In 6th Grade Language Arts, we read an article titled “The Five Best Board Games to Play in Coronavirus Quarantine,” paying special attention to the author’s purpose and tone. Then, everyone created their own article titled, “Tired of Board Games? Try these Five (5) Quarantine-friendly Activities Instead” to give readers accessible advice like the original article.
Here are four student examples (in journal form):
Tired of Board Games? Try these Five (5) Quarantine-friendly Activities Instead
By Chloe B.
This whole coronavirus-quarantine thing is hard, mainly because most people get bored and sick of staying at home for all this time, especially if you don’t have something to do! You might even have tried to play a few board games to keep your brain stimulated, but sometimes you can get bored with them. Not everyone wants to play the same board game over and over again, right? Here are five quarantine friendly activities you can do instead.
If You Want to Do Something To Keep Your Blood Pumping: Take a Walk Outside. — If you want to get out of the house and enjoy the fresh air, taking a walk in your neighborhood (or backyard) will do just the thing. It doesn’t always have to be a clear sky and sun, taking a walk with clouds and puddles can still be refreshing. If you’re into photography, you should bring a camera along with you, and see if you can find anything worth taking a picture of. And if you have a pet (like a dog), you should bring them along too. Let’s say you have a small backyard- that’s okay! You can still walk around and see if you can find anything worthwhile to look at.
Write a Short Story! (or a long one) — Writing a story (or writing anything in general) is a nice way to put all of your thoughts and feelings onto one piece of paper (or several). It doesn’t even have to be a story; you can write a poem or haiku about your thoughts on the coronavirus. Or maybe you can continue working on a novel you haven’t finished. And maybe you aren’t the most creative type, so you can just start your own journal entry or diary!
Something Fun and Creative: Art! — Doing art is a very fun activity that almost anyone can do at home. You don’t need fancy paint brushes or fancy colors to make pretty artwork; just a pencil, paper, and eraser can make a beautiful sketch! If you don’t have a lot of ideas of things to draw or paint, look at your surroundings. Many famous artworks are based on things that many people see every day. And let’s say you don’t have a lot of paint, but you really want to use them. There are lessons that show you how to make your own paint online.
Hey, you Might as Well: Clean/organize — Although it’s not everyone’s favorite, cleaning and organizing your house is a way to take all that stress off of your shoulders. I know for a fact that having a clean house will make you happier (and healthier). Just take a sanitizing wipe and clean all the door handles and knobs you can find. Clean your room, vacuum the whole house, clean the windows! You can also organize that closet that is always so full of random stuff. Your options are endless!
Watch that Long Movie you Always Wanted to Watch — Being stuck at home for who knows how long, we’re lucky to have the T.V. There are millions of movies and shows you can watch, and you won’t have bedtime to worry about! You watch all the movies that won the Oscars and decide for yourself which is best. And hey, you can finally watch that long movie you always wanted to watch but never had the time too!
By Harjas G.
Oh, no! It’s that time when we are stuck in our homes being bored, and hating board games because your brain just hates them right now, or you just don’t feel like playing it. Well, I also (most of the time) get bored with board games. So here are five other quarantine activities instead.
Read — Most of the time, you never usually want to read or just don’t have time to read. Well, this is your chance because you have plenty of time to read. Another reason why you should read is that you get more knowledge and learn more morals from the books or stories you read.
Start a Journal — You must be thinking why would you start a journal, it just would be a waste of time! But, actually, a lot of the world right now is really anxious, worried, or just feeling a lot of change because facilities are shut down. So if you took a journal and wrote all those worries and feelings you would be able to understand them more efficiently and help you think about it more emotionally and positively.
Exercise — Why always be sitting around all day? Come on get up and exercise your body. Do exercise. routine, hop on a treadmill, or just simply stretch. When you exercise you feel less stressed and more energized in your day.
Organize something — If you’re at home, you might have things that have been placed here and there. Take some of those things and organize them. This is a great way to pass time because a lot of people misplace things or put them in random places, and this would be a great help to your parents because they clean up most of the house and it takes them time so if you help your parents out by organizing it would save them some time.
Do some Art — Art is a great way to express your inner creativity! It doesn’t even have to be drawing and painting it can be doing a dance, writing a story, or making a song. Doing any type of art can reduce stress and anxiety because I think when you use your imagination, your mind is taking a break from your worries.
I hope that you can do some of these activities at home to pass the time, and have a pleasant time doing them by yourself, and your family!
By Nate W.
The coronavirus has become such a big problem that the schools in Washington have temporarily closed. Now kids are stuck at home trying not to get the coronavirus. This will be a problem if there are no activities to do. This article is about some activities you can do to entertain yourself while at home.
Here are some fun activities that you can do while quarantined:
Books — There are plenty of good books out there, and once you find one that you like, it’s hard to stop reading. It also helps build up your vocabulary. Find a good book, and get reading. Here is a list of some good authors: Rick Riordan (Fiction built off of myths), Stuart Gibbs (Fiction), Susan Collins (SCI-FI), J.K. Rowling (Fiction), and Alan Gratz (Historical fiction).
Movies — A great source of entertainment. They can also distract you. There are multiple ways to watch movies, some examples include: Prime, Netflix, Disney+, Libraries… If your libraries aren’t open, you can rent movies at a local Red Box. A good source is Netflix; however, if you don’t have Netflix, there are other ways to watch movies. Here are some good movies: Marvel movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the rings, Star Wars, and DC movies.
Art — A great way to entertain yourself. You could paint, you could color, or you could simply just draw something. Go outside and draw a tree, then draw animals on the tree. Get creative there are so many things to draw. Try adding colors that fit the mood of the painting. It could be dark blue to bright red. Here is a list of some starter ideas for your artwork of things you can find to draw: a beautiful house in the woods, a garden, a green mossy forest, a table piled with dessert, or a favorite animal (in your favorite place).
Cooking — A very fun way to distract yourself. You can spend a lot of time cooking without even thinking about it. There are so many desserts that you can cook. Go online, find something that looks good, and get cooking. Here are some delicious desserts: chocolate cake, banana bread, homemade cookies, pie, and zucchini cake.
Music – is awesome. It can help calm our minds, or energize us. If you have a musical instrument, now would be the time to start trying to play it. If you don’t have a musical instrument, but your parents do, ask them if you can use their musical instruments. Use whatever instrument you have. It doesn’t matter as long as you can entertain yourself.
By ZZ B.
During this time at home, lots of people love a good game of Monopoly or Settlers of Catan, but we may find ourselves longing for something that keeps us moving or produces something. So here are five quarantine-friendly activities that are great for being cooped up at home, and are great substitutes for board games.
Baking — Who doesn’t love the wondrous smell of cookies wafting from the oven? Certainly not me, and that’s why I think this is one good way to spend your time. When you can’t get outside, or when it’s cold and rainy, or even if you’re just feeling bored, try it out. Even if you don’t have ingredients beforehand, you can still find a recipe online that conforms to your supplies. Baking, to a lot of people, is relaxing. And the end result is even better, because when you’re at home and there’s no place to go, I assure you that your family will enjoy those baked goods tremendously.
Biking — Honestly, if it’s nice out, getting outside may be one of the best things you can do right now. If you’ve got a bike, why not just hop on and take it for a spin. You can go on a long stretch of a bike ride, or even just a quick ride, but really it’s up to you and whatever suits you best. Riding your bike, and pedaling hard can be exhilarating. Nothing can really match the feeling of the wind blowing past as you speed down a hill. So get out there, and exercise those legs–just remember to drink enough water.
Learn — Is there anything you’ve always wanted to know how to do, but just have never had the chance? Well, you certainly have time now! Download an app or something, and start learning a new language. Or you can look up videos online and figure out how to play this instrument you’ve had for a while. Or even, if there’s something in history or around the world you’re interested in, start researching. Whatever it is, even if you just want to practice something and improve, find some way to learn during these weeks and I can guarantee it will be for the better.
Read — Maybe with work or school going on, you never had enough time to just pick up a book and start reading. Now, I recommend reading whenever you get the chance. Novels, short stories, or even plays, just make a goal to finish at least a few books at this time. If you’re the imaginative kind of person, you might want to even start writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s good, just put the ideas down on paper.
Organize — We all have our clutter, or things we can seem to get rid of, so why not use this as an opportunity to rearrange your room, sort through your stuff, or just try on clothes and discard the ones that don’t fit anymore. I know that for some people, it drives them crazy to have mismatched Tupperware lids and containers, so just get at it and organize them!
You may feel crowded, or even worried during this time, but finding an activity to do that takes your mind off of other things can really help during the quarantine. What are you waiting for?
