Fun activities to virtually experience with friends.
Even when circumstances get in the way of seeing our friends face-to-face, there are still ways to connect and have fun together! Thanks to the power of the internet, there are plenty of virtual hobbies to try with your friends and family.
Whether you’re snowed in or practicing social distancing, here are six virtual hobbies to try:
- Book clubs
- Online games
- Movie parties
- Karaoke
- Following a workout
- Video painting night
Below, we’ll tell you more specific details about these virtual hobbies to try with friends!
Book clubs
Do you have a collection of bookworms for friends? Start up your own “book of the month” club! You can get ideas from Goodread’s Books of the Month page or come up with your own. Then, schedule a time for a video chat, phone call, or even an instant message text chat on a platform like Facebook Messenger for everyone to share thoughts and mull over questions about the book. Check out this list of excellent book club questions to get the conversation started.
Online games
Just about any game can be played online these days, so this virtual hobby has a lot of flexibility! You can play chess online with friends on a website like Chess.com, challenge Facebook connections to Words With Friends (a version of Scrabble), or even try your hand at online multiplayer video games. There are also apps like Houseparty where you can get friends together to play party games over video chat.
Movie parties
So there’s a movie you’ve wanted to see for a while, but it doesn’t sound like fun to watch it by yourself. To make your movie night a social experience, arrange for your friends to watch it simultaneously through a service like Teleparty! It synchronizes playback, so everyone’s watching at the same speed while sharing thoughts and cracking jokes in the live text chat.
Karaoke
Whether you and your friends are a bunch of professional vocalists or total amateurs, belting your hearts out to favorite songs from the comfort of your home can be hilarious and therapeutic at the same time. Book a “private suite” on a platform like Virtual Voicebox to sing in sync. If you have any instrumentalists in your friend group, they can help add background music!
Following a workout
Having a workout buddy, even a virtual one, can make it a lot more fun to fit physical activity into your day. If you both have Peloton bikes or treadmills, you can join the same session and connect with a friend over video chat as you pedal together. Otherwise, try a regular Zoom video chat as you follow the same workout video. Here are some more ideas of ways to stay active indoors.
Video painting night
Wine and painting nights make for an entertaining night out, and that fun can translate easily to a virtual format! Just pick a painting tutorial video, like Bob Ross on YouTube, and gather over video chat while you all follow the tutorial and create your versions of beautiful scenes. Wine or cocktails are optional!
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