Watching a colorful movie or a television show on a streaming platform:
Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount, Peacock and other streaming platforms offer paid services with a variety of television shows and movies for people to peruse through.
The platforms Tubi, Pluto TV and Freevee also offer free movies and television shows for people to watch.
The Dayton Daily News team compiled a list of recommendations here, with some staff members suggesting the following:
“Severance” (Apple TV+): Several staffers suggested this dystopian thriller, which has two seasons.
“Derry Girls” (Netflix): This has three seasons on Netflix (show is complete, came out in 2018). It’s a funny sitcom about a group of friends growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1990s during the end of the Troubles.
“The Traitors” (Peacock): Bryn Dippold at the Journal-News says this real-life murder mystery game is one to watch, and there are four seasons. Ashley Moor, an editor, agreed ... get “Traitors” into your rotation, she said.
Abbott Elementary (Disney+, Hulu): It is in its fifth season and is a sitcom about a public elementary school in Philadelphia. “I try to recommend this show to everyone because it is very fun,” Reporter Sam Wildow said.
“Tenet” (Amazon Prime) — This “time-inversion gem” dropped in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooking and baking galore:
Do you like cooking or baking?
Some of the following websites below offer a variety of recipes with different ingredients a person may already own for delicious and home-made meals and desserts.
Sally’s Baking Addiction website - the website offers a plethora of desserts and meal recipes along with step-by-step instructions for beginners too.
Cloudy Kitchen website - this website offers an interested audience in creating and cooking your own meals and pastries. And if you are worried about being a beginner, the website provides how-to’s.
Diva’s Can Cook website - this website offers a palette of food and desserts to cook and cake with a homage to Southern food specialties.
My Baking Addiction website - this website serves up home-made meals and desserts of all types for food lovers.
All Recipes website - whether you love warm soup or fresh bread, prospective cooks and bakers can try their hand here.
America’s Test Kitchen website - the website says if you are stuck inside, you can make pantry friendly meals. Give it a try!
Online coloring and print-out’s:
Drawing and coloring and doodling is for anyone - not just for kids.
You can write or draw or paint on post-it notes to printer paper.
If you are looking for something more structured, try the following websites:
•Coloring Online website - a website that provides coloring pages for those to print out and color or you can simply color online.
•The Color website - a website that provides coloring pages for children to color on the website or via a print cut-out.
•Google Arts and Culture website - a website that allows you to color famous paintings your way. You can also try their app.
•Crayola website - a website that provides different themes and genres to print-out for adults who love to color.
Reading or checking out a book:
Relax and settle into your armchair or couch. A cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate is nestled by your side. The fire is glowing, and everything feels pleasant. Now what to do?
Select a book from your book collection. Not feeling it?
Then check out books via Libby - a website and app that provides access to libraries all over the world. Make sure you have a library card!
Open Library is another website where people can get a free library card to check out books of all types.
For more free access, check out these websites:
Many Books website - a website that provides free e-books.
Read Any Book website - a website that provides free e-books.
Novelties - are you interested?
Relax and settle into your armchair or couch. A cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate is nestled by your side. The fire is glowing, and everything feels pleasant. Now what to do?
•Try your hand at knitting with a guide from the Sheep and Stitch website.
•Lion Brand Yarn provides tips and tutorials for beginner crocheters here.
•Puzzles? The CrazyGames website provides online puzzles.
•Jigsaw Planet provides jigsaw puzzles for free. So does Jigsaw Explorer here.
•Cross-word puzzles can be found here at Arkadium.
•You can also play board games, physical puzzle games and other such games if you own them at home.
•Khan Academy offers free lessons and skills here.
Having a good old-fashioned snow day:
If you are able too, individuals and families can have their own snow day while at home.
First, bundle up with a warm winter coat, gloves, scarves, hats, long tops and pants and boots before venturing into artic-like temperatures and heavy snow.
Second, venture outside if you dare.
Make your own snowballs and have a snowball fight among family and friends.
Create your own snowman by rolling snow together, whether small or large. Use materials like rocks, hay, paper, pebbles, charcoal, vegetables, essentially whatever you can find to use or own to decorate.
Make snow angels by flopping into the snow and using repetitive motions to create said angel.
Go sledding if you own a sled, and if you don’t, you can make your own. A blog post by Instructables details how to make one here.
Play in the snow as is by scooping, gathering, rolling, layering, constructing, etc.
Shovel your driveway, street, backyard or even help a neighbor with theirs.
What are some other activities you can do at home?
- Pet your cat or dog if you have one - it’s free serotonin and lowers stress levels.
- Take pictures with your phone or camera of the snow in your yard or street.
- Scrapbook or create collages: you can cut-out pictures from magazines then glue or tape them down on paper, or you can put pictures into a binder and decorate how you want with coloring tools, glitter, stickers and more.
- Create your fort with pillows and blankets by draping it over furniture. It doesn’t take much effort and it’s fun for all.
- Listen to music on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music or other music platforms. You can blast music throughout your home and have a mini dance party as a bonus.
- Winter cleaning - wash blankets and pillow covers, vacuum your rug, sweep the hallways and kitchen floor, reorganize furniture, etc.
- Exercise and work-out indoors - you can walk around your house in short laps, get on a treadmill if you own one, do Pilates or yoga, or even watch a basic exercising tutorial online. (How? Simply look-up “basic exercising video” on a search engine.)
- Online shop at your favorite shopping website or brand. You might have to wait a few extra days for delivery, however.
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