Last weekend is when I finally hit my cabin fever limit and I looked at my husband with desperation and told him we had to get out of the house. We are strict with following the rule of lockdown so we both knew we were going to do whatever we were doing safely. But what to do? As a friend of mine has said, “We’ve played all the games, watched all the movies, we’ve repainted and weeded, I need something else.” This last little leg of lockdown appears to be a challenge to find something to revitalize or rejuvenate us. Here are a few tips to develop a plan for this weekend.
Brainstorm. Humans have ways of getting into patterns and sticking to them. Often it is hard to think of other things to do except the ones either we can’t do to restrictions (like going to a movie) or things we’ve been doing all year long! Brainstorming allows for everything to go into the ideas pile, whether it is accessible or not. There is not an idea that is wrong or gets dismissed immediately as not now. You know some of them won’t be possible, but this is about just getting the juices flowing to come up with something fun that you do want to do.
Get the Kids Involved. Children/teens are great at ideas. Ask them to come up with a new game or help you brainstorm. This will not only expand your thoughts it will also get buy in from them and perk up everyone’s motivation.
Set the Rules. Everyone has different rules for themselves on what’s acceptable and what’s not. Define the rules of what the activity must comply with. This could include anything from it must require a mask or the opposite. It must be an outside or inside activity. It can’t or can involve other people. Everyone has to be dirty by the end, or no one should be dirty at the end. You get the idea, whatever is best for you and your family are what the rules are. These rules could even be fun rules that enhance the activity through a challenge like it must include water, everyone wears a blue shirt, or it can’t cost anything.
Make up the Activity. Now that the rules are set and there is lots of ideas flowing, its time to use your imagination to create a game or activity to have some goofy, laughter inducing fun.
Ideas. I know sometimes I look at something like this and think ugh I have to think, just give me some ideas already. Here are a few ideas to get the brainstorming kickstarted:
For a family who loves to travel. Have theme nights where everyone in the family is assigned a date, each person gets to pick the country they wanted to travel to. Then the whole family decorates the living room according to that countries culture. Make it authentic by serving culture cuisine and then either watch a video about the country or Google virtual trips to find the place they want to visit. An example is if you want to visit Hawaii have an outside hula party.
For a family who loves the outdoors. Its all about the sunshine and getting outside. Have a treasure hunt/scavenger hunt. Make a list of things to find on their walk/bike ride. Either bring it home or take a picture to prove things were found. These included instructions to find a weird-shaped rock, find someone laughing, find a house with the curtains open/drawn, find a red car or bring home a dandelion.
For the family who is competitive. Have a water fight in the backyard, plan a family cookoff, challenge each other to a made-up game where you take the rules from different games and mix them all together, or have a dance off.
Now that the thoughts are starting to flow, keep it going. After my day, I felt renewed and refreshed. I hope that you will have the same this weekend - a burst of fun with laughter to rejuvenate you.
Warmly,
Registered Psychotherapist
519-601-4357
Comments