Coping during self-isolation and/or lockdown is going to be important. This is a tiny selection of ideas – there are many more options available online.
The most important thing is to manage your mental health while we get through this, especially if you are alone.
Exercise
Exercise if you can – there are free exercise videos to watch on YouTube, or dig out those old exercise DVDs from the attic!
Joe Wicks has exercise videos for children see: The Body Coach TV: P.E with Joe – streamed live on YouTube at 9am every day, but available to catch up at other times too.
YouTube has exercises for older people too, including seated exercises, if you need those (here’s one and another but there are lots more)
Whatever your preferences are, there’ll probably be something available online. And if you can get outside (walking only with people who live in your household), Gus and Bear have described three local walks on their website.
Stay connected
Keep talking to people by phone or online – your neighbours, friends and family.
If you’ve not done it before – here are some instructions on how to make a video call
Zoom is a free call/video conferencing tool (free for up to 40 mins).
Learn something new
Learn something new! Something you’d always been interested in … a language? Taking better pictures? Gardening? Drawing? Lots of places are offering free classes to help people through this tricky time. Search online for your particular interest, but here are some ideas…
Duolingo or similar apps available on your phone
Open university: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses
Dog training online email obedience@digitdogs.co.uk (not free, but could make your life a lot easier with your dog)
Gardening – there are free classes available, and ideas for useful tasks in your garden
Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) is setting creative challenges – find them on Twitter
Science Museum has games and apps
Behind the scenes tour of Jodrell Bank with an exploration of how the telescopes work
Ideas for children
Locally: Gruff Outdoor Learning (in Marton!) are doing a Facebook story time
113 Fun activities to do at home with kids while self-isolating
https://www.home-start.org.uk/news/activities-for-families-during-self-isolation
Natural History Museum has interesting articles: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover.html
Watch / Listen
Audible has made some audio books available online for free. They are mostly oriented towards children, but some would make good listening for anyone –
Other links to audio:
https://bookriot.com/2016/09/15/11-websites-find-free-audiobooks-online/
https://www.workingmums.co.uk/activity-ideas-for-kids-during-self-isolation/
There are many films/tv shows available to stream online using (for example – there are many more!) BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon … Did you know that you can stream dance, opera and theatre performances on demand too, via marquee.tv (offering a 30 day free trial period at the time of writing)?
Just for fun
Try joining in the Virtual Pub Quiz live on Thursday nights