Whether you’ve already become fluent in French or have a recurring role in your teen’s TikTok videos, chances are you might need a few fresh ideas for staying at home these next few weeks. Give our list a look and try these ideas while staying home.
1) Have a ski movie marathon!
Crank up the a/c, pour yourself a cup of hot cocoa, then cue the Warren Miller movies on Netflix or choose from a curated list of all of our favorites. Did you know you can use the Netflix Chrome extension to watch with movies with friends and family around the country? It’s a great way to laugh with your loved ones and reminisce about your own favorite ski vacation memories.
Have you seen these backyard ski vacations under quarantine? These COVID creatives have had us very entertained this quarantine.
2) Turn that virtual happy hour into game night!
We’ve already exhausted the obvious, entertaining our friends and family by changing our digital backgrounds on Zoom a bazillion times. No grandma, I’m not really in San Francisco or on the moon … now that everyone knows that trick, how about up-leveling our Zoom get-togethers with a game night.
Here are a few game night ideas that will work over Zoom:
Yahtzee
No need for a digital version, as long as everyone can BYOD (bring your own dice), this should be an easy one to play over Zoom. Same rules as always.
Murder Mystery Game
You could play this Hunt a Killer murder mystery game with friends and families in other states if everyone buys a copy of the game. The clues are challenging enough that it might be helpful to have grandma and grandpa’s eyes and ears on them, too! Order multiple sets for communal crime-solving, then get to solving the mystery.
Virtual Pictionary
Use the whiteboard feature on Zoom to have everyone belly laughing through their drawing attempts. Use the online Pictionary word generator, then, have the player whose turn it is share their screen and use the whiteboard feature on Zoom. They’ll pick a card and use the digital tools to draw a picture with the computer mouse. Everyone else tries to guess what they’re drawing. If you thought everyone’s drawing skills were funny enough with just a pen and paper, your loved ones will definitely be entertained with the digital equivalent.
Online Trivia
Use the chat function in Zoom to have everyone write their answer at the same time. This online random trivia generator will provide tons of interesting questions on a variety of topics.
Cards Against Humanity
Ok, these are definitely ADULT only games, but if your online college reunion Zoom needs spicing up or your adult children are Zooming regularly, give it a go. Our favorite digital versions are right here. Select “Remote Insensitivity” (this is the game that is most similar to Cards Against Humanity) or try the special Coronavirus version, Cards for Quarantine. Again, these are games for family members and friends who are adults, not for kids. They are extremely easy to set up and will definitely have you entertained.
COVID - Bingo
It doesn’t get any simpler than playing Bingo, so this is an easy one to do over Zoom. But instead of the church basement version (I-94), try a COVID version to get a few laughs. Create your own quarantine bingo board (with examples like sanitized the sanitizer, ate 2 weeks of snacks in 2 days, took a shower).
3) Finally, make that ski vacation photo memory book!
Get those dusty digital photos off of your phone and into a memory book. Reminisce about those favorite vacation memories before they are forgotten. No need to try to track down scrapbook glue on your next grocery run or seeing Instacart's “creative” substitutions, make a beautiful digital version, instead. You’ll be able to order multiple copies for everyone who was on the vacation with you, exponentially increasing the savoring. We love the beautiful options from a great digital photo book company that happens to be located in Colorado and is still in full production, Artifact Uprising.
4) Operation Mother’s Day.
Ahem. Mother’s Day is coming (May 10). FYI the kids aren’t coming home with something endearing and homemade from school, jewelry stores aren’t exactly easy to buy from curbside, and brunch spots aren’t open, so it’s time to get creative.
Moms have been working OVERTIME this quarantine, so grocery store flowers aren’t going to cut it.
Take a page out of our catered chalet book and treat mom to an extra special day at home.
First, we recommend starting with cleaning the house! While you’re cleaning, treat her to breakfast in bed and make sure that before she stumbles out for her 3rd coffee refill that the toys are put away, the laundry is folded, the counters are clean, the staircase is empty, and that she didn’t have to do any of it.
Then, set up a spa day, maybe an online yoga class, followed by a relaxing soak, by herself, with no one, not even the dog, parading in.
Finally, set up an area as her favorite restaurant. A table for two on the balcony? A socially distant neighborhood celebration of mamas all dining in their driveways? Or just spruce up the kitchen table. Get out the candles, the table cloth, print some menus, order her favorite takeout, and have the kids be the waitstaff (it’ll get them off of Minecraft temporarily, everybody wins!). Top it off with dessert and a virtual Corona concert. Listen to Elton John in his backyard basketball court, John Legend in his living room, Chris Martin in his music studio, or Andrea Bocelli at the Duomo.
And if all else fails, plan a future Colorado vacation for her! We recommend one that comes with catered chalet service, she’s really going to deserve it after this … more on that in suggestion number 5.
5) Plan that future vacation
Anticipation is more than just a great Carly Simon song, it’s also a tool in the emotional resilience toolbelt!
Having something to look forward to is actually one of the recommended ways psychologists give for getting through difficult or frustrating times (such as quarantine).
While we know travel might look different in the days ahead, we also know that we will travel, again.
Both Epic and Ikon ski passes are currently offering renewal deals as well as adventure assurances such as being able to use passes in 21/22 for the Ikon pass or refunding the pass for the Epic, if necessary. Our policies at Moving Mountains also have been revised to make sure peace of mind prevails when you’re planning your Colorado vacation.
So get the gang together over Zoom, after that Warren Miller film fest, before you play Pictionary, and start making those summer plans or dreaming up your future ski vacations. Trust us, it’s probably a lot easier than building that backyard chairlift!
