12 Quarantine Boredom Busters
If you are like we are in our neck of the woods, you have probably had almost everything around you cancelled and you are now basically stuck indoors.
My thinking is that this is not an act of terror or of being scared. Rather it is an act in an effort to curb the spread of the illness and thereby kill the darn thing all together.
That would be a very good thing.
While you are at home, I am sure you are washing your hands but you also might be gouging out your eyes in boredom.
Need some ideas for how to combat boredom?
Here are some ideas I've come up with. When possible I've also mentioned what you could count as school if you have kiddos at home who aren't e-learning for their school work:
Clean up the yard -
As a family pick up sticks, rake, whatever needs done after a long winters night.
Learn a Handcraft-
Cross-stitch, embroidery, crochet, knitting, whittling, weaving, these all require pretty cheap materials and can help fight off boredom while providing a sense of accomplishment in getting something done.
Sell Things-
Ebay is still around. Facebook marketplace, and lots of specialized websites for whatever you're selling. Now is a good time to look around and see what is just taking up space and not getting used in your home. Having your kids sell things is a good lesson in economics! Not to mention you'll have all that newly empty space!
Get a garden ready!
Ready your soil, plant some seeds, research how you're going to take care of your new plant pets! Having the kids look up how to take care of plants, when they will germinate, how you should transplant them, etc. totally counts as science!
Spring Cleaning-
Deep clean everything, scrub it down, wash all your curtains...vacuum under your beds. With all of the time you have at home you'll be able to have your home ready for spring weather in no time!
Discover a new genre of movies-
I have to admit to you that I have never been into scary movies. But I am thinking I might just try to pick them up. Stuck at home, if I get bored I might start going through the old classic scary movies like Frankenstein, Dracula, etc. There are lots of classic movies and new genres on Amazon Prime!
Hike-
I am not an advocate for getting your family out of the house and all over a bunch of people but I am all for getting out of the house and AWAY from people. Perhaps there's a familiar park you can hike, or a place locally you've always wanted to discover. While you are out hiking you can do fun things like look for bugs, collect different leaves, identify birds or trees...science abounds all around with hiking!
Out and About-
If you have more time to be at home and don't need to be AT home, you could take up a fun challenge like camping through all of your state parks or visiting all of the beaches in your area. Something like that. This momma personally would caution you to stay away from playgrounds or places with lots of kids and people but hey, getting some fresh air out on your own would be a great thing!
Home Improvement Projects-
We all have those projects around the house that we've wanted to do but never seem to have the time to get done...so let's get going on on those! Painting rooms, refinishing woodwork, whatever it is, you now have lots of time to do these. Do you have kids at home and don't know how to school them? Home projects can totally count as some of their school! Remember home-ec and shop class from long ago? This is it!
Eat something-
Now is a wonderful time to discover perhaps, just how much you love baking! Or cooking, or something wonderful in the kitchen. Baking in our house counts as great math practice too because there are so many things they have to add and measure out. Love when sneaky schooling happens around here.
Don't forget the birds-
One of our kiddos favorite past times is to fill up the bird feeders outside of our windows (we have quite a few of them!) and then watch what friends come to dinner. We have bird identification books to see who is coming and how often they come. Birds are needing more and more help as their natural habitats they stop at along their migration routes are being eliminated. This is a helpful thing and a great science project. You could include making graphs of the amount of each kind of bird that you see and you include math into it as well. ;)
Board Games-
Don't forget the classic board games as well as new ones perhaps you haven't had time to play. Life is a family favorite in our house and includes a lot of adding. Scrabble is spelling and adding! Sorry is another one of our favorites. If you have some favorites, please list them below in the comments as we are always looking for new board game suggestions!
Want to read about how our time at home has been going? You can read about it here: One family, 4 walls