18 Fun Indoor Activities To Keep Everyone Sane.

Having to stay indoors doesn’t have to be boring, here are some fun indoor activities we can do as individuals and as a family to occupy our time and stay sane.

1. Read a great book. Choose a fantastic book and read it from cover to cover.

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Libby connects to your library and has both audio and eBooks.
Scribd has a large library of audiobooks, eBooks, and even digital magazines.
Audible has a huge catalog of audiobooks.
Librivox makes public domain audiobooks available for free.
Amazon list of 100 books to read in a lifetime.

2. Create your own film festival. Create a list of related films to watch and start making your way through the list.

IMDB list of 100 top rated ﬁlms
The Hollywood Reporter top 100 movies of all time
Rotten Tomatoes list of the top 100 documentaries
Rotten Tomatoes list of the top 100 comedies

3. Take an online class. Dive deep into a subject by taking an online course.

edX has thousands of courses from top institutions like Harvard and MIT.
The Great Courses has courses on everything from photography to secret societies to algebra.
LinkedIn offers courses on a huge variety of business subjects.
Masterclass offers courses taught by experts in their ﬁeld (James Patterson, Steve Martin, Gordon Ramsay, and more).

4. Plan a trip. Map out the places you’ll go on your next big trip.

Google Maps allows you to place pins on speciﬁc locations that you’ll be visiting.
Google Trips app scans your inbox for things like hotel reservations, car rentals, and itineraries. Then it organizes them together.
The Lonely Planet app has guides to thousands of cities that provide tips and advice from experts.
Google Earth uses satellite imagery to give you a detailed look at millions of locations around the world.

5. Take a virtual ﬁeld trip. Virtually explore great locations around the world, like museums, national parks, and even the Great Wonders of the World.

If you love animals, check out the Panda Cam at Zoo Atlanta.
With the Georgia Aquarium Ocean Voyager live cam, you can observe thousands of ﬁsh, including sharks!
Stellarium allows you to explore the constellations that dot the night sky.
Yellowstone National Park has a number of interactive maps and a live stream of the Old Faithful geyser.
If you’re a history buff, don’t miss the virtual tours offered by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
With Google Arts & Culture, you can virtually peruse more than 1,200 museums and galleries, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Colonial Williamsburg has a number of webcams that give you a sense of what it was like living in America 200 years ago.
The Great Wall of China virtual tour allows you to explore one of the seven wonders of the world.

6. Connect with family and friends. Catch up with those who matter most to you, either on the phone or through an app.

The Houseparty app allows you to video chat with a group of people on your smartphone or computer.
Zoom is primarily designed for business use but also works really well for video chat with a group of people.
Marco Polo enables you to send video messages to friends and family which they can view at any time.
WhatsApp is a group chat app that makes it simple to have text conversations with multiple people at one time.
Netﬂix Party allows you to watch movies along with friends and family. You can chat in real-time and everything is kept in sync for all parties.

7. Practice meditation. Learn to calm your mind, relax your body, and focus entirely on the present.

Headspace has a huge number of guided meditations, sleep sounds, mini-meditations, and more.
Calm offers numerous meditations of varying lengths, breathing exercises, nature sounds, sleep stories, and much more.
Aura offers personalized meditations, music, stories, and coaching based on your mood.
Glo combines yoga and meditation, allowing you to strengthen body and mind simultaneously.

8. Keep a gratitude journal. Increase your happiness by writing down things for which you’re grateful.

Here are a couple of Gratitude Journals you can purchase from Amazon to get you started, or just write in a notebook.

Gratitude Journal 52 Week Daily Positive Thinking for Women & Girls with Stickers Self-Help Happiness

The 3 Minute Gratitude Journal for Kids: A Journal to Teach Children to Practice Gratitude and Mindfulness

9. Get some exercise. Get your body moving and blood pumping with an indoor workout.

The Nike Training Club app offers more than 190 different workouts, all for free.
If you use a Fitbit, consider using the Fitbit Coach app, which recommends workouts based on your activity.
If you’re pressed for time, the 7 Minute Workout app guides you through a quick cycle of proven exercises.

10. Watch a TED talk. Listen to experts deliver inspiring talks on a variety of subjects.

Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability
Simon Sinek on great leadership
Dan Pink on the puzzle of motivation Dan Gilbert on the science of happiness
Elizabeth Gilbert on creative genius
Dan Gilbert on the science of happiness

11. Explore Reddit. Make your way through thousands of online forums on every subject imaginable.

r/askscience – Deep dives into scientiﬁc questions and issues
r/todayilearned – Interesting facts that people just learned
r/Futurology – Explores the latest, most interesting technologies
r/nonononoyes – Entertaining video clips of disaster being averted at the last second
r/Gifs – A collection of the greatest gifs from around the internet
r/IAmA – Different individuals, including many celebrities, talk about the unique aspects of their lives

12. Learn to play an instrument. Finally learn how to play that instrument you’ve always wanted to play.

Yousician offers online lessons for a variety of instruments.
Guitar Tricks will help you get up and running quickly on the guitar.
Live Music Tutor connects you with musicians who will personally teach you to play your instrument.

13. Read a book together. Introduce your kids to great books and foster in them a love of reading.

Time Magazine lists of the The 100 Best Children’s Books of All Time and The 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time.

14. Learn how to code. Introduce your kids to coding apps, websites, and games.

15. Make a movie. Use your smartphone to ﬁlm and edit a movie starring your family.

16. Play word games. Increase everyone’s vocabulary and have fun with classic word games like Mad Libs, crossword puzzles, and word searches.

17. Learn a new language.

18. Create a fun Slip N’ Slide in your backyard. This is the most fun yet!

Roll this black tarp out, add some dish soap and some flowing or sprinkling water and there you go, slip and slide away!

6 Mil Polyethylene Sheeting Roll (20’ x 100’) Black Plastic Sheeting, Plastic Tarp

So there you have it!

I hope you and your family will find some interesting and fun things to do as individuals and as a family. If you can think of other fun things to contribute be sure to comment below so we all can get more ideas!