You may have seen our post last weekend about things to do in isolation, if you haven’t you should, it’s packed full of ideas. We’re back with more, and this time, there’s downloadables!
We’re giving you everything for free but if you want to help us out for free – you can click here to see how. Additionally, if you’re boycotting places like Amazon at the moment, please consider making a donation to Help Refugees who are trying to battle COVID19 and save refugee lives.
1. Quizzes
We’ve been using all the apps and doing all the quizzes and there’s something that just doesn’t get boring about them when they’re done well. We have also been hosting a few with friends on video calling apps. Some themed, some really difficult general knowledge, some beat the intro and some picture rounds. You can download our quiz collection here.
Our amazing friend Zoe London is hosting a fortnightly quiz on a cool app – you need two devices to play but it’s Friday nights done right and fills the space the HQ and Trivia left in our lives.
Download our quiz collection here
2. Bingo(s)
What is the plural of bingo? Who knows! Well, we have started playing bingo with our pals on zoom, or whatever video calling app you’re using it still works. We have done regular number bingo and musical bingo and we have it all for you here.
For all of these, one of you will need to be the bingo caller and to remember to make note of the balls you call or songs you play!
If you’re playing number bingo, it’s really easy. There are so many websites that can help you draw the balls in a random order, and it’s very easy to find cards, but if you want to play easily on your phones there are cards already loaded here and you will all get different boards!
For musical bingo we created 4 rounds. We used MyFreeBingoCards.com to create them but the same as above applies. One of you is the bingo caller and make sure everyone has a board which if you’re playing on tablets can be found in the links below. You also need a speaker so you can play the songs.
00s hits: 00s hits bingo boards 00s hits playlist
90s boybands: boyband bingo boards 90s boybands playlist
Musicals: Musicals bingo boards musicals playlist
Emo 4eva: Emo bingo boards Emo 4eva playlist
Very fun and very simple. Feel free to drop us an email us if you want PDfs of the bingo boards!
3. Even more theatre
Last week we told you about the National Theatre’s plans to stream some of their fantastic NT live plays, for free or however much you could donate at this time. The first was a success, and gained so much traction that a whole load of other theatres said they would release recordings too. One of the greatest things to do in isolation is relax with some good drama. At time of writing these are the stage shows, musicals and operas on offer that we could find:
Curve Leicester and Birmingham Rep’s hit production of The Importance of Being Earnest: Sunday 5th April for a week.
The Shows Must Go On are streaming Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals: Every Friday 7pm each up for 48hours.
Globe Player is going to show 6 Shakespeare plays and 37 short films for free from Shakespeares globe!
Cheek By Jowl have released The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare is back again) here to watch for April.
David Ireland’s sectarian play Cyprus Avenue is up on Youtube but it contains strong language and sectarian themes.
Three beautiful plays from Hampstead theatre will be up weekly and you can find out more on their website.
The BBC is going to host 6 RSC plays, Frankenstein and loads of other culture as part of their culture in quarantine edition. More information here.
Forget Hamilton, 21 Chump Street was Lin Manuel Miranda’s piece before that and you can watch that here.
More Shakespeare but this time read by actors that you will recongise as part of the SHOW MUST GO ONline
Wind in the Willows with Rufus Hound is here.
Want to watch the Wooster Group’s Hamlet? That’s online until April 7th
Watch our production of HAMLET – free online through April 7!
We reimagine Shakespeare’s tragedy by channeling a “theatrofilm” of Richard Burton’s legendary 1964 Broadway performance.
In two parts
Part 1 https://t.co/iogawm1Mjq
Part 2 https://t.co/eDJnrv3ulY pic.twitter.com/GfVHUF7Wgq— TheWoosterGroup (@TheWoosterGroup) March 31, 2020
We are so lucky that there are so many things going on to enrich our cultural captial and What’s on Stage are updating their list daily to keep you informed!
4. Don’t come dine with me
One of our favourite things to do in isolation has been the opportunity to cook more and make it worthwhile. We’ve also had the great pleasure of doing a “don’t come dine with me”. We took to getting the same ingredients as a group of friends, cooking and updating each other and then eating together on video apps – great to compare what we made and for companionship. We deffo want to hear about what you’ve been cooking and eating.
5. Read a book (Amazon freebies and Overdrive)
If you just want some peace and quiet and don’t fancy other things to do in isolation, then reading is always the one. If you can hack reading on a device (phone, tablet, computer or e-reader) then there are two great ways of getting free books.
Firstly, there’s Amazon. Now ok, we know that we should be boycotting Amazon, but if they’re bringing you free books and they’re not charging anyone for that pleasure then there are arguments that you could make an exception. Amazon have a whole load of free books, from those that are free for no one really knows why, to those that come as part of Amazon Unlimited (this is a paid service so not really free) and then those that are out of copyright and therefore are free to publish.
Search for free books on Amazon
The other option – if you’re a local library member already is through a fab little thing called OverDrive. Overdrive is a great way to rent ebooks for 4 weeks or until you’ve finished reading them. For rights, it works like a library in that they only own a few copies of each book so you may have to reserve some of the titles you want, but it’s a great way of getting more books without leaving the house or spending money. You do need to be a local library member though!
6. Audible freebies
Audible is great if you like listening to things but can be quite expensive for what you get. HOWEVER they are now doing some freebies – there’s kids books, teen books, classics, crime, you name it! Have a look at the list here of freebies and have a lovely listen and some time off your screen!
7. Go to a gig from the sofa
If you’re on Instagram you’ll have seen the little notification light up more now than ever before to tell you that people have gone live. It seems to be the easiest thing to do in isolation for artists, and who can blame them. This BBC article talks about the ones that have been, and some that are still to come, and they aren’t bad!
8. Learn language and donate rice
If you want to improve your English (let’s face it, we all could) you can do so AND make money for the World Food Program for free at the same time. By playing Freerice on whatever difficulty you choose, you generate adverts on the screen that generate tiny donations for the WFP and help them with their work saving lives. You can keep track of how many grains you’ve donated too!
9. Join a mutual aid group
There are lots of reasons that people need help at the moment, and it can be frustrating that there isn’t much you can do, especially if, like us, you aren’t in a financial position to help. However, one of the most rewarding things to do in isolation is to help others and there are a lot of mutual aid groups emerging. There is some guidance online, but there are also local council websites that are looking for volunteers. They need people to phone the elderly and those that are alone and vulnerable, they need people to deliver shopping and medicine and to help take people to appointments. So whether you have a car, a bike, or simply just a phone, there are loads of things you can do to help your local community at this time.
10. Send your pals a voice note with three things you miss about not seeing them.
Because let’s face it, the novelty of video calls 24/7 is wearing thin, and a personalised hello I miss you is so important when you can’t see people face to face.
Finally – a short PSA so you don’t forget to clean your make up brushes!
