For the past few months, individuals and families have been searching for ways to pass the time while at home during the COVID quarantine. Many have turned to old-fashioned board games and for others, online casino gaming is the sure cure for the bacterial blues. If you’ve exhausted your options and run out of fresh ideas to fill the time, try some of the following unusual, simple ways of amusing yourself for the rest of the lockdown.
Board Games
There’s probably no better way to engage your mind, spend fun time interacting with others and just having a blast than it still is with old-fashioned board games, according to a recent study from Betway. You know all the classics from childhood such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Game of Life, but many alternates have sprung up since then. In fact, Pandemic saw the biggest increase in searches between February and March. Board games make an ideal way to pass the time because all the important choices are up to you. You decide how long to play, whether to opt for kid-friendly games or not, and if you want to engage in language fun, trivia, strategy contests, or simple pursuits like Uno and Bonkers. If you include chess and checkers into the mix, we have been playing board games for generations, and likely will still be playing far into the future.
Family-Based Trivia
Want some laugh out loud fun and a way to start interesting conversations between moms, dads, and kids to take the focus off the pandemic? Spend a half-hour, creating a personalized version of family trivia. The way it works is each person sits alone for about 20 minutes (it can be shorter for youngsters) coming up with trivia questions about the family. A non-playing administrator examines all the questions, gets clarification on any that don’t seem ambiguous, and then slices the papers up into strips that contain just one query each. Place all the strips in a bowl at the center of the table and take turns choosing. Replace a strip if you get your own question. Each right answer gets 1 point. The winner is the person with the most points after all the bowl is empty.
Create Your Own Ways to Pass the Time
You’ve probably taken part in this at some time or another in your life, especially if you were ever at home with a long illness or were stuck in an airport overnight. It’s incredibly simple and based on the outdoor version of horseshoes but played with pens and a cup.
- Supplies needed: One large-mouth plastic cup, two dozen ballpoint pens.
- Rules: Contestants stand at a distance of 1.5 times their height away from the cup and attempt to throw pens into it, making ten attempts at a time before switching players. Do five or more rounds and award one point for each pen that lands in the cup. You can have lots of fun practicing alone as well.
Old-School Video Games
Pick your favorites and find the free versions online. They’re all available, and you’ll be able to take a walk down memory lane if you find the ones you loved in grade-school and high-school. Even if you don’t have a joystick, you can use keypad commands to interact with the screen.
