As we continue to practice physical distancing under Oregon’s Stay at Home order, many of us are feeling frustrated and maybe looking for ways to keep busy. Although we’re limited in what we’re able to do, continuing to take part in activities that will keep our bodies and minds engaged is crucial to our health during this time. Read on to learn about many of the virtual activities we can take part in during this challenging time.

Virtual Experiences

• The National Parks Service partnered with Google to follow a handful of park rangers through some of America’s most stunning and challenging terrains, from the Alaskan Glaciers to Utah’s Bryce Canyon. You can explore the beauty of our national parks from the comfort of your home with The Hidden World of National Parks.
• Museums all around the world have provided free, virtual museum tours for us to enjoy while we remain at home. Check out Time Out’s List of Virtual Museum Tours and take a trip through some of the world’s greatest collections on these virtual museum and gallery tours
• We can’t leave our homes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the wonders of nature and the animal kingdom from afar – the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Diego Zoo are live-streaming their animal exhibits.

Activities for Kids

• Scholastic Learn at Home provides 20 days’ worth of active learning journeys designed to reinforce and sustain educational opportunities for those students who are unable to attend school.
• Make storytime easy and interesting with Audible Stories. The platform is offering free instant streaming of children’s stories across 6 different languages.
• Circletime enables family learning from home, and has free interactive videos like yoga, singalongs, and cooking, which are perfect for kids up to eight years old.
• NASA is offering a slew of STEM activities for grades K- 4. Activities range from building foam rockets to solving space station emoji puzzles. Parents can also download coloring sheets and books for younger kids.

Shows and Concerts

• BroadwayHD brings prerecorded Broadway performances to your living room – perfect for the long at-home weeks ahead. You can start with a free 7-day trial, and then choose to upgrade to a monthly package for less than the price of a standard Netflix subscription.
• Join The Metropolitan Opera for a Nightly Opera Stream. Each day, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming on the Met website, with each performance available for a period of 23 hours, from 7:30 p.m. EDT until 6:30 p.m. the following day. The schedule will include outstanding complete performances from the past 14 years of cinema transmissions, starring all of the opera’s greatest singers.
• Many of our favorite artists from all genres, including pop, country, jazz, and rock, are doing virtual concerts for us to enjoy – most of which are free. Billboard Music is keeping a running list of all the music live streams you can enjoy, which is updated every day!

Games

• Missing game nights with family and friends? There are plenty of games you can play over Zoom or other video calling platforms, including trivia, board games, and even virtual escape rooms! Visit CNET’s Roundup of Virtual Games for inspiration for your next socially-distanced game night.

Physical Activity

• Orangetheory is now uploading new at-home 30 minute workout routines daily – no special equipment required!
• If you’re looking to complete your yoga flow at home, CorePower Yoga is offering free streaming live classes for you each day and providing free access to a limited collection of online classes available weekly.
• LuLu Lemon is hosting free Instagram Live sessions that feature yoga, do-anywhere workouts, meditation, and self-care tips.

For more information and resources on COVID-19, visit: https://cascadiahealth.org/coronavirus-main/.