Well here we are, deep in the autumn of 2020. When looking back at this year, it’s hard to remember a more eventful period in our history, let alone our lifetimes. With many of us still working from home, schools continuing teaching remotely, and life still not back to normal – we have to face the hard truth that this reality might be with us for a little while longer. But while we’re in this very particular position, we might as well make the most of it, and start creating some truly positive memories with our families. 

And one of the best ways to do that is to create your stay-at-home bucket list. This is a list of mini-goals, milestones and accomplishments that you promise yourself and your family, that you will complete before life returns to normal. These are quarantine activities for kids as well as adults, to lessen the feelings of uncertainty in 2020, and to create some lasting memories that’ll bring your family closer than ever before. 

Walk/Run a 5K

Walking or running can be a great quarantine activity for kids and their parents. Getting those legs working, those endorphins pumping, and that heart beating is a wonderfully healthy way to spend some quality time as a family. And if your goal is to do a 5K, 10K or a longer race – training nightly with a family walk/run will bring you all closer together. 

Take up a New Sport, as a Family

Are there any athletes in the family? Do any of your kids happen to love playing basketball, volleyball or golf? Why not have that sports-star-in-the-making teach everyone else in the family how to play! Not only will teaching a new sport get that young teen engaged in their own favorite sport – it’ll also get the other family members taking part in their interests. And that’s a win-win. 

Acquire a New Skill

A fun and challenging activity you can do as a family during this time, is for everyone in the house to choose one important life skill they’d like to learn, and then go after it. It could be anything – studying a new language, learning how to paint landscapes, figuring out how to fix your car – whatever you’d like to learn. You could set up a little competition, marking off little milestones in each person’s chosen skill. Set up a friendly race to see who could make the most progress towards achieving their goal. 

Give Back to Your Community

One of the best quarantine activities you can do as a family, is to do some charitable work around your community. It can be anything from delivering meals to those experiencing homelessness, or even to spend some (COVID-safe) quality time with seniors in your area who might be a little lonely. Whatever you choose to do, you can be sure your whole family will feel much better afterwards, and you will become closer. 

Explore Your Roots

Creating a family tree is a great way to spend time with your family, as you teach them about where (and who) they came from. You can sign up for one of the popular genealogy apps, gather old pictures, and visually illustrate your history through a family tree. Try to dig deeper, do some research and talk to older relatives, to get the real story of how your family came to be. Chances are, you might just instill some pride in your children, too. 

We hope our stay-at-home bucket list is helpful for keeping your kids entertained, and your whole family as close as possible during this uncertain time. At Tilly’s Life Center, it’s our mission to empower today’s teens with the life skills they need to overcome obstacles, deal with stress and reach their true potential. Through our virtual social and emotional workshops for teens, we’ve already helped multitudes of young people navigate their lives and achieve positive change in their lives. To learn more, visit https://tillyslifecenter.org/.