8 Fun Things to do During Quarantine (Screen-free)

Mother earth is on a break, and so are we! 

With the entire world going on lockdown, it feels as if life has come to a standstill. And, with nothing much to do at home, most of us engross ourselves in the internet world. We’re either binge-watching, taking Instagram challenges, watching YouTube videos, tweeting, or mindlessly scrolling to find something new on our feed. 

All this definitely helps to kill time but does a little good to refresh our minds. In fact, continuous exposure to screen time can be detrimental to our health. 

So, how to avoid lockdown boredom without using smartphones or laptops?

In this post, we have curated a list of fun ideas to help you enjoy quarantine time while logging off from the internet. 

Let’s dive in!

#1 Go on an indoor camping trip

Indoor camping is an adventurous and magical experience. It’s the perfect way to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect with your family. 

You can set up a camp in your family room or backyard with a real tent, sleeping bags, and, of course, some delicious snacks. Additionally, if you have a fireplace and it’s a cold month, you can use it for the campfire.

To get the starry night feels, make sure to light up your camp with fairy lights, candles, and flashlights. Also, you can bring nature indoors by decorating with a vase filled with leaves and pine-scented candles. 

Relish this beautiful campsite evening with your partner and kids. You can do a lot of fun activities like tell stories to each other, play games, or do the classic shadow puppets.

#2 Step into the world of art & crafts

Social distancing is the best time to get your creative juices flowing. As a matter of fact, creativity is soothing and helps to reduce stress hormones in the body. 

If you’re a creative buff, this might be the chance of a lifetime to let your imagination run wild. 

You can try chalk painting, origami, crocheting, or something else that inspires you. There are plentiful quarantine crafts and D.I.Y ideas for you to explore. 

Check out these amazing ideas for your next craft project.

Additionally, you can involve your kids in simple and super fun recycled craft projects.

The materials can be easily found in your trash or recycling bin, like, empty plastic bottles, tin cans, bottle caps, and empty toilet paper rolls. 

Start off with these ideas:

1. Make telephones, stilts, and drums with empty tin cans.
2. Prepare a bowling set for kids with empty plastic bottles.
3. Make a memory game with bottle caps.
4. Craft owl from empty toilet paper rolls and decorate it with colorful papers.

You can find the details of all the projects here.

#3 Make a lockdown diary for grateful moments

The only way to feel and spread positivity is to think positively. 

Make a habit of penning down the good and grateful things that happen to you during confinement. It will keep you optimistic and help you get through this difficult time. 

Above all, this diary will later walk you down the memory lane to reminisce about the precious family time, new skills learned, and some good memories made today.

Write down five grateful things or moments that make you happy every day. You can involve your family too in this. Whether it’s applauding fighters working on the frontline, a new experiment you tried, or simply spending time with loved ones.

You can even mention the things you will do after this lockdown, or the places to visit, or your bucket list. It will definitely spark some excitement. 

If you have a polaroid or a printer at home, you can print out and attach photographs in the diary. Do express your feelings and memories in the caption.

#4 Upcycle old stuff

Do your bit to save the planet during quarantine with your crafty repair skills. 

By giving a second life to used items, you can divert significant waste from landfills. Besides, making one-of-a-kind items from old junk is quite fun. It gives you a warm and wonderful feeling. 

Although, you don’t have to be an artist to be able to upcycle stuff. All you need is to see things with a creative lense. It could be as simple as growing plants in an old pair of boots or tin cans, or repurposing old clothing material as face masks. 

Take a look at these inspiring upcycling ideas from people all around the world:

• Soap dispenser and a beautiful vase made from upcycled alcohol bottles.

• An upcycled harry potter themed dresser for the little ones in your house.

• A vintage cabinet upcycled from old junk file cabinet at the office.

• Broken side table upcycled using jute rope.

• A boring thrift shirt upcycled to a chic outfit.

• Quarantine face masks made from old work shirts. Looks pretty cool!

#5 Organize photo albums together

Yeah, right! Because all fun things start with organizing.

We hear you! But, sorting old photos is more about reliving old happy memories with your loved ones. Organizing is just a time-killing bonus that you gain while looking back on the good old days. 

Plus, there are always some hidden gems in those old albums. Get the entire family on board to find them. You’ll have plenty of fun stories to tell each other. 

It is refreshing, and, who knows, you might discover an exciting old chapter from each other’s lives.

#6 Throw a dance party

Quarantine dance-offs are a real thing! From 50 years old to 5 years old – get everybody grooving! It’s good for your social and emotional wellbeing. 

Dancing takes all the stress away. Moreover, it helps your body do the much-needed exercise from staying at home for days. 

Pump up the jam and get your family on the dance floor. You can team up and host a competition to spice things up. Or simply show off your moves on the dance floor. 

Remember: it doesn’t matter if you’re not good at this as long as you can dance your heart out.

#7 Get into vegetable gardening

Social distancing has brought us closer to our roots (literally). 

Gardening is a family-friendly activity that will get you off the couch and on your feet. Besides, kids love to get their hands dirty, and this might be one of the most fruitful reasons to let them do it.

You don’t have to be a green thumb to grow vegetable plants. Veggies like broccoli, eggplant, carrot, lettuce, pepper, spinach, and few others are quite easy to grow.

To add some green space in your house, all you need is a deck, plot, or patio with good sun exposure. Here’s an excellent guide on growing vegetables in containers. 

Home-grown vegetables are not only organic but also save you money on the grocery. Most of all, vegetable gardening relieves stress and brings a sense of satisfaction.

#8 Play indoor games

Some of us are cooped up with kids during the lockdown. And, we understand how draining it can be to entertain these little munchkins day after day. 

Fortunately, there are a bunch of easy and fun indoor games you can play with your kids. 

It’s time to bring back the child in you!

UNO card game

A classic card game that is everybody’s favorite! Do not forget to go through the house rules before you start. 

Board games

Bring out the Monopoly and start property trading already!

Hopscotch

Turn your flooring into a playground. You can draw hopping squares with tape or chalk. 

Balloon tennis

It’s a classic tennis game to play indoors. You can use fly swatters, or paper plates as rackets, and the balloon will be your tennis ball. Place two chairs a few feet apart. Next, tie a string between them to be used as top of the net.

Tin can bowling

Grab some empty tin cans and stack them or lay them out on the floor. All that’s left is to knock them down with a ball.

Scavenger hunt

Hide little treasures for your kids in different parts of your house that can be found by solving clues. It’s fun and keeps your kids occupied for hours. You can use riddles, rhymes, or wordplays to prepare the clues. 

Indoor obstacle course

It will get you moving and keep your kids occupied for hours. Check out these ideas on making various obstacles.

Animal charades

Prepare a list of animals. Next, write each name in a small paper, and toss them in a bowl. Take turns, draw a name, and act it out without using any words. 

You can also use movies, songs, emotions, or jobs instead of animals.

Name, Place, Animal, Thing

Make four columns in a paper with the headings – name, place, animal, and thing. Select a random alphabet and fill answers starting with that letter in every column within 10 or 15 seconds. Cross-check with every player, and assign points for unique and duplicate answers.  

You can play this fun mind game with Alexa, too! Just say – Alexa, play name, place, animal, thing – and she will pick the letters for you. Pretty cool, huh?

Jigsaw puzzle

Solving puzzles is a fun activity that entertains kids and adults alike. It keeps everyone occupied for hours.

How have you been spending time during this lockdown? Do you have any fun ideas to share? Let us know in the comments section below.