Bored at home? Here are some things to do while social distancing

The recent COVID-19 outbreak has forced everyone to self-quarantine in order to limit the spread.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer earlier this week banned dine-in customers at restaurants and ordered the closing of bars, movie theaters, gyms and other sports facilities.

Every week, Grand Rapids Magazine posts a list of things to do and events to attend each weekend. With many organizations closed and events canceled, there isn’t much to do outside of the house.

So, we decided to write a list of some things to do in your house while you keep your distance from friends, family and co-workers.

Virtual Netflix watch party

If you miss movie night with your friends and family, Netflix allows you to host a virtual viewing party. In order to participate, you will need a Google Chrome browser for your computer and a Netflix subscription.

1. Go to netflixparty.com and click the “Get Netflix Party for free” button.
2. Click “Add to Chrome” and click “Add extension.”
3. Make sure your friends have done the same on their Chrome browsers.
4. On your Chrome browser, log in to Netflix.
5. Click the “NP” button on your browser. Here, you will have the option to allow everyone to control the pausing, fast-forwarding and rewinding or limit it to just you.
6. Click “Start the Party” and copy the URL. Send that URL to your viewing party.
7. Once the other members open the link, they will need to log in to Netflix and hit the “NP” button on their Chrome browser.
8. Enjoy!

The program allows you to chat with your viewing party by sharing messages, screenshots, emojis and GIFs. Or, if you want to see your viewing party, you could always start a Skype or FaceTime session.

Read Grand Rapids Magazine

Since you have to limit your travel outside of the house anyway, might as well catch up on what Grand Rapids Magazine has to offer for the month of March.

This month, we named the winners of our annual Dining Awards. Check out the feature to see who was named the Top Restaurant of the Year, Best New Restaurant and Top 10 Restaurants.

Subscribe here to get the essential guidebook to the good life in Grand Rapids delivered to your door each month.

Start spring cleaning

Now is the perfect time to get some much-needed spring cleaning done. It’s probably safe to put away those snow boots and snow pants as we get closer to April (knock on wood).

When it’s safe to leave the house again, Aricka Gannon offers some tips on how to style your house to bring the outdoors into your home. If possible, start styling now. We could all use a bit more of the outdoors with these strict restrictions in place.