How to Still Enjoy Summer While Social Distancing

The first day of summer is June 20! Here’s how to have fun in the sun while social distancing.

Just because we have to maintain social distancing for the foreseeable future, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the wonderful season of summertime! Read on for ways you and your family can still have fun this summer while being safe.

Get outside. Depending on guidelines on exposure from local authorities, take your family to the local park, hiking trail or wooded area for some time in nature. Bike around the neighborhood. Play in the sprinklers or hose. Have a picnic. Just maintain the six-foot distance from strangers and avoid places with high-touch surfaces. Don’t forget to wash your hands when you’re back inside!

Plant a garden. Try your hand at growing your own veggies, herbs and flowers!

Try new healthy recipes. Get the whole family involved!

Visit a museum virtually. Many famous institutes have their collections online and host virtual tours, including places like the Guggenheim Museum and National Gallery of Art. With virtual walk-throughs on Google Arts & Culture, you have exhibits at many world-renowned museums from around the world at your fingertips.

Have a virtual play date. Set up a Zoom call and let kids chat or free-play together or direct them through planned activities and projects.

Stargaze. Take a family field trip at night to gaze at the sky and see what you can spot.

Engage in overdue housecleaning and organizing. If you’ve been putting a project off, now is a great time to tackle it!

Play board/card games. Turn off the tech and dig out one of the board games that have been stashed away.

Create art outside. Find some sidewalk chalk and see what you can create!

Make use of your library card (if you have one). Many local libraries allow you to check out and download ebooks, audiobooks, movies, TV shows and games! Read aloud to each other, read silently or take turns reading to each other.

Sources:

“100+ Fun Things to Do At Home, Right Now, From Virtual Tours to Animal Cams and More,” Tanner Saunders, travelandleisure.com, May 11, 2020.

“Family Activities to Do During COVID-19,” Logan County Health District, loganhealth.org, May 11, 2020.