9 Ideas to Entertain Yourself at Home While You’re Practicing Social Distancing

Social distancing is a new normal, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Here are some great ways to entertain yourself at home; there’s something for everyone!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!*

So – you’re stuck at home for the foreseeable future. You could organize your closets, clean out your pantry, and deep clean the whole house. Or, you can have more fun and try one of these ideas to start a new hobby, entertain yourself at home and keep your hands and mind busy.

Most of these aren’t ‘new’ or ‘novel’ ideas. But in the text, I hope you can find some new, fun types of each hobby to do that maybe you haven’t seen before. Check them out and let me know in the comments which one you’re going to try first!

(I’ll be trying the Wood & Marbled Desk Calendar kit next – I need something to help me keep track of the days!)

Puzzle Books

Puzzle books are an easy, affordable way to keep your mind busy. Plus there are so many different kinds. I know we’ve all seen word searches, sudoku, and crossword puzzles, but here are some more interesting types of puzzle books:

(You can grab all of these on Amazon!)

Nonograms: Japanese Logic Picture Puzzles: I’m going to have to get this one for myself! You have to use the logic given to deduce which boxes to color in each row, and when you’re done, it makes an image. So neat!

The Sherlock Holmes Escape Book: I thumbed through this one at our local bookstore, and I really regret not getting it. It’s kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure, in that, how you solve the puzzle determines where in the book you go next. It’s interactive and the disc on the front can be accessed online too.

Criminal Mind Puzzles: If you’re into crime show, true crime, podcasts, etc, grab this book! Solve puzzles, be the detective, fix botched cases. It all sounds like a great read to me.

Mystery Mosaics

My husband bought me a Mystery Mosaics book way back when I was pregnant and so nauseous that I couldn’t look at any sort of screen for 4 months. I had so much fun doing them, and I’d get partway through one and send him a picture to make him guess what he thought it was going to be! I haven’t pulled my book out in a while, but a few days ago, I pulled it back out and I still love doing them!

Adult Coloring Books

I’m sure you’ve seen all the typical Harry Potter, Disney, and mandala coloring books for adults. (And if not, go check them out! They’re so fun!)

But how about some more unique options?

Pop Shop America has a monthly adult coloring subscription box! How fun would that be to have delivered to your door? For less than $10, you get a pad of 12 coloring pages on artist paper in the mail, plus digital downloadable versions immediately!

Cats Attack is a coloring book of humorous cat-themed coloring pages. Or here is a coloring book of sarcasm, or this gorgeous spiral bound color-and–frame book!

DIY Craft Kits

There are literally thousands of DIY craft kits out there that are great ways to entertain yourself while you’re stuck at home. Some of my favorites include:

Wood and Marble DIY Desk Calendar Kit: This kit from Pop Shop America makes the cutest desk calendar! If you’re like me, and the days are all blending together, this is going to be fun to make and useful!

Succelents Subscription Box: if you like plants, you can get a box of plants, starters, pots, and more delivered to your door every month to create cute plant designs.

Knife Making Kit – this would make a neat gift if you wanted to make  it and gift it!

Seed Starters

It’s the perfect time to start your garden seeds inside. You can get your tomato plants started, grow an indoor herb garden, or even make a succulent wall garden! Plus, seeds require some care every day, and once you transplant them outside, they need even more care. That makes seeds, plants and gardens a great way to entertain yourself at home while you’re social distancing!

Chalkboard Lettering // Hand Lettering

I just got a realllllly nice set of chalk markers and a chalkboard that erases beautifully. YouTube has lots of free chalkboard lettering tutorials and here’s a few websites with neat chalkboard lettering or handlettering tutorials. How cool would these be to share on social media while you’re stuck at home? And you could create handmade cards to send to friends and family, too!

Sincerely, Sara D has an awesome tutorial about using word art that you find online to create an easy chalk lettering image. And Designer Trapped has a fun, useful tutorial that works on chalkboard walls, too. 

Take Up Painting

You could do real oil/pastel style painting, or you could try out some of the fun paint by number kits for adults that are out there. How cute is this Mr. Rogers paint-by-number canvas?? I’m also in love with this iconic Abbey Road Beatles paint-by-number.

This one is the scene from the movie Up, where the balloons are lifting the house. I cannot wait to paint this one and put it on the wall!

You could also buy an acrylic pouring kit, too – these are so fun and they make gorgeous wall decor too!

3D Puzzles

These things are super cool, especially if you want to use them as a bit of decor too. Plus, each one takes a long time to finish – we’ve already spent more than 8 hours on the Hogwarts one, and we still have so much more to do.

The Harry Potter ones are obviously my favorite, but there are all different ones for different interests. There’s a metal Beauty & the Beast Castle, or a pirate ship that lights up. If you prefer real architecture, there’s a whole selection of famous buildings, like Neuschwanstein castle and the St. Peter’s Basilica. 

At Home Escape Room Games

We have Escape Room: the Game and we think it’s really fun! Typically, we save them for game nights with friends, but we’re starting to do them just as a couple’s date night, because we need something new and fun to do. I got the virtual reality version for our anniversary, so we can do something fun together since we can’t go out anywhere.

I’ve heard the Exit games are good, too – let me know if you’ve tried them! They are card based and super affordable. 

If you like murder mystery-style games to solve, Hunt a Killer has been a favorite monthly subscription box for us! The puzzles are interesting, well-written and time consuming. 

And you can also google ‘free online escape room games’ to find some fun digital ones as well! Escape rooms make such a great way to entertain yourself at home through all of this!

There you have it! I hope you found something on this list to help make this social distancing thing a little more manageable, tolerable, and a whole lot more fun! 

If you’re looking for more ideas for you – and for your kids – make sure you subscribe to my blog. Then head over to Instagram and check out all the ideas there, too!