10 fun things to do at home this weekend
Staying in is the new going out…
If you’re at a loss as to what to do during this strange time of uncertainty. Advice suggests that it’s better to stay at home at the moment, so instead of your weekly round-up of all the fun things to do in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this weekend, here are 10 fun things to do at home.
1. Live stream a workout from your favourite gym
If you were thinking that the gym closures are the perfect excuse to delay your fitness regime, think again. Many of the gyms have turned digital with the introduction of live streamed workouts. Popular gyms including Crank, Barry’s Bootcamp, Underdogboxn and more are offering online and live workouts while the physical gyms remain closed.
2. Spring clean your home
Spring is just around the corner, making now the perfect time to have a clear out of the winter hoarding at home. If you’ve been collecting bits and pieces over the last few months, that you could definitely live with out, now is the time to get rid. Whether it’s your wardrobe that needs a refresh, or the kitchen cupboards could do with a reorganise, pick one area and get started, the rest will soon follow.
For inspiration, watch Marie Kondo’s Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.
3. Watch a foreign film
Looking to learn a new language? Or just learn about an alternative culture? Foreign films are a great way to expand your mind and avoid the lethargic slump that comes with staying at home for an extended period. Not sure where to start? Parasite is the Oscar-winning South Korean film that won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screen Play and Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Academy Awards.
4. Dig out an old recipe book
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Providing that you didn’t throw them out in your aforementioned spring clean, chances are there’s a pile of old cook books you haven’t opened in a while. Instead of ordering your dinner to be delivered, challenge yourself to create a new dish from scratch. You might surprise yourself at your own skills.
5. Create a list of goals
As we’re now well into March, it might be safe to say that all of your new year’s resolutions have gone out the window. So during this time of rest and reflection, have a think about what you want to achieve for the rest of the year, it might even be things you can start doing now, from the comfort of your home.
6. Get crafty with a Kibsons box
If you get your food delivered, there’s a good chance you’re already getting creative in the kitchen. So why not take the arty party to the room next door. The only limit on what you can make out of a Kibsons box is the extent of your imagination. And how much sellotape you have lying around. Dolls houses, forts, masks, castles, robots, desert islands and other dioramas, suits of armour, race tracks, desk tidies, drawer tidies, shoe tidies, storage containers, pin-hole projectors, sock puppet theatres, ramps, pet toys and all sorts of decorations. Make like Dubai and build, build, build. But if you just don’t feel like flexing Blue Peter skills, well that’s ok too, because Kibsons will recycle your unused boxes so you don’t have to.
7. Keep calm and carry on
To all of our friends out there that are prone to suffering from anxiety, we feel you. In times of uncertainty, where your routine is disrupted and there is a heightened state of **gritting teeth emoji** out there in the world, it can be an open invitation for over-thinking. There are tools to help marshall our thoughts though. Practises like meditation, yoga and tai chi are excellent ways of focusing the mind, channelling concentration and mastering your thoughts. And you don’t have to leave your house to do them. YouTube is filled with helpful tutorials to start you on your journey inward. Even if you’re not suffering from anxiety or stress you’ll almost certainly get something out of these guided sessions. Patience, mindfulness, the gift of levitation (although probably not) — heading out? Namaste indoors.
8. Ice Ice Baby
OK so you can’t use the community pool or the beach to stay cool, but all the cool kids know that the coolest way to stay cool, is with a lolly-pop. Cool. Make your own frozen fruit mocktails for an immune boost and tasty chill snack. Coconut milk and pineapple, mango sorbets, frozen berry blends, ginger and lime — mix it up, whack it in a mould, and put in the freezer. No mould? No problem. You can make you’re own from cups or old yoghurt pots. Pour in the mixture, put some cling film over the top and insert your popsicle stick. The cling film holds the stick in place as the mixture freezes around it.
9. Take an online Ivy League college course
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If education is power, then our next suggestion equates to sticking two fingers in the plug socket of academic wisdom. There are literally hundreds of free online courses (many with certificates at the end) from universities including Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Stanford, Penn, Princeton, and Yale. Some of the world’s most respected faculties have uploaded courses in traditional subjects such as philosophy, history and business, as well as more modern fields — robotics, biotechnology and even virology. And if the last few weeks have proved anything, it’s that the world is desperately in need of more lab coat legends.
10. Spread some positivity online
This is something we should all be focused on right now. Positivity. Why not use this time to reconnect with old friends on social media. You know those people that you love and miss dearly, but never get the time to sit down and message. Now is the time. Share good news posts (as long as you can verify their authenticity as real news), do something nice for somebody and ask them to ‘pay it forward,’ help raise awareness for good causes, give unsolicited and sincere compliments, offer help and support to friends, families and strangers. If you can use a little of your time to make somebody else’s time a little better, imagine what a wonderful world this could be.
Images: Facebook/Unsplash
