Fun Things to do Over the Winter Break During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This blog post was written by Elizabeth Abraham (Mentor at DSC) in collaboration with Komal Saini (First-Year Representative at DSC).
With the recent news of Toronto moving into another lockdown, you might be thinking that all of your winter break plans are officially cancelled. However, with the University of Toronto’s plan to extend the break until January 11th — along with many universities across Ontario — we are left with an excellent opportunity to pick up new hobbies, connect with our family and friends, relax, and indulge in some of our favourite food while staying safe. Though quarantine and the lockdown may have put some of your holiday traditions on hold, there are still ways to get into the holiday spirit. Here are some fun ideas that you can try out during your extended holiday break:
#1: Attend a Virtual Escape Room
Escape rooms have been a great team-building exercise for groups of friends, families and co-workers. Traditionally, escape rooms have always been conducted inside one or multiple rooms, with hidden clues and interactive games that lead you to solve a mystery and escape the room. When lockdowns first began in March 2020, escape room companies found ways to virtualize the escape room experience so that customers wouldn’t have to miss out on the fun because of the lockdown. Now, most companies offer their services for a fee ranging from $5.00-$35.00 per person. Some of the prices may seem a little high, but this can also be a great substitute for a gift! If you don’t want to spend money but still want to enjoy some interactive time with your friends, family or just by yourself, there are also free options available online that are equally as fun. Try them out!
Paid:
Free:
#2: Watch a Movie
One thing that the lockdown and COVID-presented was a near elimination of the movie theatre industry. If you miss watching movies with your friends and family, keep these in mind:
(1) Netflix Party
Netflix Party, (now known as Teleparty) offers a free synchronous playback of whichever Netflix movie or show you chose. The extension works on both Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers and provides you with a link to share the party room with your friends. The additional benefit of this platform is that you can chat with your party members so that you don’t have to miss out on their interruptions for questions and funny commentary during the movie! You also have the option to pause a movie for all participants if you need to take a break, or need a moment to catch up on something you may have missed. Netflix party is a great way to replicate the movie nights you may have once had with your friends and families before COVID-19.
(2) Do a Family Movie Marathon
The past few months of online learning have been difficult for many, and you might have even missed out on some new movies that came out recently because of work and assignments. Now that you have the time this winter break, use it towards catching up on all those movies. You can get your family together or even do it alone, and come up with a list of films or movie-series that you want to finish before the break!
(3) Amazon Prime Video
If you’re a UofT student, you can sign up for an Amazon Prime account with your UofT email and get a 6-month membership for free. This gives you free access to many movies on Amazon Prime Video to watch over the break. Binge on!
#3: Host a Powerpoint Presentation Night
Powerpoint presentation nights have taken to social media by a storm. Topics range from serious conspiracy theories to ranking your favourite memes, comparing celebrities or tv show characters to your family/friends, or inciting debate by tackling myths and facts. All you need to do is pick a topic of your choice, have access to either Powerpoint or google slides, and have fun creating silly slides filled with gifs, memes and pictures to strengthen your “arguments.” If you are social-distancing, you will need access to Zoom, Google Meets, Skype or any service that allows you to share your screen.
#4: Challenge your family or friends to a Chopped (Food Network TV show) mystery basket.
Each day of the week, assign one family member or friend to create a meal using only the items in their pantry. You can also select which specific items you want them to incorporate in their dish and place it into a basket to present to them when the challenge begins. It’s fun to see what your friends and family can come up with using only a few ingredients and an incentive to provide the rest of your family/group with an edible meal. If this isn’t your style, you can always try out some holiday baking to get you into the holiday spirit!
#5: Go Outside (Safely)
Staying inside due to quarantine and online school can get boring quickly — use the winter break to finally get outside and get some fresh air! If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, you can have snowball fights with your family, go tobogganing in your backyard, or even at the local park. If you don’t live in an area that gets snow, you can use the break to go on a hike or even a new workout routine you’ve always wanted to try. Above all, stay active and make sure to practice safe social distancing measures!
#6: Vlog Your Holiday Break
Vlogging may seem unusual and maybe even a bit uneventful because of how many restrictions COVID-19 has placed on your traditional holiday plans. However, old vlogs will be fun to look back on and recount the memories you had while experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, especially a very unique quarantine-edition holiday season.
#7: Last but not least… Check out some great resources to potentially pick up a new skill!
- Learn about building progressive web apps: https://developers.google.com/web/ilt/pwa
- Always wanted to get started with the Google Cloud Platform but didn’t know how? Check out: https://cloud.google.com/gcp/getting-started
- Are you a woman in tech? Learn more about the Women Techmakers leadership program: https://www.womentechmakers.com/
Hopefully, you’ve gone through this list of ideas for your holiday season and are eager to try at least one of them. We hope you enjoy the extended winter break and get to spend time with the people you love either at home or by connecting with them online. Remember to give yourself a well-deserved break after a hectic and stressful start to our school year. DSC UTSG wishes you all happy and safe holidays!
