Healthy Ways to Spend Your Time at Home: When Reorganizing the Pantry Just Isn’t Cutting It

As one of the area’s experts on isolation, I’ve compiled a few suggestions of healthy ways to spend your time at home!

1. If you’re cleaning the pantry anyway, why not see who can build the tallest tower of canned goods?
2. Purge! Maybe it’s finally time to fix the broken things you’ve hung on to or toss ‘em!
3. Dance parties
4. Paint your house.
5. Tackle the world’s largest puzzle. We thought about having the 40k piece Disney puzzle going on in Gravity Spa’s yoga room, but I would need surveillance and to probably hire security because I would lose it if some jokester walked off with a piece. P.S. I love Puzzles Plus in Beavercreek!
6. Meditation/Prayer/Reflection
7. Virtual Karaoke: Our favorite song= ”All by Myself” originally by Eric Carmen (but that doesn’t stop my Celine Dion imitations)
8. Virtual Birthday parties with Zoom or Group FaceTime
9. Go on a Bear Hunt!  Many neighborhoods are putting stuffed bears in their windows.  It’s exciting for kids to spot them when they go on walks with their families.
10. You could finally answer those emails and clean out that inbox. (or figure out how to clear 3,000 emails at once and start fresh). Boooooring, I know.
11. Reading. Social media posts don’t count.
12. Build a marble track that makes Chicago’s roadways pale in comparison.
13. Or how about a trail of dominoes? Be sure to send us a video when you tip them over!
14. Free online classes?  I just learned about Coursera!  Consider this can of sardines OPEN.
15. Tackle a DIY project! Pinterest is swarming with ideas.
16. Your kids or honey getting under your skin? There’s never been a better time for a good ‘ol fashion pillow fight!
17. Pick up an old hobby or start a new one like:
-Sewing: Lots of people could use masks and there are plenty of patterns online!
-Gardening: Clean out flower beds, prep gardens, or repot indoor plants
-Cooking/Baking/Organizing a recipe book
-Braiding Rugs: I’m seeing if you’re paying attention, but I really do love braided rugs.
-Writing
-Drawing or Painting (We snagged a couple to-go pottery kits from Decoy)
-Playing an instrument. There are lots of great music apps!
-Computer Gaming: I started playing Raft & brought back the old Star Wars account 😉
18. Cards and board games. My family played Go Fish and Candyland over FaceTime. It took a tiny bit of flexibility and imagination, but ended up being a great time!
19. Fun challenges! You could find inspiration from Minute to Win It for family fun or you could involve other households in a House of Cards or bottle flip competition.
20. YouTube Videos (Careful to keep yourself in check and not get sucked into videos that negatively affect your psyche! If you watch things to “stay informed,” limit yourself to direct sources.  The amount of contradicting views and speculation can be overwhelming.)
-Videos that spread laughter.  Ginger Billy and funny animal –videos always seem to make the cut at our house.
-Yoga videos for kids
-Videos to build your brain, like SmarterEveryDay
21. Learn Morse code with your neighbors. And no, being stuck in the house with your family does not warrant an “SOS.”
22. Go out in the yard and toss a frisbee or ball. (It’s much more fun if you have a partner.) 23. Play with your pets. Can we give a shoutout to the pets in our homes that keep spreading joy!?                                                                                                                                                                24. Change your pajamas.  You know you need to.

I hope these help you pass the time in a positive way and hey! Keep up the safe shenanigans.  -Melony