The holiday season is here and with it comes a desire to connect with friends, family, or anyone outside our household! We could probably also stand to take a break from our devices (eye strain is a real concern).
Here are a 50 ways to feel connected to others–even when we’re physically distanced.
- Write letters and send them in the mail
- Make a meal and leave it at a loved one’s door
- Read the same book as a friend (or a group) and discuss by phone
- Share a pair of jeans (or comfier pants) among your group of friends
- Join an outdoor team like disc golf, bocce, soccer
- Join an outdoor workout group
- Start a gratitude jar
- Make the same recipe as a loved one
- Send flowers
- Volunteer
- Go for a walk and talk. Walktails optional!
- Play board games
- Go for a hike
- Decorate your front porch for passersby to enjoy
- Fill a little free library
- Post toys and games you’re done with to your local Buy Nothing for someone else to love
- Read a memoir or biography
- Donate funds to a cause you care about
- Spend some time playing with your pet
- Set up a fun theme night for your household members
- Clean up in your neighborhood
- Make a handmade gift for a loved one
- Look through old photos and swap out the pictures in your frames
- Visit Intentionalist and support a local business
- Go through your closet for warm clothes and shoes to donate to a shelter
- Offer to pick up and drop off donations from neighbors or friends
- Plant a tree
- Paint and share a kindness rock
- Visit a friend and wave through the windows
- Rake the neighbor’s leaves or shovel their driveway
- Share playlists with a friend
- Do a puzzle together
- Do one of your significant other’s usual chores
- Enjoy a distraction-free dinner with your family
- Try some old family recipes
- Introduce yourself to your neighbors
- Play a virtual game of Bingo and mail or deliver prizes
- Leave a chalk art surprise on a friend’s driveway
- Decorate cookies or build a gingerbread house at the same time and text each other pictures.
- Create window art to inspire neighbors
- Challenge friends to a winter scavenger hunt
- Leave a seasonal surprise like a pumpkin or valentine
- Go to the farmer’s market or an pop-up craft fair and support local businesses
- Say hello to people you pass on the street
- Put a teddy bear in the window for kids going on a neighborhood “bear hunt”
- Applaud for healthcare workers at 7 p.m.
- Listen to a podcast
- Tell a trusted friend about your stress, anxiety, or depression
- Ask your loved ones if they’re OK
- Ask a loved one what they need to feel better
