Virtual Activities to Alleviate Boredom During COVID-19

By Ava Aschettino 

If the world were not social distancing right now, what would people be doing? Most would likely be going to work or school, heading to movie theaters or restaurants, or hanging out with friends and family. It seems that many have found themselves trapped in an inescapable state of boredom, or descending down a Netflix rabbit hole. Well, here are some activities that anyone can get involved in, virtually of course

Visit Theme Parks
With the closure of theme parks across the globe, many parks are offering free virtual tours, including Walt Disney World, LegoLand, and SeaWorld Orlando. To help those at home escape boredom, parks such as Walt Disney World are offering access to virtual rides. Now anyone can sit first row on rides such as the Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, and Pirates of the Carribean from the comfort of their couch with 4K ride-alongs. Simply search any ride from a plethora of theme parks and enjoy all the thrills, minus the two-hour wait lines and the Floridian humidity. 

​See a Concert or a Broadway Show
Always dreamed of dancing front row at a concert, singing alongside some the most influential artists of all time? Well, check that off the old bucket list! The world’s most popular artists, including Miley Cyrus, Diplo, BTS, and Charlie Puth have all live streamed concerts for free for their millions of fans. Many artists advertise days beforehand, utilizing Instagram Live, Facebook Live, or YouTube to post these virtual jam-sessions. “Shallow” singer Lady Gaga curated a star studded, free concert that streamed on CBS, ABC, NBC and The CW titled One World: Together at Home. Gaga’s lineup included megastars such as Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Elton John, John Legend, Billie Eilish and Finneas, and Lizzo. 
Since Broadway’s closure on March 12th, thespians have been deprived of their much needed rendition of  “Memory.” However, outlets such as Broadway HD, Netflix and a partnership between Andrew Lloyd Weber and YouTube provide much needed stage relief. Broadway HD offers dozens of productions of musicals for $8.99 a month and offers a free trial. The streaming platform offers a variety of popular musicals and plays such as Kinky Boots, 42nd Street, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera, all just a click of a button away. In an effort to raise money for this pandemic, each weekend Andrew Lloyd Weber, creator of many of the world’s staple musicals, is releasing a different musical for FREE on YouTube for a limited 48-hour period. Once again, all of this can be accessed from the comforts of the couch! 

Watch a New Movie
Does it feel like you’ve watched every movie to ever exist during this quarantine? Well, with the closure of movie theaters worldwide, many movies are coming to each and every home much sooner than expected. Newly released films including Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Sonic the Hedgehog, and Trolls World Tour are available to buy and rent while Onward and Frozen 2 have both been added to Disney +. 

Take a Class at a Top University
With schools closed for an indefinite period of time, some are venturing from their couch to a desk, where they are taking online college classes for free! Open to all, more than 13,000 courses are being offered from more than 900 universities across the globe. Many of the top schools in the country including Harvard, Duke, Princeton, and New York University are offering online enrollment for non-credit courses. Visiting the sites coursera.org and edX.org offers course options from Interviewing and Resume Writing in English from the University of Maryland to Sports Marketing at Northwestern University. So, why not take advantage of these free, online courses?

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