5 Creative Virtual Hangout Ideas
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in many different ways. One thing that we can all agree on is that we miss seeing friends and family.
Personal connection is so important for our mental health and a lot of people of all ages have been suffering from not having access to each other! (I know we have!)
Here are 5 creative ways to get together with friends and family virtually, so you can stay socially distant during COVID-19 but still get the human interaction you need to stay sane!
Virtual Cooking Class
Another fun way to get together with some friends and family is by taking a virtual cooking class together! My brother-in-law, Nicolas Pescatore @the _cannibis_cookery offered virtual cooking classes during the summer and it was honestly some of the best nights in quarantine, and some of the best food we ever had!
You don’t need to have a professional chef to make this happen, but if you do have one, that’s awesome.
All you need to do is pick a recipe (try one of ours!), provide your virtual guests with the ingredient list, gather said ingredients before the event, pick a day and time, and get cooking together! It’s super fun and such a great way to “be together.”
Our podcast guest, Laura Orbe @Healing_thru_nutrition, talks all about her virtual cooking classes on our latest episode! Check it out here.
Virtual Wine & Cheese Night
Did someone say charcuterie? We did! This is a simple one, but we can only imagine how much fun this would be once you add your own flair and creativity to it.
Find a friend who knows how to pair wine and food/cheese well. Or do a little basic research and create a simple list of pairings. Google will give you everything you need to get started. Like this list from Wine Folly: 12 Classic Wine and Cheese Pairings You Must Try.
Pick several pairings that suit you and your friends’ taste buds. Then, you can send out an invite with the shopping list so everyone can prepare for the virtual cocktail hour.
The next part is easy, fire up your video call, turn on that ring light, pop the cork on your first bottle and let the cheese wheel roll!
Virtual Game Night
Now there are tons of games that you can play virtually, tons! But my favorite has to be bingo! My family has always been huge bingo addicts. I remember growing up and always ending any holiday evening with a game (or ten) of bingo!
The easiest way to do this is to have a host that sets out all up! The host can download templates of the internet of bingo cards, send a few cards to each player (make sure they are all different cards) and then the host will be the caller and call the game!
If you have your own bingo ball caller that’s awesome but if you don’t check out www.bingomaker.com, they can get you all set up! And for the prizes! Who doesn’t love gift cards?! You can give these away virtually which is great!
Virtual Karaoke
You might hate karaoke, but if you don’t, this is pretty easy to pull off virtually. We’d recommend hopping on a Zoom, Google Meet, or any video call app to do this with a group of friends. The gist would be like any other night at a karaoke bar.
Start a text group or Google Doc with everyone at your karaoke “party.” People can start choosing songs and putting their names down on the list with their song choice.
When it’s time for each person to rock out and bust a move, they can pull the song up on their music streaming app of choice and let the games begin!
This one isn’t super groundbreaking, but it’s a different way to interact with your friends or family while “hanging out” on zoom together (for the 87th time since last March).
Picture Show & Tell
We love this idea for anyone who has parents or grandparents that they may not be able to visit in-person but wants to make sure they still “see” each other and stay connected.
Ask your parents/grandparents to go through some old photo albums and pull out some favorite pictures from their childhood or life before you were born. I bet you have at least 10 stories about crazy shenanigans they got into that you’ve never heard before. It’s time they spill the tea.
While you’re on your video call with everyone, have your family go through their favorite photos and share stories about that time or vacation, or event. I used to sit down with my grandfather and flip through the professional photo album from his Bar Mitzvah.
He would tell me the same stories and make me identify as many family members as I could (he was testing me - ha!) Even though we did it many times together, I loved to hear him tell me about it from his perspective. Always treasure those moments!
What have you been doing to keep up with friends virtually? If you need a new idea, try one of these and let us know how it goes!