Share your "hunker down at home" entertainment ideas

[Miss Piggy]

Hubby and I are hunkered down at home now. If you are, too (or even if you're not), what ideas do you have for things to do? Here's how we've been keeping "busy" (and I use that term loosely):

- Free movies from Hoopla library app (but only 10 items a month, including books and movies)
- Puzzles
- Board games
- The dreaded list of house projects (but many of them would involve trips to the store for tools/supplies, so they're out)
- Going for walks around the neighborhood
- Professional development-related things (I had a few "assignments" to complete for a designation; they're now done)
- Exercising

What else could we be doing, other than pretending to be John and Yoko? (Speaking of John and Yoko, have you seen the 2019 movie "Yesterday"? Saw it last weekend. Loved it.)

[dollarchaser]

I saw a friend mentioning the extra home time with his young child. Being without children, i did not respond with first thought.

Teach kid/kids how to change car tire or air filter. Cooking projects. Old school Karate Kid wax on and wax off.

[OtherJen]

Husband and I are both still working, but we expect that at some point, he'll be laid off/furloughed. He has some household and garden projects on deck. I'm entirely WFH, but all of my volunteer work has been postponed/cancelled. I have lots of time to knit sweaters. Barring that, we have Hoopla and Libby (e-library service) and streaming videos.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

I've had to hunker down a couple of times. Once when I dislocated my knee and was stuck on the couch for weeks. I learned how to crochet from youtube. Then I was stuck at home after the Chch earthquakes. That was different. The level of stress you're under just being in that situation makes everything so hard. I tried going for my regular walks but was so tired I could barely make it around the block. You might find that everyone does a lot of sleeping.

[Freedomin5]

We had to hunker due to the coronavirus before we left China.

I did a lot of cooking and baking. Learned how to crochet an Afghan. If you have kids, be prepared to spend a couple hours a day doing online learning. If you live in a low density neighborhood, go outside and exercise. We also made use of our balcony — great place to while away a couple hours with a cup of coffee and a good book, enjoying the sunshine. I also agree that puzzles are great.

The days actually pass really quickly.

[Fish Sweet]

Getting into arts and crafts-- acrylic or oil paints, sculpt some clay, or give watercolor a try, if you've ever been interested.  Order a kit and make some candles or melt and pour soaps.

A lot of fun puzzle videogames that were once game console exclusives are now available on smartphones as well.  If you like silly comedy, puzzle solving, and murder mysteries, maybe give the Phoenix Wright games a try! :)

Give yoga and/or meditation a try-- plenty of free videos on Youtube.

[2Birds1Stone]

Film a DIY Covid-pocalypse porno.

[Linea_Norway]

Currently reading a book about climate change consequences, which puts the virus in perspective. At least we are currently producing a lot less CO2 then we normally would.

[Bateaux]

I'm going to ride my bike.

[redhead84]

Here are a few ideas DH and I have for our weeknights/weekends. We are both still working from our offices as this point.

While the weather is cold/rainy:
 - Reading, TV, Movies
 - Cards, Board games, Darts
 - Playing some old computer games that we don't usually have time for (we spent a few hours on SimCity this past weekend)
 - Cleaning out closets and basement
 - Deep clean the house

When the weather is nicer:
 - Walks
 - Bike Rides
 - Hiking
 - Yard clean up
 - Clean the garage

[mathlete]

I have a feeling that Libby and other such eBook library services are gonna get slammed.

Unfortunately I feel like I'll just be working more to make up for the time I can't spend at the office. For the rest of the time though, there's plenty of movies and video games to keep me entertained. =D

[GuitarStv]

Teach kid/kids how to change car tire or air filter.

My six year old and I swapped our winter tires for all seasons yesterday.  :P

[Serendip]

My sister is teaching my nephew how to shoot video/online edit (he is only 3 years old but is fascinated by this process). You can do some simple stop-motion videos with kids that take up a LOT of time but are really entertaining. Basically take a lot of photos and then smoosh then together into a video.

Some artists are doing online challenges (on Instagram..illustrator Carson Ellis is giving prompts every weekday which are suitable for adults or children) don't need fancy supplies..even just pen/paper/cardboard/crayon ..whatever you have at home already

Online rentals from the library (audiobooks and videos)

Contributing to Tinypricksproject.com (a collaborative artwork, a material record of the Trump presidency and the movement against it)..embroidered quotes on vintage textiles

Walking, XCski and ski touring (if available)

[Noodle]

1. Online volunteering. One of the projects I am most familiar with is the National Archives' Citizen Archivist program: https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist
2. Geneaology or other historical research--you will have to pay a fee for the most useful digital archives, but a great deal of this research goes on online these days
3. Digital book club: Pick a book, then schedule a time to discuss by text or videocall. (Great if you have kids in the extended family)
4. Board games by videocall. We have played Apples to Apples on holidays this way a couple of times.

[FIRE Artist]

Working, but may be able to gain an hour a day from not having to commute (if work from home is finally approved, I work in health care and feel like my manager is trying to find any reason for me to have to work on site (hospital), like some stupid expectation of show of solidarity.  I am not a healthcare worker, I am of no help, I am just putting myself and others at risk by walking through the doors IMHO.  My job is primarily computer based and I can do all of it from home.  The in person aspect of my job is on hold as no one wants to start new projects now, or spend group time mapping processes.

So, with my potential extra hour a day, I intend to start spring cleaning my house early.  With the extra time from personal activities being cancelled, I will do some home reno projects, I picked up paint brushes at Costco while everyone else was stocking up on toilet paper.  I always have plenty to do, and am never bored. 

As an introvert, staying home bothers me not at all.

[CodingHare]

Fun stuff:
1. Knitting.  I have at least a 3 month stash of yarn to work through.
2. Netflix to watch during knitting
3. Reading--have a lot of books to get through.
4. Video games

Good for us stuff:
1. Cleaning the house, reorganizing stuff, figuring out what to donate.
2. Cooking at home.
3. Exercising
4. Sleeping more-- no commute means an extra hour of sleep in the morning.  :)
5. Working--my job can be done remotely, luckily.

[kanga1622]

I was hoping it would warm up enough that we could start the spring cleaning on the garage. Instead we got some light snow over the weekend and a possible blizzard is predicted for later this week.

All 4 of my family members are home for at least this week. We have or plan to:
Work from home
Cook batch meals and freeze
Puzzles
Movies/TV
Groomed the dog
Clean out closets
Rearrange the kitchen cabinets
Did a grocery shop to get us through approximately 2 weeks
Check out ebooks from the library
Video games
Reading the books already in the house
Lego building
Board games
Finger painting
Handwriting practice (for our littlest one)
Chatting with family and friends via text or Facebook

[lexde]

My work is hopefully implementing a work from home directive today. Fingers crossed.

My SO (who does not officially live with me but has been here for a week or so now with the social distancing) and I plan on the following:

• Walking/playing with the dog
• Deep cleaning the house (needed to be done anyway!)
• Videogames - Witcher 3; Animal Crossing New Horizons
• Yoga in the backyard

For me specifically:

• Working remotely from home
• Reading more (Libby app connects to library card for free ebooks and audiobooks!)
• Cooking at home
• Exercising at home (I bought a stationary bike and DIY’d a Peloton rig)
• Doing CLEs for work
• Brushing up on bankruptcy law

[TartanTallulah]

We need to redecorate the bedrooms, so I've stashed paint, coving and other essentials in case there's a lockdown. In reality, my husband and I are both health care workers so the likelihood of us being allowed to self-isolate without being ill is very small.

[Frankies Girl]

We live near some nice pocket parks that have wildlife, so we've been bird watching/identifying flora and fauna. We are THRILLED that we have "diving ducks" (Cormorants - ours look like the old school Daffy Duck and they DIVE AND SWIM UNDERWATER), snowy egrets, great egrets, great blue herons (even identified some babies!!), black bellied whistling ducks, red eared slider turtles... did you know that bluebonnets can also be white and red? Found some! :D

Learning to play disk golf. Several of the public parks have disk golf courses, but it's really just fancy frisbee playing (we have frisbees already but the real ones are weighted and it's fun). We also remembered our neighborhood tennis courts are available - and we can walk to them easily.

Our library has (in addition to the ones mentioned) Kanopy access. This is a well-known in college/education site that hosts free classic, foreign movies, documentaries, classes and courses...

Learning a new language. Been noodling with Duolingo a bit more.

Been going over our bills and looking for better deals. Just switched over to a 100% solar power energy company that is going to save us 40% average. I've been meaning to do this for YEARS (a decade?) and I finally made myself do this and review all the independent review sites. Not fun, but those bills are going to be MUCH better this year. I really need to tackle the internet/phone situation now. (yuck)

Resod big dead patch in front yard and amend the flowerbeds. Also a yuck project, but it really needs to be done and might as well do it now. Good exercise too.

[SunnyDays]

No one has mentioned the obvious.  As I said in another thread, I expect a baby boom in about 9 months!

[erutio]

My wife has been doing yoga with the kids (K and 2nd grade).  They love it!  Especially when they have their own mat.  Then we teach them how to clean down the mats and space with bleach solution/towels.

I'm going to try to work myself up to being able to do 100 push ups.  My 2nd grader wants to learn how to do a hand stand.

[dignam]

Just three of us (me, gf and dog).  We've brought out the board games, probably going to get a racing game for PS4 so we can play together.  I have my PC games too which are plenty fun and relaxing (Space Engineers for a huge time sink but oh so satisfying; also Overwatch).

Taking dog on more walks than usual.  More rough housing with her too.  This is strategic as well as fun, because otherwise she just wants to play when we're trying to work.  The robins are back and they torment her to no end outside lol.  If she sees one, she just freezes, sits and stares at it for minutes on end until they move, so that's good entertainment.  She's a puppy but I can tell she'd make a great bird dog if I actually still hunted.

Working out more.  Cooking more elaborate meals.

[Sibley]

Working, then when not working I'm painting my bedroom (an involved process which takes a full week if I'm not working, so it'll keep me busy for a while).

[Jack0Life]

I have household choirs that are so long I don't know if I can finish in the 2 weeks while at home.
I have a feeling my company will be closed for more than 2 weeks.

[Milizard]

If you have a musical instrument laying around gathering dust, now is a great time to dust it off and start playing again.  I feel like boredom is great to get the creative juices going. 

I might get start shooting YouTube videos for the kids. They love doing it on their own, so a little help from mom might be fun for them.

Finish up those unfinished projects around the house.

ETA: practice sports--we dusted off the old tennis raquets this afternoon., Will set up the basketball hoop if this drags on.

Study for the GMAT.

I have to still get WFH working for me,  have not started on most of these yet, but will once I settle in.

[FireLane]

Here's a Google doc I saw circulating on Facebook which lists free "virtual field trips" of zoos, museums and parks:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SvIdgTx9djKO6SjyvPDsoGlkgE3iExmi3qh2KRRku_w/preview?fbclid=IwAR2NSGW8pGDRLPqPNjMPgD8qllk2rdDShltq_5pFWjLkqv_30B0ix8LCZKo&pru=AAABcQSZUiA*I6-6NeAJuuijwUni3KbqLQ

[Warlord1986]

Film a DIY Covid-pocalypse porno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_tsEVOf7r0

[gaja]

-Musicians are getting hit really hard by the lockdown, so I'm contemplating finding someone to give my kids online tutoring. (Will be fun finding someone willing to teach a deaf child)
-There are plenty of instruments in the house, so maybe do some sort of family concert?
-As soon as the crisis hit, while all the other people where running to the grocery stores, DH and I hit the nursery and stocked up on seeds. I don't think we'll be able to travel much this summer, so it is finally time to plant a garden! Still need seed potatoes, but we can get things ready. 
-The house really needs a deep clean, and the kids have agreed to help. Strangely, the oldest has the best start, and has already finished cleaning her room. I think puberty has finally hit the youngest; currently both the DH and I are stupid.
-The kids are getting school assignments, and I can WFH. So our days are not completely free. But there is much more free time than normally.

We are quite introvert, so the challenge for us will be not isolating completely in our individual rooms.

[Fishindude]

I've been listening to music and working with the acrylic paints today.

[GuitarStv]

Tomorrow I'm going to crank up my amp, lay out all my guitar pedals, and sit down with my son twisting knobs and making weird sounds.

[Linea_Norway]

-Musicians are getting hit really hard by the lockdown, so I'm contemplating finding someone to give my kids online tutoring. (Will be fun finding someone willing to teach a deaf child)
-There are plenty of instruments in the house, so maybe do some sort of family concert?
-As soon as the crisis hit, while all the other people where running to the grocery stores, DH and I hit the nursery and stocked up on seeds. I don't think we'll be able to travel much this summer, so it is finally time to plant a garden! Still need seed potatoes, but we can get things ready. 
-The house really needs a deep clean, and the kids have agreed to help. Strangely, the oldest has the best start, and has already finished cleaning her room. I think puberty has finally hit the youngest; currently both the DH and I are stupid.
-The kids are getting school assignments, and I can WFH. So our days are not completely free. But there is much more free time than normally.

We are quite introvert, so the challenge for us will be not isolating completely in our individual rooms.

Good idea to use the home time for gardening.
I want to donthe same thing, but as we need to leave the house in July, there is perhaps no point in it.

We have lots of stuff for sale online. And despite the lockdown, someone is interested in buying DH's guitar. When she comes, I plan to collect it from it's room with cloves on and a cloth in front of my mouth. I am not sick, but perhaps smitten, as DH has corona. We haven't touched the guitar lately and it is in a room that we otherwise don't use. So it should be save to sell it.

[markbike528CBX]

......
2. Genealogy or other historical research--you will have to pay a fee for the most useful digital archives, but a great deal of this research goes on online these days
.........

If you haven't "blown"  way to many hours doing genealogy, you probably haven't been doing it right :-)

Bonus: If you use familysearch.org, the next time LDS (Mormon) missionaries come to the door, you can tell them that you too have been "doing the work of the Church".  :-)

[Warlord1986]

I'm working on a new short story, practicing Turkish, and catching up on some reading/anime. And batch cooking. :)

[Cranky]

Well, I’m home all day anyway, so I’ve gotten plenty of projects, and it’s time to start prepping for gardening season.

But now Dh will be mostly working from home and he’ll be recording lectures to put online, so I’ll have to alter my routine a bit.

[OtherJen]

I’m still working, so my hunker down routine is to put on a good internet radio station (I’m partial to Classic FM) and fire up Microsoft Word. If work slows down, I have enough yarn to knit several sweaters. I’m saving the deep cleaning for when husband’s non-essential business is eventually shut down by the state.

[bendixso123]

My spouse and I are making a video game. Been working on it for some time now, but it's kinda cool to have an opportunity to do it. I suspect the entertainment industry will come out of this recession pretty strong.

[calimom]

We've been playing ping pong and doing art projects. Some organizing projects around the house. Made a big pot of chicken soup and sent a container of it down the street for an 80+ widower living alone.

Then I heard about a single mom acquaintance with a couple of elementary aged boys who were in need. She's now off work and never has the kind of income that allows for big emergency grocery shops. So we put together a box of staples like pasta and sauce, cereal and almond milk,  brownie mix, canned soup and such. Plus a bag of books, craft projects and an old Lego kit that my son dropped it off. He crossed paths with a mutual family friend who was bringing a similar care package by.

We're also getting ready for a vegetable garden this year, and thanks to this thread, a lesson in changing a tire for a tomorrow project.  That's a good life skill!

[Villanelle]

Likely tons of reading for me.  I have a library card, and I can also see if a previous library card is still good.  That will give me lots of free books, and I think I get 10 (not sure if that's at a time, or per month?) from Kindle Unlimited with my Prime membership.

We have some board games.  Dh has never bee a huge fan, but I think I can make him come around at least somewhat.  We mostly have 2 person games, fortunately. 

I've ordered some watercolor supplies.  Yes, I spent money.  I'm okay with that.  It's something I've always wanted to try but it seemed sort of frivolous. 

I also need to put together a writing schedule.

[LaineyAZ]

This is more for kids, but what about temporary tattoos using washable markers?  I'd start by encouraging them to draft some designs on paper, then do a tattoo for themselves and any others in the house who want one.
A creative project that could keep them busy for a long time.

Also silly but my little pre-school g-daughter loves to get her tiny nails painted.  She calls them "sparkle toes."  So manis and pedis for everybody!

[Loren Ver]

Finally spending some time taking an online course on Coursera.org.  If it works out I have another one picked out on Edx.

I've been FIREd about a year and thought I would have more time to do this stuff, but until my volunteer stuff got postponed, I didn't "have the time."

LV

[Serendip]

Skipping rope workouts.  I used to do this a lot in my youth & 20's (when I did things like kick-boxing). Now I'm 40 and haven't skipped in years.  I will start slowly and build my way up.   A great exercise and no need to go very far.

Have been looking through my cookbooks and marking interesting recipes, then workshopping them with the ingredients I have (or waiting to try until after our weekly shop if I just need one crucial ingredient.  Or I look through the fridge and find a recipe which will use up that one item. Mostly successful so far.

Wrote an article for a friend's blog. There might be community papers or columns which are looking for opinion pieces by local writers.

[E.T.]

Coloring, cooking, house projects, and so much Animal Crossing. I made a normally unmustachian purchase a couple weeks ago to get another switch and two copies of the game and it has been so worth it in terms of hours of entertainment and stress relief. I figure we can resell one after a while so it shouldn't be too much of a financial hit. I wish the multiplayer was better with one console!

[Freedomin5]

We turned our balcony into a “cafe”. We have a small patio table and two chairs out there, and on sunny mornings and afternoons, we eat our meals out there. Six year old DD even designed a sign for the cafe which is now taped onto our balcony door.

[davisgang90]

I get free access to lynda.com through my local library. So I've been boning up on photography, photoshop/lightroom content.

Watching "classic" movies with my 16 year old.  A couple days ago it was Grumpy Old Men.

Baking bread, making fun meals and lots of organizing around the house.

[By the River]

I've been home for the last two weeks but really unable to work except for the occasional call. (Have one in 5 minutes.)  I made a goal that the TV stays off between 8:30 and 5 each day  So, I put together a to-do list of outside chores.   My yard looks freakin' great if I say so myself.  I just won't have anyone other than us 4 see it which sucks.  Oh well.   Also been walking the dog 4 times a day and bike riding.

Things still on list, washing and waxing cars, rotating tires, pressure washing house, painting some things, etc.

[KathrinS]

I started Duolingo Spanish about three weeks before the quarantine started. It's given me lots of time to practice and I've already learned 965 words!
Also started a blog - this is a great time to figure out how to do things on the internet, which is something I've sometimes struggled with.

Other than that: walks, (video) calling friends/ family, increasing my phone befriending volunteer hours, reading/ listening to books and podcasts.

[Leisured]

In Australia we have  a long standing charity called Meals on Wheels, where volunteers deliver meals to elderly people who have troubling cooking for them selves. With self isolation, demand for such meals has grown a lot. I am 75, so am in the wrong age group to volunteer, even though the risk of infection is small. The driver leaves the meal at the door and rings the bell.

[Freedomin5]

I found a counted cross stitch that I started in 2011 in the back of a cupboard. Started working on that again. At my current rate, I should be done in 30 years or so.

[rantk81]

If you were a child when LeVar Burton had his "Reading Rainbow" show --
He's apparently going to do some live-streams (for all age groups)
https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/levar-burton-is-streaming-live-story-time-readings-on-twitter/