Try These Fun, Virtual Ways to Connect with Others
As we continue to stay home, we miss our friends and family. Virtual platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts are widely used in the business world for meetings and webinars. But what about our personal lives? How can we use virtual tools to nourish the relationships we have with people outside our home and work? Maintaining connections with others is imperative during this time of social isolation. Healthy relationships are important to our overall mental wellbeing, and standing across the street waving to each other just won’t cut it! We need meaningful time together.
Here are 5 fun ideas to try with friends and family that will temporarily take your mind off the current news cycle and give you something social to look forward to.
Distance Dinner Game Night
If you’re used to dining out with others, schedule a virtual meal, and add a game to steer the conversation! Simply send guests an invite for a certain mealtime, login at that time, eat together, and play. One easy virtual game idea: Two Truths and a Tall Tale. Each person reveals three facts about themselves: two of them are true and one is a tall tale. Everyone else has to guess which one is a tall tale!
Virtual Cook-off
As a group, pick a dinner recipe (a healthy one!) and make sure everyone has the ingredients. Schedule a time, send out invites, and then meet up virtually to show off your creations and eat together. You can incorporate awards based on visual appearance like “Most Interesting Interpretation” and “Best Presentation.” Maybe one winner gets to pick the healthy recipe for the next cook-off.
Small Screen Movie Night
A new platform extension from Google Chrome called “Netflix Party” allows people to watch the same movie together at the same time with ways to customize the experience. You can chat in real-time about what’s happening on-screen with the group chat option — just like you were together on the couch watching it. This is a great idea for kids as well!
Book Club Happy Hour
Now is a great time to get back into a reading routine. Get others involved by picking out a book, breaking it into sections, and getting together once a week virtually to discuss. You can create themes for healthy snacks and beverages based around the chosen book plus questions to get the discussions started each week. This works best if it’s scheduled at a consistent, recurring time each week that works for everyone involved.
Throw a House Party
A free video app called Houseparty lets up to 8 people join a video call or be “in the house.” There are different game options on screen that everyone can see and play together, from trivia games like “Finish the Song Lyric” to interactive quizzes to an app-friendly version of Pictionary. With so many virtual platforms and apps available, get creative with how you use them to connect with friends and family. Have fun! You can even do a free workout video on YouTube and virtually share your screen so others can join you. Family yoga on Saturdays, anyone?
Let us know if you try any of these ideas. We would love to hear how it went!
Click HERE to learn more about the Wellview services available to you. We can’t wait to work with you!
