April 9, 2020 | Alberta

Your social life doesn’t have to be on hold while you practice social or physical distancing. We’ve come up with a few ideas for how you can keep busy and still keep in touch with your closest friends!

Virtual coffee dates

Call up your best friend – local or international – and set yourself up on the deck, patio, or balcony with a fresh cup of coffee or tea. Pretend you’re at a coffee shop – that offers an amazing view of buildings, the garden, or a courtyard – and allot the time you would for a real-life coffee meeting. If it’s a one-on-one catch up with your bestie, FaceTime or WhatsApp video calls are great options. If it’s more than a few people, try Zoom or Skype.

Virtual cooking nights

We know it’s not the same as “going out to eat” but we promise it’ll be just as fun – try hosting a cooking night via Zoom or another virtual platform. Let all the participants know the ingredients a day or two before, so they have time to shop, and then each of you will make the meal separately, in your own home. This works best if you speak to everything you’re doing and complete each step together online, so the other participants can follow along. Final step: sit down and eat together – you can still share a conversation over a plated meal from behind your computer screen!

Virtual games night

Even without the option to physically play games in one space, virtual games are trending right now. There’s a new app called Houseparty that allows you to have up to eight people in one virtual chat at a time. This app also allows you to play a number of games together including Chips and Guac, Trivia, Drawing, and Heads Up. If you have a specific game you want to play, Zoom is another great option, and you can share your screen and gameboard! Jackbox Games, Code Names, and Exploding Kittens are just a few options.

Virtual book clubs

Reading is one of the best activities you can do right now. Form a book club with a group of friends or likeminded individuals, have one person choose a book that the majority of the group will probably like, and organize the day and time to have the book completed (around a month from the start date usually works best). Use a virtual platform, such as Zoom, to conduct the book club and come prepared with thoughts, opinions and questions about the characters, plot, dialogue and more. You’ll get the same experience as you would for an in-person book club, but you can conduct this one in your pajamas!