Are you looking for creative things to do at home? We have compiled a list of some interesting ideas!
Whether you are hunkering down, sheltering in place, staycationing, or whatever you term our time as we are trying to be safe during COVID-19, there is something for everyone in this list.
I covered some of the positives of COVID-19 that people who have subscribed to the Rock Your Retirement Facebook group offered in a previous podcast episode. That list is still growing, which is attributed to the creativity of our listeners Thank you for all your contributions! It is great to think positively during all of this.
Zoos and Aquariums
Live streaming from Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Atlanta Zoo has a PandaCam.
Like Meerkats? Check out the Chattanooga Zoo's webcams which also include snow-leopards, tamarins, and spotted genets.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium‘s Mission is to Rescue Rehab and Release. Watch them live.
Like Eagles? Check out National Eagle Center Eagle Watch Cam or Duke Farms Eagle Nest Cam
Another great place to view animals is Explore.org (fair warning, you'll have trouble choosing which cam to follow)
These four UK Zoos (Paignton Zoo) (Edinburgh Zoo) (Dublin Zoo) and (Marwell Zoo) might have active animals when your local zoo cam doesn't.
The Georgia Aquarium even has a Beluga Whale Cam
The Houston Zoo has several cams, including leafeater ants.
The Kansas City Zoo has Orangutans, Penguins, Otters, and Giraffes.
Liberty Science Center has a Tam Cam and a Naked Mole Rat Cam
National Aquarium in Washington
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Reid Park Zoo has Lions, Lemurs, Grizzly Bears, Giraffe, and Elephant Cams
Watch live and archived videos of Baboons, Penguins, Pandas, Polar Bears, Koalas, Giraffes, Owls, Tigers, and Condors from the San Diego Zoo
The Vancouver Aquarium has Otter, Jelly Fish, and Penguin Cams
Choose which live webcam you want to visit at the Wolf Conservation Center
National Parks
A virtual walking tour of five National Parks Including Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico
Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida
Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska
National Park Service Virtual Tours via NPS search
Yosemite's virtual tour is almost like being there
Theme Parks and Attractions
Virtual roaming of Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Go for a virtual ride on a rollercoaster. YouTube is filled with rollercoaster ride recordings that let users envision themselves on attractions at Disney resorts, from the Incredicoaster at Disney's California Adventure park to the “Frozen” Ever After ride at Walt Disney World.
Go on a virtual reality experience of NASA's Space Center in Houston using NASA's free Space Center Houston app
Tour NASA's Hubble Mission Operations
A virtual tour of Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland
Are you a Royal follower? Don't miss this virtual tour of Buckingham Palace
Take a virtual tour of the geological landmark of the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
Take clear views of renowned spots around the world like the Taj Mahal in New Delhi, India, Eiffel Tower, and the Sydney Opera House, all while not actually traveling
Take a virtual stroll through the Royal Botanical Gardens in London using Google's Street View feature
Virtually explore the Salvador Dali Museum
Sign up for a virtual tour of Israel: Facebook group Thursday night for taking virtual tours of Israel with licensed guides via Zoom video-conferencing software.
Theaters Music and Opera
Pink Floyd and many others offer weekly live concerts during Covid-19 at Hennemusic
The Kennedy Center has recorded performances on their Digital Stage
A digital tour of some of the most beautiful theaters in the world can be found by visiting 11 Dramatic Virtual Tours of Stages Around The World
Metropolitan Opera House streaming operas at 7:30 PM EST every night they are closed- The recordings will be available on the Met Opera homepage for 20 hours after they're streamed at night.
15 Broadway Plays and Musicals you can watch from Home
- https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816504058/a-list-of-live-virtual-concerts-to-watch-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown
- https://www.glamour.com/story/coronavirus-all-the-artists-offering-free-online-concerts-while-youre-stuck-at-home
- https://www.iheart.com/content/2020-03-17-chris-martin-pink-more-give-free-online-concerts-amid-coronavirus-crisis/
Living Room Concerts:https://www.broadwayworld.com/topic/LIVING-ROOM-CONCERTS
Free lectures and concerts from the 92nd Street Y
You can watch both recorded performances and live streams at the Chamber Music Society
Courses
Do you enjoy learning from the comfort of your home? Below are some free and low-cost ideas!
Free online educational seminars/classes from Ivy League schools – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale. Educational Seminars
‘The Science of Well Being’: Yale’s most popular class ever will be available online HERE
Chabad Jewish Knowledge Classes: https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/video_cdo/aid/2530155/jewish/Courses.htm
Free lectures and concerts from the 92nd Street Y
Stand With Us (Jewish) Webinars and Virtual Tours: https://www.standwithus.com/connect
J Street on-line (Jewish) programming: https://jstreet.org/j-stream/#.Xnphcy2ZP-Z
Yale course: Discover Happiness
Free Code Camp has over 450 Ivy League Courses you can take right now.
Low Cost and Free Courses on Coursera
Museums
MuseumsStart with the Guggenheim Museum's virtual tour of all of its galleries through its Street View feature.
See several 360-degree exhibits from the National Museum of Natural History in D.C.
Enjoy an interactive tour of the British Museum in London
Love Van Gogh as much as I do? Check out the virtual tour of the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. It holds the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.
Speaking of Van Gogh, when Les and I were in Los Angeles we visited the J. Paul Getty Museum. We couldn't get to everything so we'll probably check out the virtual tour for the “Getty” as it's called in L.A. They have a couple of his pieces there that I was able to get close to.
MoMA offers a virtual walkthrough of one of the Exhibits and select photos of permanent exhibits.
Metropolitan Museum of Art offers videos of the buildings.
You can take a virtual tour of the courtyards of the Picasso Museum
A 360-degree tour of The Louvre as well as a few virtual exhibit tours. A separate site, YouVisit, has a realistic 360-degree tour of several parts of the Paris museum.
The Acropolis Museum has digitized many of its ancient artifacts, from statues to marble murals. Virtual visitors can also take in panoramic views of Athens via the Street View feature.
Visit several exhibits from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
A less well-known gallery called Uffizi Gallery in Florence, houses Italy's most famous family, the de'Medicis, art. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 specifically for Cosimo I de'Medici.
Can't make it to Brazil? That's Ok because you can visit the Museu de Arte de São Paulo virtually. It's their first modern museum. Artworks placed on clear perspex frames make it seem like the artwork is hovering in midair.
The KunstKammer Museum in Vienna with its display of automatons.
National Museum of the US Airforce Virtual Tour
Love learning about our distant past? Check out the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. There are 23 exhibit rooms filled with ancient artifacts, including some from the Mayan civilization.
National Aviation Museum virtual tour
National Gallery of Art: Fashioning a Nation
National Gallery of Art: Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting
Tour the Musée d’Orsay in Paris
One of Korea’s most popular museums, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, can be accessed as you go through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe
As one of Germany’s largest museums, Pergamon is home to plenty of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and, of course, the Pergamon Altar.
Explore the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
George Washington's Mount Vernon is a US treasure. See it virtually. Choose which doors to go through and where to “walk”.
Jefferson's Monticello also has virtual tours not to be missed!
The Smithsonian has several virtual tours that you can go on including the Crypt, the Library, and several gardens.
There is always the Air and Space Museum.
YouVisit has hundreds of tours of college campuses, weddings, hotels, and more.
Hobbies
Reading https://bookriot.com/2016/09/15/11-websites-find-free-audiobooks-online/
Crochet
Volunteering- things such as taking towels to a shelter, donating blood, etc.
Cooking
Zoom Book Club
Podcasting
Sewing
Creating Jewelry
Puzzles
Vegging Out
Netflix: Tiger King, Frankie & Grace
News
Eating too much (I wouldn't recommend doing this regularly though)
Calling the children
Zoom cocktail hour or Zoom with family https://zoom.us/
Exercise and Sports
Yoga/Stretching
Dancing via YouTube instruction
Walking
Running
Golfing
Bicycling
DownDog Yoga App has a free trial
YMCA360 offers free video classes
Get Healthy University (low cost – not free) offers over 150 workouts (not aerobics) for $59 a year. You can get more classes plus live classes if you upgrade to the Gold level for $159 per year.
Beach Body On Demand offers over 1100 classes for $95 per year. Use coach number 1033746 for Andrea O'Shea who is awesome. If you want to try the weight loss shakes, get the $160 pack and it includes a month of shakes.
Classic and Replays of many sports
Chores and Household Items
Cleaning closets and drawers
Trimming/Yardwork/Gardening
Looking for toilet paper (we just had to)
Painting (household)
Doing Taxes
Organizing financial information
Also, here is a link to the RV Share site I was talking about: www.RockYourRetirement.com/RVShare
Do you have any tips or ideas about creative things to do at home? Let us know what they are in the comments below! We would love to hear them!
This post about retirement and retirement lifestyle first appeared on https://RockYourRetirement.com
