Running out of things to do to stave off the boredom during the Covid-19 restrictions? From Virtual Travel to Hogwarts Training Courses, here are some ideas to keep you entertained during the lockdown (updated Sep 2020).

Virtual Travel

It may be a while before we get to travel again, so if you’re a committed Gallavanter (a person who loves to travel for fun or pleasure) stuck in Covid Isolation, check out the Hidden Worlds of the National Parks  for some awesome virtual tours.

This is also the perfect time to finally organise your travel videos and start editing videos of your best trips. Start by sorting your videos by date and place. Don’t change the clip names, this can cause problems re-linking. If you need more tips on getting started, head to our post How to organise your videos for editing, the first in our new series covering Basic Steps to Video Editing. If you’re not so handy with video editing software, or just lack the patience required, get all your videos and photos together and send them to Sonic Eye to make them into a cool story cut of your trip.

Visit the Zoo.

Perth Zoo is our pick of the Facebook live feeds. You can also follow the Live Cams from Melbourne Zoo. Best times are feeding times when you’re sure to catch a glimpse of a critter.

Bird Watching.

The Collins St Falcon brought much excitement on August 25 when she laid an egg. Anyone who has been vising might have noticed the big egg-bump, now she’s a Mum! The Penguin Parade down at Phillip Island is now being live streamed on YouTube, you can check it here (beware of scams asking you to pay for this, it’s totally free!)

Here’s one for US birdwatchers, HD On Tap. 

Learn Some New Skills.

Encourage the kids to improve their education by enrolling for Lessons at Hogwarts! A selection of courses is available including Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration.

Learn a new Language.

Want to find out where the ‘Pirate’ accent came from? Need to brush up on your Cockney rhyming slang? Want to know what the heck a Scouser is? Check out Babbel’s ‘School of British Accents’. Australian readers will find a lot of local slang you recognise coming from these regional British accents. Start here with a Crash Course in ‘Pirate’. Arrr!

Or you can dive in and actually learn a new language, check it out!

Visit a Museum or Art Gallery.

Take a virtual trip to the Louvre or head to the Art Gallery of NSW Together in Art page, learn how to draw a face with Ben Quilty and his daughter, or take in the Tiny Wonders Film Festival. Or maybe head to the British Museum.

Get Handy in the Backyard.

Head to Gardening Australia for some gardening ideas, get stuck into a cleanup of the garden shed, or you can learn how to build a hydroponic system and start growing your own food with Hoocho’s YouTube channel.

Music and Art

If you play an instrument, paint or draw, now is the perfect time to revive that interest and start creating something new. It’s a great way to stay occupied in a positive way! It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are, you don’t have to post YouTube videos, and it can be a fantastic way to curb any ‘lockdown blues’.

Always wanted to learn to play the instruments you have at home? Now you have time on your hands, why not start learning? Just Google ‘how to play the (insert preferred instrument here)’ and get started! Or pull out some paints, brushes, pencils or crayons and get creative! If you don’t have any art paper don’t worry, there are bound to be a few old bits of paper or card around the house, dig them out and see what you can come up with.

Not the creative type? Then why not take in a show. If you missed it at Easter, check out Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Music for Hope’ performance on YouTube, or if classical music isn’t your cup of tea, plenty of artists are currently posting streaming performances, including Neil Finn.

Grab some Comedy Bites.

Need a chuckle to lift your spirits? Sam Neill is posting funny short videos on Instagram to keep you entertained, enlisting the help of some well-known faces from the Australian acting world such as David Wenham and Hugo Weaving. Check out his Cinema Quarantino series.

Bake-off

Many of you are cooking up a storm to pass the time and cut costs during the lockdown, so why not share your creations with friends and family online? Start a ‘bake-off’, swap recipes, or just show off your latest Nigella moment.

Get Fit

While you’re taking in all those excellent goodies, it may be worth a thought to do some extra exercise. YouTube has many classes online for free, including Yoga and Aerobics. Yoga with Adriene includes heaps of great classes, including videos for complete beginners.

If you prefer your exercise with an Aussie Accent, why not start your yoga journey with new live streaming sessions from Zephyr Rose 11. If you’re a skier, snowboarder or just want to note up those muscles, tune into Sami Kennedy-Sim’s ‘Snow Active’ workouts.

Of course, if you haven’t exercised before, or at least not recently, do keep it gentle and consult your doctor first if you have any health issues. Yoga can be deceptively easy – that is, until tomorrow morning!

Read a Book

Books! Remember those? If you have a bookcase in your home it may have been some time since you visited it. Are there any titles in there you’ve been meaning to read ‘sometime’? Well how about now? If you don’t have any unread volumes, why not re-read some of your favourites? Remember why you loved them enough to buy them, whether it was for entertainment, inspiration, or knowledge.

Re-reading a book a second time is also a great way to see just how much you’ve changed since you last read them. Pick up a book, turn on your most relaxing music and indulge yourself, or order a new book online. I’m currently re-reading ‘The Safest Place in London’ by Australian author Maggie Joel.

What are your best ways of keeping entertained while in Covid-19 Lockdown?