Which fun winter activities to do solo or with a friend are best?
Snow might be beautiful and majestic, but when too much of it falls, it’s just a pain. Rather than gleefully sledding down your nearest hill, making awesome snowmen and taking part in epic snowball fights, you find yourself snowed in with not much to do.
You can still look on the bright side — there are plenty of activities to engage in when you’re stuck inside. From crafts and baking to simply catching up on some good TV, we’ve come up with a range of fun activities to do either solo or with a friend.
Fun winter activities
Play games
If you’re snowed in with a friend, now’s the perfect time to crack out the Scrabble or Monopoly. If you don’t have any board games, you can still play games such as charades or Pictionary with nothing more than a pen and paper. Snowed in alone? That doesn’t mean you can’t play a game. You could play your favorite video game on a computer, console, or smartphone, or you could play a one-person card game such as solitaire.
Watch TV or some movies
Getting snowed in is the ideal excuse to binge-watch that show you’ve been dying to see or to have a movie marathon. Whether you watch new releases or classic flicks is up to you. If Christmas is approaching, you could watch your favorite festive films all day! The great thing about chilling out in front of your television is that you can do it solo or with a pal.
Bake up a storm
A blizzard might be raging outside, but you can bake up your very own storm in the kitchen. A batch of snickerdoodles, a freshly baked loaf, or a sky-high layer cake — you’ve got the time to bake whatever sounds good. Not only is baking a fun activity to do alone or with a friend but you also get something yummy to enjoy at the end of it. Many baked goods freeze well and defrost quickly, so you could whip up a large batch of cookies or muffins, freeze them, then enjoy whenever you please.
Get crafty
Whether you’re an avid knitter, scrapbooker, or fan of macrame, being stuck inside equals plenty of time for your favorite crafts! Either embark on a joint project with a friend or go it alone. If the festive season is approaching, this might be the perfect time to craft some homemade gifts.
Make an epic meal
If there’s ever a time for comfort food, it’s when you’re snowed in your home. You might not usually have a lot of time to cook by the time you get home from work or finish your household chores, but now you have all day, so the sky’s your limit. Maybe you want to dust off that overly ambitious cookbook you haven’t even opened, or you might want to recreate a favorite family recipe. Whatever your fancy, turn on the stove and get cooking! Unless you’ve got a well-stocked pantry, you might have to get creative with some of the ingredients, but it’s usually possible to make some substitutions without too much fuss.
Read a book
Looking for some solo activities to while away a snowy day? It might not be flashy, but reading is a favorite pastime for a reason. Find a cozy corner, snuggle up in a blanket and lose yourself in a book. You might not be able to get very far outside, but reading can take you anywhere! If you’re the sort of person who always has a huge stack of books waiting to be read, now’s the time to make some headway.
Work out
Are you always complaining that it’s tough to find the time to exercise? Well, for the next day or two, you have ample time, so you might want to fit in a few good workouts. Even if you’re not usually the workout type but do plenty of walking in your daily life, suddenly being sedentary can make you feel cooped up, so a gentle workout could be just the thing.
Simply sit and watch the snowfall
Between work, chores, hobbies and other obligations, we’re all so busy that there’s rarely time to just sit and think. Since you’re in no hurry to get anywhere, a snow day is your chance to simply step back and breathe. The snow might be in your bad books for trapping you inside, but it’s still undeniably pretty. So, make yourself a hot chocolate with all the trimmings, pull up a chair by the window, cuddle up and simply watch the still, silent landscape outside.
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Lauren Corona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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