Non-essential travel is being discouraged across the country as a result of the pandemic and a series of lockdowns. A difficult yet essential measure. Let’s all remain at home and use this extra time to reevaluate our priorities and discover new interests. It doesn’t have to be dull while you’re at it. Here are 5 more activities that you can do online for free to make the most out of your home quarantine.
If you have not read PART 1 of our Lockdown Activities series here’s the link.
#1 Take An Online Course
Online learning is when you take courses over the internet instead of in a physical classroom. It has become a trend since the pandemic started and are just as educational and robust as their classroom counterparts. Last year, a friend suggested trying Coursera.Org, which offers free online courses from building websites to financial marketing. You can even take some of the courses for free.
Why Online Learning is Awesome:
- We can earn a certificate or diploma without setting foot in a physical classroom
- We can work full-time while we study
- We set our own schedule: study in the early morning, on your lunch break, or even in the middle of the night
#2 Learn Creative Hobbies
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As the lockdowns continue or are renewed in the upcoming times, I hypothesized that the prolonged social isolation and the restrictions to travel would contribute to a phenomenon called boredom. I warn you, not all boredom is created equal. Whether it’s a circumstance or a symptom of an existential crisis. This is why we have to look for activities to keep us occupied.
A few of the hobbies I picked up throughout the lockdown are building Gundam kit models, playing the kalimba, and also learning how to set up Raspberry Pi. If you aren’t into geeky stuff you may try hobbies that are practical like homebrewing and hydroponics. You can amass hundreds of instructional videos from Youtube, WatchKnowLearn.org, HowCast.com, and more!
#3 Play Games
When I’m on a break from taking online lessons at Coursera, I play Solitaire. Unlike other games that demand a high level of attention or logical thinking, playing Solitaire is a soft mental activity that can nonetheless produce benefits for the brain such as memory improvement and develop your strategic muscles. It’s also a great game for calming the mind because it puts you into a light meditative state.
I found a hidden gem called Solitaire.Org that you can play without ads. Websites are often filled with intrusive ads that make getting to the actual content twice as hard. Yes, those Ads that play music unexpectedly, never-ending pop-ups, and some don’t even have an exit button. Even Kongregate and Y8 has those. Ok, enough about ads.
I only found out there are hundreds of different ways to play Solitaire and a lot of different versions are available on this website. Good thing, Solitaire.Org provides instructions on how to play the games and there are also videos available when you get confuse.
Here are some that have ‘travel’ or ‘bucket list’ vibes on them, my favorite is the ‘I wanna check out Egypt and see the Great Pyramids’ kind of vibe:
Another favorite is the classic Klondlike Solitaire, also known as Fascination and Patience, where your goal is to sort the cards into four goals, each representing one suit. There are other versions of this available for free such as the Kings Klondike and the Gargantua Double Klondike (both use two decks of cards).
Solitaire.Org isn’t just limited to card games, it has several other Flash games available such as find the hidden objects, match 3, and other challenging games like crossword puzzles. I particularly like this one because of its simplicity with an interface that is user-friendly. Every day they offer new crosswords to solve. To the left side, there’s a calendar where you can backtrack recent or check future crossword puzzles.
No, they won’t ask you to sign up and you don’t need to pay for anything, no sketchy surveys or other click-bait.
#4 Watch Free Documentaries
Another awesome website to visit when you’re bored is DocumentaryHeaven.Com. Their collections are pretty impressive, covering popular topics that are freely available to view and many I have not seen on Netflix. All of the contents are coming in high-quality formats so you won’t have to worry about a lousy film-watching experience. They won’t charge you a dime and you don’t need to create an account.
#5 Hop on the Musical Time Machine
Radiooooo.com is a goldmine for lost or forgotten tracks that allows listeners from around the world to listen to music from the 1900s to the present. Sort of a musical time travels through an interactive map. You select a year, and a country and listen to historical delights. Basic plan users are free to enjoy 1 song per country and decade. Premium plan users can access the whole playlists and history of songs played.
What are other fun and productive things to do on the internet for free while on home quarantine? Let us know by commenting below!
Wow, these seem really cool! These activities seem fun twhen on quarantine.