23 activities to keep you busy when you're stuck at home

Draw or paint

Let your creative ideas flourish — and don't worry if you don't think you possess the "skills" to or if you never took an art class in your life. Start with Johanna Basford's highly popular adult coloring books, then continue through the rest of this list of adult coloring books. 

You can create an art nook in a corner of your room with these art supplies. 

Need creative inspiration? Watch videos from our own Art Insider YouTube channel and check out the classes on Skillshare. 

Get reinspired in the kitchen and brush up on basic cooking skills

Feeling the burnout of cooking for months on end? You're not alone. We asked food experts how they continue to feel inspired in the kitchen, and they said you should try wandering your local farmers market safely, using a new spice, and speeding up the cooking process with small appliances. 

Read the following to help you get back in the kitchen:

• How chefs get reinspired in the kitchen
• 4 easy ways to make takeout feel special
• The 19 most useful kitchen appliances and tools, recommended by chefs
• 11 essential kitchen tools, all under $10 

You can also try going back to the basics. Whether you want to hunker down and master basic skills, like how to make an omelet and cook the perfect steak, or make your way methodically through every single page of an essential cookbook, you finally have the time to do it now. 

See if you have these cooking skills down: 

• How to poach an egg 4 different ways
• How to boil an egg 3 different ways
• How to cook rice on the stove or in a rice cooker
• How to cook a medium-rare steak, according to Pat LaFrieda
• How to roast a chicken in the oven
  
• How to make crispy bacon in the oven
• How to sous vide
• How to meal prep

Here are reviews of and links to our favorite places to shop for cookware, if you realize the pots, pans, and knives you're using right now aren't up to par. 

• For stainless steel cookware: Made In and Sardel
• For other types of cookware: Equal Parts, Great Jones, Field Company, and Le Creuset
• For a variety of well-designed cookware and tools: Food52 Shop and Material Kitchen
• For basics and utensils: Potluck

Join a virtual experience

In place of in-person events, many businesses now offer virtual experiences to teach you new skills, bring you to cool places, and connect you to people all around the world. The pro of a virtual experience is that it's usually cheaper than a normal event. These are some of our favorites: 

• Online Plant Workshops: Receive tips from plant experts on everything from watering to light. $10/person from The Sill. 
• Virtual Wine Tastings at Home: Hear from winemakers about tasting notes, the winemaking process, favorite pairings, and more. Upcoming special guests include chef José Andrés. Free to participate from Wine.com. Corresponding wine must be purchased separately. 
• Floral Arranging Workshops: Create beautiful and lush seasonal arrangements with fresh flowers. $65/person from 1-800-Flowers. 
• Airbnb Experiences: Hosts from around the world offer everything from guided meditation with sheep in the UK to a street art tour in Buenos Aires followed by a sketching session. 
• Museum and Theme Park Visits: Popular destinations like the Louvre and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter have granted virtual access to their cultural institutions. 

Clean out your closet — and donate to those in need while you're at it

With ThredUp's clean-out programs, you can clear out your closet without having to leave your house.  

Whether you choose to receive back money or donate your clothes, the site takes care of all of the work — all you have to do is fill the prepaid shipping bag, then send it back via FedEx or USPS. Read more about how it works. 

Take control of your finances

We know, revisiting your savings accounts and financial plans doesn't incite the same excitement as having a dance party or baking dessert. But it's never a bad idea to know where you stand financially and plan for the future, with or without a pandemic. The resources from our Personal Finance team will help: 

• The best savings accounts
• The best online high-yield savings accounts
• Sign up for the Personal Finance Insider newsletter

Donate to an organization supporting communities affected by the coronavirus

Use Charity Navigator to find vetted organizations that are providing medical supplies, food, educational support, and other resources to the people that need it the most right now. 

Meanwhile, these brands are running coronavirus-related donation initiatives: 

• 1-800-Flowers.com: Donating 20% of net proceeds from gifts purchased from the Season of Sharing collection to No Kid Hungry, now through December 24. 
• Away: Donating 100% from its Master & Dynamic collaboration to the MusiCares Coronavirus Relief Fund. 
• The Company Store: Donating $1 to The Ronald McDonald House New York for every pair of pajamas sold on its website. 
• Koral: Donating $1 to the American Red Cross for every face mask sold, now through November 30.

Move your body and perfect your home gym set up

Creating an at-home gym doesn't require fancy equipment. In fact, there are plenty of effective full-body workouts that use only your body weight. But, while you're stuck at home, now may also be the best time to start your own home gym if that's something you've been thinking about.

Find the best guide for your favorite form of exercise below. 

• The best exercise bikes
• The best yoga mats
• The best pull-up bars
• The best jump ropes
• The best treadmills
• The best rowing machines
• The best dumbbells

If you're someone who likes group studio classes but can't attend in-person sessions due to gym closures, there are still ways to get your sweat in within a "group" setting:

• The best workout videos, apps, and equipment needed to make the most of your at-home workout
• ClassPass doesn't just grant access to physical fitness studios, it offers on-demand videos, too — here's how the videos compare to in-person classes
• Beachbody On Demand's diverse virtual workouts provide the motivation I need to break a sweat at home each day
• Peloton's Digital Membership offers more than just on-demand cycling classes — and you don't even need the bike to access them

In case you need to rethink your workout clothes, which will conveniently double as very comfortable work-from-home wear, we also have you covered:

• The best women's workout clothes
• The best men's workout clothes

Treat yourself to an at-home spa day

Fill your tub with bubbles, light some candles, and disconnect from tech today. If you can put aside a few hours of your day, you can set up your very own spa at home with the following products. Don't forget your robe.

• The best hair masks
• The best sheet masks
• The best foot massagers
• The best massage guns
• The best places to buy candles

Make yourself a drink

While many bars are open again, turning your own kitchen into a bar is the safest — and most fun — way to sip your signature drink. If you miss drinking while traveling, you can even find 16 signature cocktail recipes from hotel bars here. 

Order spirits and other alcohol to your front door here:

• The best wine subscriptions
• 14 places to buy alcohol online — from general online liquor stores to monthly wine delivery services
• 12 places to buy wine online

And take advantage of these promotions from companies that curate delicious recipes and ingredients for you:

• SaloonBox
• Shaker & Spoon

For those who like to relax without alcohol, Seedlip is a very popular and high-quality non-alcoholic spirit that you can use to make sophisticated and creative drinks. During the pandemic, we also discovered Ghia, a non-alcoholic aperitif. 

Play a game

With more time on your hands, you can try a new board or card game. Remember to only play these games with your household and people you're self-isolating with. If you are itching to play with people you don't live with, try this online tabletop game site that synchronizes card movements across all the players' screens. Jackbox Games is also a fun game site to invite your friends to. 

Otherwise, we recommend these classic and modern games: 

• The best board games
• The best adult card games
• 21 unique editions of Monopoly for game night
• Exploding Kittens profile and review

Get crafty and learn how to knit, crochet, embroider, and make pottery

You can pass an entire weekend away with just one project.

We Are Knitters is a cool site that strips away preconceptions of knitting as an activity for your grandmother, selling supplies and kits for knitters of all skill levels. It carries many different types of yarn, from recycled yarn to baby alpaca. You'll learn how to make blankets (which we during quarantine), scarves, and complex sweaters once you've worked your way up through the different levels. 

If you're more interested in embroidery, Etsy has many affordable embroidery kits for beginners. For fans of clay, Crockd is a new DIY pottery kit that comes with clay, step-by-step instructions, tools, and icebreaker topics to discuss as you make your creation. 

Care for a plant

The natural beauty of a lush green plant will make you feel more at ease, and caring for a plant right now is easier than caring for, say, a dog. Instead of going outside to a nursery, stay indoors and order a beautiful plant from one of our three favorite online plant shops: The Sill, Leon & George, and Bloomscape. We compare their offerings, shipping policies, and more here. 

Some cool offerings include:

 

Another option is to grow your herbs to use in your own cooking. Even if your home doesn't get much light, these garden systems let you grow fresh herbs and vegetables thanks to energy-efficient LED lighting and special soil.

Read (or listen to) a book

Take this chance to reread an old favorite or try the latest bestseller. You can even hold virtual book club meetings with your friends (complete with wine and cheese, of course). We recommend supporting and ordering books from your local bookstore during these times. 

If you need ideas of where to start, here's are some recent recs:

• The top 30 audiobooks on Audible right now
• 13 books for young children that feature protagonists of color
• 20 travel books to take a globe-trotting voyage without ever leaving home
• 16 books about the biggest business scams of our time
• The 15 best personal finance books for 2020
• The 50 best audiobooks of all time

To entertain kids at home, try Amazon's kids' book subscription service, Prime Book Box, and for yourself, a Book of the Month membership.  

It's no secret that several members of the Insider Reviews team love their Kindle e-readers. I rarely buy ebooks and instead borrow them for free through my public library using the Libby app.  

Another way to get your reading fix digitally is through Scribd, a reading app that gives subscribers access to hundreds of thousands of audiobooks, ebooks, magazines, sheet music, and more. Reporter Mara Leighton has used it for four years and won't be stopping any time soon. 

Take an online class

Online learning has been on the rise in recent years, with students of all ages looking to continue their educations, advance their careers, or simply learn something new for the sake of learning something new — all without the high costs of traditional education. 

Together, our six favorite online learning communities offer hundreds of thousands of online classes. They cover creative endeavors like photography and illustration, academic subjects like philosophy and biology, and even skills from world-famous experts, authors, and athletes. 

The top-ranked colleges in the US have dozens of cool classes to take, including a fascinating course from Yale about happiness. 

Listen to an album from beginning to end

When singles dominate the charts and digital streaming fragments the way you listen to music, it can be hard to remember the last time you sat down and listened to an entire album, front to back. So pop one of these records on the record player or pull it up on Spotify (no shuffling!), close your eyes, and enjoy these essential favorites from the Insider Reviews team. These are just a few of the many suggestions that came in, so email us if you want the full list:

• Rumours, Fleetwood Mac — Ellen Hoffman, executive editor; Sally Kaplan, senior editor; Mara Leighton, senior reporter; and Remi Rosmarin, reporter 
• 1989, Taylor Swift — Sally Kaplan, senior editor; Breton Fischetti, vice president of commerce; Emily Hein, production fellow 
• Oshin, DIIV — Lisa Sabatini, parenting and pets editor
• The Carnival, Wyclef Jean — Danny Bakst, manager, story production 
• If You're Feeling Sinister, Belle & Sebastian — Les Shu, senior editor
• DAMN., Kendrick Lamar — Mara Leighton, senior reporter 
• -Ugh, those feels again, Snoh Aalegra — Connie Chen, senior reporter
• Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan Stevens — Alexa Bleustein, e-commerce analyst 

You can enter your own private world with a good pair of earbuds or headphones: 

Or play the tracks on a speaker that fills the whole room and brings out the instrumentation, bass, or vocals as they're meant to be heard. 

Have a record player but can't decide what to listen to? VNYL decides for you, sending you a record based on your music profile and streaming service activity. It also makes a great gift for the music lover in your life who's struggling with self-isolating. 

Watch a movie or show

Be it a drama, rom-com, or reality show, entertainment is always a comforting fallback. The following guide contains all of our recs for what to watch. If it's on Netflix, download the Netflix Party extension so you can watch it with friends or partners at the same time. 

• Insider's ultimate guide to the best movies and TV shows to watch while you're stuck at home

As you navigate the crowded land of streaming services to decide which one's for you, check out our guides: 

• The best streaming services you can sign up for online
• ESPN+ review
• Hulu Premium review
• Everything you need to know about Disney Plus
• Amazon Fire TV Stick review
• Apple TV 4K review
• How to watch your favorite shows on Food Network

Meditate

You're not alone if you're feeling anxious, uneasy, and stressed. Regular meditation can help reduce these feelings, and also reduce depression, improve memory function, and boost well-being. It's a good skill to learn and know even outside of the current pandemic.

If you want to get started, check out our guides for beginners — and don't worry if your mind wanders or you wonder if you're "doing it right." It's all part of the process.

• How to meditate for beginners
• The best meditation apps

Develop your skin-care routine

In times of uncertainty, people are turning to the comfort of skin-care routines. Skin-care routines help maintain a sense of normalcy, plus they help pass time and pamper your skin along the way. Every person's skin is different, so there's no singular routine or set of products we can recommend. But here are some guides and reviews to get you started towards soft and glowing skin: 

• The best face masks
• The best sheet masks
• The best hyaluronic acid serum
• The best vitamin C serum
• The best eye creams and serums
• The best skin-care products we tried 
• Aztec Secret Clay Mask review
• Maelove skin-care review
• Drunk Elephant Sukari Babyfacial review

Stream a live concert or dance party

An upside of all the canceled live events — concerts, opera, dance, club nights — is that many have now shifted to online streams, and they're entirely free to enjoy. Go to the social accounts of any of your favorite musicians or organizations ... chances are, they'll have a live stream for you to watch. Here's a short list of cool live events:

• DJ D-Nice is a viral sensation whose viewers flock to his "Club Quarantine" sets. Find him on Instagram @dnice for dance breaks and parties. 
• Our resident theatre critic, Jen Gushue, recommends BroadwayHD.com for all your musical needs. It's only $9 a month after a free 7-day trial. 
• Classical music organizations, including the NY Phil, Met Opera, and London Symphony Orchestra, are hosting live streams and making concert archives available for viewing. Classic FM has a great always updating list here. 

Write a short story or journal your own experience

Grab one of these notebooks (or go the "smart" route to save all your writings to the cloud), then find your favorite nook in the house. Even better, if the weather permits, sit outside with a cup of coffee as you scribble away. Here are some ideas to get your mind rolling: 

• 50 fiction writing prompts
• 50 creative nonfiction writing prompts

While the Insider Reviews team spends most of its week typing on keyboards, when we do pick up our pens for some old-fashioned writing, we love using these pens: 

Clean and reorganize your home

Spring cleaning is still a thing, and maybe now is finally the time for you to start the cleaning and reorganizing project you've been putting off. Start with cleaning:

• The best vacuum cleaners
• The best disinfecting cleaners
• The best natural cleaning brands
• Top-rated products to clean every room in your house

As for organizing, I swear by cheap pant hangers and bathroom shelves to instantly clear up space and organize my things: 

Reporter and shoe collector Amir Ismael uses these boxes to keep his massive collection neat and tidy: 

Here are more guides to help you out: 

• The best closet and drawer organizers
• Under-$30 kitchen organization products from Amazon

Bake bread and pastries

More time at home means more opportunities to tend to those delicious baked goods that typically require a lot of careful oversight and many, many steps to make. Beginner bakers need not worry or be intimidated — you can learn from two professional bakers what tools to order right now. The essentials include sturdy measuring cups and spoons and a tapered rolling pin. 

The bakers on the Insider Reviews team are big fans of the silicone baking accessories from Silpat: 

And we'll be looking at books like these for plenty of guidance and inspiration: 

Do a puzzle

Jigsaw puzzles are a great activity for both kids and adults, and various studies point to the benefits of puzzle-solving, including better spatial skills, memory retention, and cooperation with others. Whether you doing one by yourself or with another person, the feeling when you fit the last piece to complete the puzzle can't be beat. 

The MoMA Design Store's puzzles, appropriately, are modeled after pieces in the MoMA collection in New York City. 

The puzzles from Jiggy highlight the work of women artists. Each comes in an attractive jar you can repurpose for other uses and puzzle glue to make your completed project a permanent piece of decor.