30 Fun Things to do During a Summer of COVID-19

In January of this year, I was very excited as I made plans for 2020.  This was (finally) going to be my year to travel.  Granted the travel was to Chicago and Colorado, but it was still getting on a plane and going somewhere I hadn’t been before.

And then March came along, and all of those plans were ripped away.

Do you feel the same?  Maybe you had plans for your annual camping trip to the Gorge in Oregon.  Or you were finally going to go see Italy.  Disneyland?  It doesn’t matter if your plans were just across the border or across the world, you’ve had to make some adjustments as to what your summer trip might look like, and…let’s face it…summer in general.

Whether you are single, a retiree, or a family who now has to work at home while entertaining your kids, summer 2020 looks a whole lot different than you’d ever imagined.

We want to help you make this one of your best summers yet!  And so we’ve compiled 30 different ideas to help you come up with a plan that will work for you and your family, in a way that makes you look back on this summer with fond memories.

1.     Buy a gas firepit and set it up in your backyard.  Buy a s’more package from Superstore, and have a campfire at home.

2.     Put the sprinkler under your trampoline and get jumping with your kids.

3.     Pull out your rusty bike and ride down the path that you’ve been walking along up until now.  If you’re competitive, record how long it takes to do both.

4.     Meet your friends at the Dollar Store, each armed with $10.00.  See who can come out with the most items.

5.     Take a trip to Superstore with some friends or family.  Each of you pick an aisle to go down, and choose 4 different items.  Go home and get creative with dinner (with Panago’s number at the ready).

6.     Set a time each week where you will grab a book, leave your phone in the house, and sit out on your deck or back yard and read. 

7.     Spend some time on Facebook Marketplace and find a slip and slide or a kiddie pool and have a pool party.

8.     Eat popsicles and ice cream cones.

9.     Make chocolate dipped strawberries.

10.  Seek out a drive-in movie (or create your own).

11.  Bake some cookies for your favourite grandparent and have a picnic at the beach with them.

12.  Grow a little garden.

13.  Find some pencil crayons and paper, and try your hand at drawing.  Or find a paint by number kit and complete it.

14.  If you’re into video games, start playing Animal Crossing with friends and see who can create the best island.

15.  Find some fun science experiments on Youtube and try them at home.

16.  Take an online class in that subject you’ve always wanted to explore (piano, art, dance anyone?)

17.  Create a virtual book club.

18.  See how many sunsets you can watch over the course of the summer.

19.  If you’re an early bird, get out for a walk three times a week and just let your mind wander.

20.  Pull out the old school board games and have a games night with your bubble.

21.  Find the craziest nail polish you can find, and give yourself a fun pedicure.

22.  Watch Frozen on the hottest night of the summer.

23.  Set up your tent in the backyard and have a campout.

24.  Be a tourist in our city and visit all of the places that a tourist agency recommends to those who visit us.

25.  Pick a new restaurant to visit each week (or if you don’t cook…each night), and don’t order the same thing twice all summer long.

26.  Try your hand at a new beverage – have you ever made “real” iced tea??

27.  Take advantage of our bountiful blueberry crops and make a blueberry pie.

28.  Take a trip to the ferry terminal and grab the first ferry…no matter where it’s going.

29.  Allow yourself to be lazy and not accomplish ALL of the things this summer.

30.  Build a fort in your house like you did when you were a kid…and keep it up for a whole week.

We hope that this list has inspired you.  As a bonus here’s a couple of ways that you might want to remember what you did this summer:

1.     Write down all of your possible activities on slips of paper and put them in a jar.  Pull them out each week to find out what you’ll be doing.  And then paste them into a scrapbook along with pictures of each thing you did.

2.     Keep a journal where each member of your family takes turns writing about the activities that you tried. 

3.     Take one serious and one silly photo each time you try something from your list, and post it on Instagram with your own hashtag so that you can look at it later.  Or on Facebook so next year you’ll have a bunch of fun memories come up.

Good luck!  Let me know if you come up with any other ideas.  I’d love to hear them and also hear about your adventures.

Lisa Catallo, Co-Owner and Clinic Director