 

On a nice day, try going on a bike ride with your family. You can plan to stop at different locations along the way. A bike ride is also a perfect way to find hidden places around where you live. Maybe you’ll find a new trail, lookout or cool building, depending on your location. Pack yourselves a picnic so you and your group can have a meal somewhere interesting, while enjoying the fresh air. Don’t forget your speaker and a blanket for the perfect pit stop.

Game Night

This is another way to tap into your competitive sides. Whether through board games, table games or card games, there’s bound to be some family fun. If you’re playing a quick game, like ping pong, you can even make a bracket to see who the ultimate champion is. You can also add some more competition into your night by keeping track of how many times players have won or lost. Then, when all games are done, give out rewards or consequences.

At home drive-in movie theater

Make your movie night into a production itself by turning your driveway into a drive-in movie theatre. You’ll need to own or borrow a projector for this activity. Hang a white sheet on your garage door to use as a big screen and set up your projector. Then back your car into the driveway, pop the trunk and fill the back seat with pillows and blankets. You can even hang some string lights to create a cozy ambiance.

Tailgate

This is a safe way to spend time with some family friends. Each family should make or buy their own dinner. Then, all of the families meet up in a parking lot for a meal, quarantine style. Make sure to park your cars far enough away that people from different families aren’t too close to each other. Remember to bring chairs to set up around your car and eat up! Groups of friends can do this as well, as long as each person drives their own car to the parking lot. Meet up with your own stash of snacks and drinks, turn on some music and enjoy.

Scavenger hunt

It may have been a while since your last scavenger hunt, or maybe you haven’t done one since you were a kid, but we’ve got to get creative if we want to stay busy during quarantine. Start by assigning each person in your family someone else to make a scavenger hunt for. Make some guidelines, like parameters and number of hints. Write and hide your clues, and let the game begin! You can add an incentive of a prize for whoever finishes their hunt first.