Social distancing?! 90 excellent pastimes (for teens)

With social distancing now being the norm, spending all our time cooped up inside isn’t healthy, particularly if you spend all that time looking at a screen. To ease the boredom, here are  90 excellent things to do that’ll happily pass the time.

1. Bake something new from a cookbook. 

2. Find something in your room that enjoyed when you were younger and try it again, just for fun.

3. Figure out what’s a kilometer or less from your home, and walk to one interesting place.

4. Play a board game.

5. Color, draw, or paint.

6. Walk a dog.

7. Call a grandparent (you’ll make their day).

8. Do a crossword puzzle, Sudoku, or wordfind.

9. Ride a bike, skateboard, or scooter.

10. Write in a journal.

11. Write fanfic based on your favorite book or movie.

12. Shoot hoops. (depending on recommendations from the Ministry of Health)

13. Have a bath.

14. Make slime.

15. Do origami.

16. Play darts, ping pong, or air hockey.

17. Have a Nerf gun war.

18. Try to figure out how to fix something broken in your home.

19. Read. Find a book in your house you’ve never read before.

20. Cuddle with or play with a pet. Teach them a new trick.

21. Play with siblings.

22. Go for a run or walk. 

23. Paint your nails.

24. Go to the park and breathe in the fresh air.

25. Start or tend a garden (or an indoor plant garden on your desk or windowsill).

26. Brainstorm business ideas.

27. Nap.

28. Create an obstacle course or scavenger hunt.

29. Do a jigsaw puzzle.

30. Ask if there are extra chores you can do for cash.

31. Knit, crochet, or rainbow loom. Possibly even master pom poms and create a massive round collage of multi-coloured pom poms for your room.

32. Think of one adulting thing you don’t know how to do, and find out how to do it. 

33. Practice or learn an instrument.

34. Try to identify the birds in your neighborhood.

35. See if you can set a record at something.

36. Find or create a geocache (yes, we know there is minor screen involvement).

37. Plan one dinner you’d like to try making.

38. Now that you’ve planned a dinner, make it.

39. Paint a room.

40. Take your mum’s shopping list and buy everything.

41. Make a bucket list.

42. Bake cookies.

43. Go through your drawers and make a pile of clothes that you want to donate.

44. Rearrange your bedroom.

45. Write a short story.

46. Build something with toothpicks.

47. Build houses with playing cards.

48. Teach yourself a new card game.

49. Learn how to do an updo.

50. Practice yoga.

51. Try to stand on your head or do a cartwheel.

52. Tour the house looking at all the things on the walls and tables like you’re at a museum.

53. Teach yourself cursive/calligraphy.

54. Make a scrapbook of your last year’s adventures.

55. Teach yourself to whistle using your fingers.

56. If it’s snowy, build a snowman or snow fort.

57. Deep clean your room.

58. Play croquet

59. Get a book out about trees and learn to Identify them.

60. Go for a hike. 

61. Give yourself a facial.

62. Learn how to juggle.

63. Design a family crest.

64. Look through family photo albums.

65. Make a photo collage for your room.

66. Play with sidewalk chalk.

67. Alphabetize the spices in your kitchen.

68. Clean out the pantry or other kitchen cupboards and put everything back in nicely.

69. Organize your shoes.

70. Put away all your summer clothes and put all your winter clothes into your wardrobe.

71. Learn how to make a perfect cat eye with eyeliner.

72. Make homemade ice cream.

73. String lights across the ceiling in your room. 

74. Learn to write your name in calligraphy.

75. Make a friendship bracelet.

76. Become an expert in some obscure trivia.

77. Drive around town to explore. 

78. Ask your grandparents about their childhood (on the phone or via skype, of course).

79. Ask your parents about their first date.

80. Learn how to do henna designs.

81. Read a magazine or newspaper you have never read before.

82. Dream about where you’d like to be in five, 10, or even 20 years.

83. Do an extra chore and surprise your parents.

84. Learn your family history and make a family tree

85. Teach yourself to master a handstand

86. Give yourself a manicure and pedicure, and paint your nails

87. Create beautiful infused waters using herbs and fruit.

88. Make your own hand sanitiser (recipes online)

89. Grow your own sprouts (order seeds online for best value)

90. Ask parents and grandparents if they have any old clothing they have kept for years and don’t want, and re-purpose as “vintage” in your wardrobe.

Remember, social distancing isn’t just to keep you safe, it’s to keep our vulnerable community safe too.

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