Great Everyday Mini Adventures you can Enjoy from Home

Well, what an interesting time to be alive.

Whilst the world shuts down in order to 'flatten the curve', many of us are finding ourselves confined to our homes and suddenly wondering what to do with ourselves.

We wanted to help, so we've collated this list of ways in which you can spend your time wisely during this time. Being at home needn't be all bad. There's a lot of opportunity out there, you just need to know where to look.

At A Glance

We've split this post into a number of categories to help you get around easier. You can simply scroll through the post, or you can click one of the categories below to jump ahead.

• Explore
• Nurture
• Learn
• Contribute
• Entertain

Explore

Since travel is definitely not something we can embark on right now, we’ve been on the hunt for ways in which we can satisfy our wanderlust. Here are a few ideas for ways in which you can still explore the world (and Universe).

See the World’s Most Amazing Art & Culture

Google have been busily creating an exceptional website and app that is full of images, exhibits, 360° videos and presentations provided by a large number of the world’s best museums and art galleries. These include The National Gallery in London, The Smithsonian, The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and Tokyo National Museum.

We're planning on checking out Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring at Mauritshuis, The Hague. We were due to travel there this week, but we had to cancel.

Beware! Everything is so wonderfully interactive and media-rich, you’ll end up spending ages browsing through the catalogue. 

Even More Art & Culture to Enjoy from Home

• Digital Concert Hall from Berlin Philharmoniker
  You normally have to pay a subscription to this streaming service, but it's currently completely FREE for all - just use coupon code BERLINPHIL at sign-up. There are stacks of concerts and operas for you to choose from.
• Buckingham Palace Virtual Tour
  Explore a few of the palace's remarkable rooms for free.
• Tate Britain
  Browse art work from Tate's four galleries.
• Anne Frank House
  Virtual tour of the Anne Frank House
• Watch the Northern Lights live
  A live stream from Churchill in Manitoba, Canada is worth checking in on from time to time. There's a very good chance you'll get to see the northern lights.
• Watch live performances from Sadler's Wells
  London's famous dance theatre is planning on live streaming a number of performances over the coming weeks for FREE!

Explore US National Parks

This incredible website from Google’s Arts & Culture team takes you on a guided 360° tour of a number of national parks in the USA. Wearing headphones is advised as not only will you be able to see everything around you in stunning detail, you’ll hear ambient noise and real park rangers describing what to look out for.

We've loved exploring Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park. You get to travel inside a lava tube!

View 100,000 works of art from Paris Museums

Paris Musées, a collective of 14 Parisien museums, have recently allowed free public access to 100,000 art works in digital form. As well as being able to browse through the works and zoom into each image, there are also descriptions and virtual exhibitions, which your browser should be able to translate for you, if you’re French isn’t quite up to scratch.

Explore the Universe with NASA

NASA’s entire collection of over 140,000 photos, videos and other resources is available completely free from their website. What’s awesome about this is that everything is provided entirely copyright-free, so you can download the images and do whatever you like with them.

Watch Live Cams from Zoos & Aquariums

Whilst zoos & aquariums around the world might be closed right now, you can still find out what the animals are getting up to via a series of live cameras. In some cases, you can even control the cameras themselves. 

We’ve listed the ones we’ve discovered so far below.

• Georgia Aquarium
  Belugas, Sea Otters, African Penguins, Puffins and even Pirana's are just some of the animals available to watch live
• Pittsburgh Zoo
  See their Penguins
• Houston Zoo
  Giraffes, Elephants, Leafcutter Ants, Rhinos and Chimps are all available to watch live

Go on Virtual Theme Park Rides

YouTube is full of videos filmed from the perspective of theme parks riders. One of the best channels we’ve discovered is SoCal Attractions 360° who have painstakingly captured amazing quality footage from the USA’s best theme parks, including Disneyland and Universal Studios.

Wildlife Watching

Admittedly, this will only work for some, but if you’re lucky and have wildlife living in your back garden, sit by a window and look out for it. If you’re new to wildlife watching, there are websites that can help you to identify what you’re seeing. In the UK, the RSPB have a fantastic free tool that can help you to identify birds by answering a few questions.

Nurture

Taking care of your body and mind has never been more important than it is now. You can still look after yourself whilst at home using the following suggestions.

Practice Yoga

There are numerous free yoga classes online, but one of the most popular is Yoga with Adriene. She provides a free 30 day starter course to get you going. Don’t worry if you don’t have the right kit. Wear something loose and comfortable and, if you don’t have a carpeted floor, lay down a non-slip rug or blanket.

Be Mindful and Meditate

Taking care of your mental health has never been more important than it is right now. There are numerous free tools available that can help you to destress and focus your mind, but our favourite is Headspace. You’ll need to pay to get the most out of the app, but during the current situation, the Headspace Team have kindly provided additional free tools. The ‘Weathering the Storm’ section includes meditations, sleep, and movement exercises that should help you out.

Go Outside

This will depend on your territory’s current restrictions, but if you can, please don’t forget to go outside for some fresh air and to stretch your legs. It can do your body and mind the world of good. Please ensure you keep at least 2 metres away from any other person whilst you’re outside your home.

Learn

Now’s a great time to learn new skills and keep your brain active. Thankfully, there are numerous ways in which you can do this from home, often for free.

Learn a Language

Duolingo is loved the world over with good reason. The teaching method is effective and fun and the app, with its cute graphics and encouraging sounds and messages, is a genuine pleasure to use. Using the app is free, though there are paid power-ups should you want to enhance your experience.

Memrise is an alternative option to Duolingo and is also mostly free.

Learn with the World’s Best Universities for Free

It might seem that a University education is reserved for those who can afford it or those who have specifically chosen to be a student. Think again! Many of the world’s best universities and colleges provide courses in a wide range of disciplines completely free online. One of the best collectives for these courses is FutureLearn who have hundreds of free courses which you can get started on right now.

For example, you could join a course exploring the history of Royal fashion or a course that'll help you to better understand the weather. There are even courses on Dentistry, Infant Nutrition and Scottish Highland Clans.

Even More Things to Learn Whilst at Home

• Learn British Sign Language
  Now's a great time to learn British Sign Language. This course is provided on a 'pay what you can' basis, so it needn't cost very much at all.

Contribute

It’s important to remember that whilst we’re embroiled in the situation we’re currently in, life goes on and people still need our help. In this section, we uncover ways for you to contribute your time and skills to a number of different projects.

Participate in Real Scientific Studies

Zooniverse gives you the opportunity to take part in real scientific research from your home. Current projects that you can help with are:

• Maturity of baby sounds - Classify recordings of baby sounds to help better understand the very first stages of language learning.
• Skink Spotter - Watch short clips of time-lapse footage and look out for New Zealand’s most endangered lizard.

Collaborate with Bird-Watchers

eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world. The aim is to build a picture of how bird species are doing and shape future conservation efforts. 

Entertain

Whilst it’s important to use your time at home wisely, it’s equally important that you indulge in some entertainment too. We’re all used to streaming our favourite tv shows and films, but these are some ideas you may not have heard of.

Throw a Watch Party

Don’t let a bit of distance prevent you from throwing a watch party. Install Netflix Party to your desktop Chrome browser and invite your friends to watch tv programmes and films in sync with one another. A chat window sits to the side of the stream so you can discuss the action whilst it’s playing.

More Ways to Keep Yourself Entertained at Home

• Watch the Wind in the Willows West End Musical for FREE
  While London's West End is closed, you can watch the Wind in the Willows for free on demand for free (UK only). Viewers are encouraged to leave a donation to help support the theatre, but you're not obliged to if you don't want to.
• Free Children's Audiobooks from Audible
  For as long as schools are closed, Audible will be providing free access to a number of children's audiobooks.
• Storyline Online
  Watch global celebrities (often A-listers) read children's books for FREE.

We really hope you found this post useful. We're going to keep updating it throughout the pandemic. If you'd like to be notified of new ideas (no more than once weekly), please tap the button below.

Additionally, if you have any ideas of your own, please add them using the comments box below. We'll give you credit if we add your idea to this post.