Even though SF is shut down, it’s a new month and there’s still loads to do…all from the comfort and safety of your home, of course.
From learning new skills to taking advantage of unbelievable virtual tours and exhibits, we’re determined to help you have the least-boring month possible while inside!
1. Learn How To Knit From Your Couch With We Are Knitters
Isolation is the perfect excuse to learn a new hobby: you have loads of extra time to yourself indoors, and even being just a little bit productive can help ease feelings of boredom. Learning how to knit is especially perfect for this time, as studies show that knitting reduces stress and anxiety. It’s also great for restless kiddos since it helps them improve mind-to-motor skills.
The startup We Are Knitters is offering amazing luxury knitting kits that come with everything you need: needles, yarn, and instructions on how to make the coziest items of your dreams. Choose from luxe sweaters, blankets, scarves and more. They’re becoming even more popular during quarantine as more people are looking for fulfilling, indoor activities to keep them entertained.
We Are Knitters is also planning to launch new eco-friendly products by mid-April, so stay tuned! Their yarns are always made from 100% natural materials like soft cotton and merino wool, and the color options like pale pinks and marigold yellows are ideal for spring. Check them out here. 
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2. Try To Play the Guitar
Or ukulele! Or bass! Fender, the guitar manufacturing company, is offering three free months of their online music lessons during the coronavirus outbreak. Their online music program, Fender Play, will be free to everyone who wants to learn how to play while they’re practicing social distancing. How thoughtful!
3-5. Taking A Cooking Class
Or THREE! Our favorites are:
- Michelin-Star chef Massimo Bottura’s free cooking lessons on his Instagram
- This adorable Italian Nonna will teach you how to pasta the traditional Italian way!
- Antoni from Queer Eye is also joining IG Live with cooking tips
6. Participate in the Ultimate Virtual Dance Party
Shake things up with this incredible online quarantine party! As the lockdown continues and you find yourself still sitting at home, as you should be, you might be feeling a little bored. Well, we’re here to help, because Fever is hosting a fantastic free online quarantine party for you and your friends every Saturday. Sign up here.
7. Bake the Perfect Loaf with a Bread Kit From Mr. Holmes Bakehouse
Turn your kitchen into a mini bakery and have the scrumptious smell of freshly baked bread wafting through your quarantine quarters. The West Coast cruffin masters, Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, have put together a ‘Bread Starter + Kit’ which could provide you with a lifetime of fluffy loaves.
8. Beat The Clock In This Trap Door Escape Room Live Stream
Solve the puzzles and unlock mysteries, live and from the comfort of your own home! In this thrilling virtual escape room, an actor takes you box by box and relies on you to solve all the puzzles via a live video feed and a chatroom. You’ll tell them where to go and what to do through virtual tours. These are sure to pump your adrenaline with found footage style production! Get tickets here.
9-11. Take A Virtual Trip To Europe With These Incredible Themed ‘Walking’ Tours
See Your City is helping people from all over the world take a quick trip to beautiful London, thanks to their amazing virtual walking tours of the city. The company, which runs these tours in person during “normal” life, has now taken some of their best-loved tours online. And you can do them all without leaving your bed! There’s a Jack the Ripper tour, which follows the trail of London’s most notorious serial killer, a virtual walking tour of London’s magical film locations and one of Edinburgh, Scotland’s enchanting filming locations!
12. Test Your Knowledge With This Epic LIVE Fantasy Quiz
Behold wizards, witches and werewolves as we bring to your screens a fun, mystical and mythical online trivia competition! Don your robes, gowns, wizard hats and more importantly your general knowledge as you battle it out for the coveted virtual trophy and redeemable prizes. This trivia series is designed for all lovers of fantasy and sci-fi, spanning across several genres with a broad focus on popular fantasy over the last few decades. Grab tickets here!
13. Be Hypnotized By A Celebrity Magician
Now you can experience what Johnny Wu does for celebrities from the comfort of your own home. If it’s real magic then he should be able to perform it virtually right? You’ll have a 40 minute Zoom call performance that includes hypnosis and live tricks! This is the most unique way to experience magic–turn up your speakers & share this virtual experience with your entire family. Get your tickets here.
14. Have An At-Home Date Night Scavenger Hunt
Date night is still on! Cure your cabin fever and get the sparks flying on an in-home date scavenger hunt! Let’s Roam from Home Hunts help couples deepen their connection and have a blast. All you need is your phone and your significant other. The interactive Let’s Roam app will present you with a series of challenges and questions ranging in difficulty and point value, all designed to bring you closer together. Check them out here.
15. Peek Through The Keyhole Into Romantic 19th Century Paris
The popular immersive Unmaking Toulouse-Lautrec show by Bated Breath Theatre Company has now transformed into an exciting digital experience: Toulouse Lautrec’s Through the Keyhole! You’ll meet the women behind some of the most beautiful post-impressionist paintings in history, in five personal episodes that will share the stories of those who inspired the iconic artist. Get your tickets to this spellbinding experience here.
16. Watch the Northern Lights
Did you know you can watch the Aurora Borealis from literally anywhere in the world? Many have always dreamed of seeing the northern lights up close, but it certainly won’t be happening any time soon, thanks to a certain global pandemic. But, thanks to the internet, we’ve found a compromise…find out how you can now stream them here.
17. Livestream an Epic Concert
Live Nation is turning canceled concert tours into the ultimate livestream sessions right from your couch with their new “Live from Home” feature. We have our eyes on:
- Hozier on Fridays
- Miley Cyrus’s daily “Bright Minded” interviews on Instagram
- Diplo’s Coronight Fever on Saturdays
You can see all the artists doing livestreams every single day right from their website.
18. Look for a Rainbow on Your Daily (Socially Distant) Walk
The whole world is following the heartwarming rainbow trend and now there’s a map to find them. Next time you go on your grocery store run, keep your eyes peeled for the colorful trend taking over neighborhood windows. While kids have been stuck inside, it hasn’t stopped them from creating multicolored masterpieces to stick in the windows, for the outside world enjoy.
19. Bring the Big Screen Home
The industry has taken a huge financial hit during the pandemic and filmmakers are coming to terms the fact that years of work may not get the theatrical entrance they’d hoped for. But as the lights switch off for brick and mortar theatres, “virtual cinemas” are stepping in and giving us the chance to explore a boutique wave of online streaming. All while ensuring your favorite spots are still around when this is all over.
20. Watch a Broadway Show without leaving The Bay
If your culture cravings are creeping up on you and you or you just need a virtual city escape right now, BroadwayHD allows you to stream hundreds of professionally recorded Broadway musicals and plays. Choices range from Carousel to Cats to Kinky Boots to Sweeney Todd to Romeo and Juliet, plus many more.
21. Catch Up on “Good News”
Reading the news can be a tough task right now. Bad news seems to submerge most of what we digest as we remain in the midst of a global pandemic. But, John Krasinski, also known as Jim from The Office, is here to provide us with nothing but the good stuff. Read all about his new YouTube channel here.
22. Order-In From A Michelin Star Restuarant
In response to the crisis, the Michelin three-star restaurant has replaced the usual gastronomical spectacle with healthy and wholesome “Crenn Kits”. There are two types of meal kits on offer, a $35 one and a $55 one. The price covers one person and you’re only able to order for up to 4 people.
23. Explore a Free Virtual Basquiat Art Exhibit
The closure of museums, galleries, and venues across the globe has led to a surprising benefit. It’s no reason to jump and shout for joy of course, considering the trying circumstances that we are all facing, but due to the closure of the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia, people from all around the world will find themselves fortunate enough to view the NGV’s newly-launched virtual programming. This includes the unprecedented and world premiere exhibition Crossing Lines, showcasing the works of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
24. Play Games with Your Pets
https://twitter.com/iqraanabi/status/1239294114094632961
In these desperate times, people have taken to doing “social distancing” activities with their own pets (and they’re pretty hilarious). While the pandemic grips the world, many of us are stuck in self-quarantine or self-isolation. Human contact is going through an awkward phase and pets are seeing more of their humans than they ever cared to.
25. Celebrate Golden Gate’s 150th Birthday Bash Online
Golden Gate Park’s sesquicentennial celebrations have been postponed to a later date this year, due to the outbreak. But while the birthday bash plans have been put on hold, the park has decided to honor the occasion by bringing a virtual experience to the world. You can head to the Virtual Golden Gate Park and enjoy a range of exclusive content including events, activities, hidden treasures, live cams and virtual concerts.
All of the park’s major museums and galleries will be online for you to enjoy from a distance. You can watch penguins waddle, play and swim on a live cam at the California Academy of Sciences, dive into one of the deepest coral reef tanks, visit the bison or even take a virtual tour of the Japanese Tea Garden.
26. View Over 800 Frida Kahlo Artifacts & Artworks
Google Arts & Culture has partnered with museums from all over the world to put on the ultimate Frida Kahlo exhibit. What a time to be at home, because now we finally have the opportunity to explore 33 different museums at the same time and enjoy all of Frida Kahlo’s amazing works—without ever leaving the couch! Google Art & Culture’s online exhibit, “Faces of Frida,” features more than 800 pieces by (and of) the artist in what might be the most epic exhibition yet!
27. Enjoy a Shakespeare Sonnet Read by Patrick Stewart (Every Day!)
Sonnet 12. I hope you’re ready for this. #ASonnetADay pic.twitter.com/B4v1leZ2qi
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) March 31, 2020
A sonnet a day, as promised by Sir Patrick Stewart, will keep the doctor away. Sir Patrick Stewart’s reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 has clocked up more than one million views on Twitter since it was posted, and the grand response has consequently led him to shower us with more readings. Watch them here!
28-30. Browse Your Favorite Local Stores From Home
- Browse books from local bookstores
- Get your daily caffeine fix from one of these coffee shops
- Get a piece of art from local galleries or artists
31. Try out one of these TikTok
So you’ve posted your homemade lattes on Instagram, along with the make-shift home office situation, the screenshots of all your Zoom calls with friends, the live concerts you’re streaming, all the pet content available and you’ve notified your followers that you too, have devoured Tiger King in one sitting. As quarantine content hits a dry patch, it seems that we have no option but to turn to TikTok to keep us entertained and more importantly, socially relevant.
32. Binge-Watch Tiger King
It hasn’t been on Netflix for long, but the streaming service’s latest documentary, Tiger King, has had viewers absolutely hooked. Based on the uber-dark true story of Joe Exotic, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the documentary features seven episodes of absolute madness, perfect for spending the weekend snuggled up in front of the TV.
33. Visit the “Happiest Place on Earth”
The best part—no lines! Disneyland might have shut its doors temporarily, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun. Now, you can enjoy all your favorite rides without having to do much traveling past your couch. In response to the temporary shutdown of Disneyland and Walt Disney World, previous visitors have started sharing the wonderment of their ride experiences online (and we’re not totally sure yet if it’s giving us FOMO, but we’re so glad these exist!).
34. Experience The Bliss Of Cherry Blossom Season
The pink skyline of cherry blossom season marks the beginning of spring around the world. As all of Japan’s hanami parties or sakura (cherry blossom viewing) festivals have been canceled along with all your local festivals, our devices have become windows to the outside world. Enjoy the most beautiful cherry blossom attractions in Japan, from anywhere in the world with these VR.
35. Go to the Opera or Lincoln Center
Now’s your chance to finally “go to the Opera”! Even though it’s closed. The Metropolitan Opera is shut down, they will be streaming performances online, which you can watch for free during a one-week trial. Lincoln Center will also be following suit with their #LiveFromLincolnCenter series. You can watch gorgeous chamber music concerts on their Facebook page!
36. Learn How to Play 40 Different Board Games
Staying inside doesn’t have to be board-ing…see what we did there? One of our favorite ways to spend a day inside is to play board games, so we’ve put together a list of entertaining tabletop fun you can have while you wait out the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some of our favorite board games and for easy access, we’ve also included video instructions so you can get started right away!
37. Be Put to Sleep By Dolly Parton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ia-ozHDaLs
‘Goodnight With Dolly’ premieres on April 2! With the world in a fairly odd state right now, drifting off to sleep may not be as easy as it once was. However, we’ve found a brilliant way to get some no-sweat shuteye, and it doesn’t involve counting sheep. In fact, all you need to do is lie there, and let the dulcet tones of legendary songstress Dolly Parton rock you gently to sleep, as she reads from a collection of bedtime stories. Find out more here.
38. Applaud Healthcare Workers Every Night
Following suit from the U.K., Spain and Italy, SF has joined the global applause for healthcare workers. This seems to vary in each neighborhood, so you can join this Facebook group and organize everything from there.
39. Explore The Best National Parks
While parks aren’t officially closed to the public as of yet, many of us may not have the opportunity to venture out into the great outdoors just yet. Thankfully, last year Google Earth introduced virtual tours of 31 of the country’s incredible national parks, which you can view here. The satellite imagery allows you to zoom right into every nook and cranny of a cliffside or take in sweeping aerial views. Here are our top ten virtual hikes for you to explore!
Featured image source: Liz Sanchez Vegas via Unsplash