As you might imagine, artists are very experienced at working in isolation and self-entertaining. Here are 10 ideas for activities to make your isolation more fun!

1. Make a collage! Do you have any old magazines? Or a printer? Start cutting out images that make you happy, and then assemble them into something new :) Do one on a colour theme, do one that answers the question “what do I really love to do?”, do one that’s full of patterns and shapes that you love… the possibilities are endless! (kids love this one too!!)

2. Send a thank you card or love letter! Everyone loves getting mail that isn’t bills, and it’s also really fun to send something nice to someone in your life. For bonus points, make the card yourself - it doesn’t need to be a masterpiece, just genuine and heartfelt. Can’t get to the post office because you’re self-isolating? Take a picture of your finished card and email it!

3. Have a dance party in your kitchen! Whether alone or with your co-isolated family, I promise this will feel pretty silly at first but so fun! Maybe even make a pandemic play list with irresistible songs like “Happy” by Pharrell Williams :)

4. Read! I’m a fan of holding a physical book in my hands, but there are also loads of audio books and e-books available online. If you’ve got a Toronto Public Library card, check them out for lots of free options.

5. Write! Even if you don’t think of yourself as the writing type - in my experience, getting the whirlwind of thoughts out of your head and onto paper often helps the thoughts make better sense, and also helps me sleep at night. Looking for ideas of what to write? Check out this series of free video writing prompts created by the lovely people at Firefly Creative Writing. If you’re looking for a beautiful hand-bound book to collect your thoughts in, check out my friend Hannelore’s Storyworks :)

6. Paper maché! If you’ve got a balloon and some newspaper, flyers, or other scrap paper, you’re halfway there! Flour and water are the only other two ingredients, and once your project has dried you can use paint, markers, stickers, etc to decorate it :) Here’s a link with instructions.

7. Shop online! Think of one or two of your favourite small businesses, and show them some love and support! Share their social media pages with your friends to spread the love even more!

8. Learn something new! There are loads of sites like Skillshare offering online courses in just about everything.. imagine how clever we all might be a month from now ;)

9. Recycled musical instruments! The last time I visited my sister’s family, my 6-year-old nephew made a guitar for his little sister using an empty tissue box (turned inside out, so he could colour it with markers), an empty paper towel roll (tube? You know what I mean!) and a couple of elastic bands for “strings”. Does it sound nice? Nope. But holy crap did it entertain them for a good chunk of the day. Make all sorts of different instruments with stuff around your house! Then have a concert!

10. Draw something! No good at drawing? Me neither! It doesn’t matter - this isn’t to go in a gallery, it’s to give your brain something different to focus on. And you never know where it might lead ;) Here’s a list of fun doodle ideas to get you started (I can’t remember the original source of this list - if you know it, please tell me so I can credit them!), or just choose something around the house and look at it very carefully and up close - draw your version of it!

11. BONUS! Make a video! Use your phone to create an uplifting video and share it! We’re all in this together, and we can all help lift each other up :)