Let’s be real, it’s great that Boris is letting us meet up in groups of six with social distancing outdoors. But now that it’s winter, braving the cold and rain to sit in a friend’s garden 2 meters apart is just not what we want to do to celebrate the festive season.
So, if you’re like us and you don’t fancy becoming Bear Grills just to do some holiday activities with your friends, we’ve come up with 5 great ideas for virtual alternatives to meeting up in person to make sure you don’t entirely lose your social life over the festive period.
1. Play a multiplayer game together
There are plenty of free multiplayer games you can download to play with your friends and have a craic over a call. If you don’t mind buying a game, games like Minecraft can keep you busy for hours and you can even build holiday inspired objects and buildings by using YouTube tutorials if you want to bring that festive feeling into your games.
2. Holiday Zoom activities
It feels as though Zoom has been the most used app of the year- but if you’re not sick of it yet, why not do some virtual holiday activities with your friends? You could get some snacks and set up a holiday zoom quiz or virtually play a card or board game together, this way you can take screenshots of your call and make memories, so you don’t miss out on having photos to celebrate the season!
3. Virtual Celebrations
While it might not be as good as the real thing, some towns across the UK are livestreaming their Christmas markets. Njpac are also hosting a virtual Kwanzaa festival and there are many other organisations following suit to make online celebrations full of exciting classes and activities to participate in. Why not video call your friends and enjoy exploring these online celebrations together?
4. Watch a movie together
Apps like Rave and Netflix Party are great for recreating the cinema experience and there’s a huge range of holiday movies to choose from. You could dim the lights, make some popcorn and marathon a couple of your favourites with your friends.
5. Virtual Party
Feeling down about missing out on holiday parties this year? Set up a video call on zoom, skype or a house party app like Bunch and throw a virtual party! If you’re 18 or over, you can add in (responsible) drinking games to this, or you could try making some festive cocktails/mocktails or food together while on call. It’s also a great excuse to dress up, you could even get your make-up done by a local make-up artist for the occasion. This way you can get even more nice pictures to celebrate this virtual holiday season.