Feeling bored? Run out of things to do for yourself or your kids? Try one or more of these ideas!
1. Create a new game. Find four objects in your home and see if you can come up with a game using these objects.
2. Watch a movie, movie series, or TV series and create your own bingo card for common words, phrases, or situations that occur in the movie. Play by yourself or with others. Here is a website that you can create your own bingo cards: https://myfreebingocards.com/
3. Learn or try something new. Learn a new hobby like knitting. Learn three new words a day in another language. Learn a new song on the guitar or learn to play guitar. Try a new recipe.
4. Make your own ping pong table out of a table or kitchen island. Find books to stack or thin boxes to stand on edge to make the net.
5. Make a list of TV shows or movies you want to watch and then pace yourself with watching them. If you want to make it more interesting, make a prediction of what will happen at the end of the movie or TV series. See how close you were or if you are doing this with others, see who came the closest.
6. Read a book or listen to an audiobook.
7. Find a new exercise or movement activity to try. Start a workout program or 30-day yoga challenge.
8. Foster or adopt a pet. Make sure this is the right choice for you in the long run.
9. Write a poem, a novel, or start a blog.
10. Start a household or yard project.
11. Create new music on an instrument or using technology.
12. Start a YouTube channel.
13. Organize, declutter, or clean your home. Be sure to take it one room, section, or item type at a time so as not to overwhelm yourself.
14. Write letters to loved ones, or people in the community you want to thank (e.g., healthcare workers, non-profit organization).
15. Start an art or craft project. Check out a craft store’s website for ideas.
16. Complete a jigsaw puzzle.
17. Complete a paint by numbers kit.
18. Start a free online course on a subject that interests you. Universities like Harvard and Yale offer such courses. You can find more information on their websites or you can browse a variety of free college courses on: https://www.coursera.org/
19. Build something, whether it be a complete DIY project, furniture from IKEA, or a Lego set.
20. Learn to cook or bake something new.
21. Find a picture online, a picture you’ve taken, or take a new picture that describes and fits with one of your favorite poems, books, or movies.
22. Reinvent a game. Take a game you love and put a twist on it or change up the rules.
23. Take your TV show or favorite movie (or movie series) and see if you can create the plot for the next episode or movie in the series. Or recreate the ending of a movie or TV series.
24. Participate in your own version of Chopped where you take random ingredients and see what you can make (have someone else pick out the ingredients for an added challenge). If you are playing with others, pick a neutral party or have everyone involved rate one another’s dish by what it looks like and the unique name of the dish that you came up with (bonus if you have others who live with you – they can rate the taste).
25. Buy a plant and take care of it.
26. Complete one of the Escape Game’s Monthly Mystery: https://theescapegame.com/the-monthly-mystery/. There are also escape board games and virtual escape games that you can purchase online.
27. Play a board game, card game, or video game. If you’re not able to play with other people, you can learn new solitaire card games or play a game virtually against the computer or people online, such as Connect Four or checkers.
28. Take one picture each day that describes your mood or a memory from your past. You can also write about that emotion or memory and how it relates to the picture.
29. Take or find funny photos and make captions or memes.
30. Learn a TikTok dance.
31. Go bird watching or listen to the sounds of the birds around you. Try to identify the types of birds you see and/or hear.
32. Build a fort.
33. Create an obstacle course and see how quickly you can get through it.
34. Play ‘minute to win it’ games by yourself or with others. These are games where you have to accomplish something within a minute or see how much you can accomplish of a task in a minute. If you are playing by yourself, see if you can beat your personal record each time you play.
35. Repurpose an item in your home. For example: Take an old dresser drawer and make a plant box.
36. Write a paragraph or take a paragraph from somewhere online or a book. Then put it into a Word document and right click on random words and choose the first word under synonyms. Then read it back. Share with others for a laugh.
37. Rearrange furniture in a room of your home or a section of your apartment.
38. Ask people who are close to you to list at least three things they love, like, or admire about you. Then write what they say on sheets of paper or construction paper and post it all over a room in your home. Or if you want to do it yourself, identify your strengths or positive traits about yourself and post these all over a room in your home.
39. Make a playlist, one playlist for each type of mood.
40. Create a music video for one of your favorite songs or recreate a music video that already exists.
41. Create a scrapbook or a photobook of memories from a relationship, a celebration, a trip you enjoyed, or a time period in your life – you can even make one online with digital photos if scrapbooking isn’t your thing.
42. Put together an outfit of one of your favorite characters from a book, movie, or TV show. If you want to do this with others, have everyone dress up as characters from one book, movie, or TV show; or have them choose one of their favorite characters and guess who everyone is.
43. Do a tutorial or a how-to video and film it. Optional: post it online.
44. Have a picnic whether it’s outside or indoors.
45. Play music from the past that you enjoy most. Maybe it’s your childhood, maybe it’s your young adult years, or maybe it’s music that was created before you were born. Whatever it is, feel the positive emotions and think of the positive memories associated with it. Dance or pretend you are on stage performing it.
46. Have a spa day, which might include taking a leisurely bath or finding a comfortable place to lay or sit while listening to calming music.
47. Find an indoor scavenger hunt list online or create one and find these items in your home.
48. Learn more about your favorites – your favorite animal, movie, historical figure, city, etc.
49. Complete a sudoku or crossword puzzle.
50. Contact family members and/or friends and ask about a favorite memory from their lives or about your relationship.
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Written by: Sam Franklin, MA, LMFT