26 Fun Activities to Do at Home for Adults

Together, 2020 and 2021 have made up the age of being stuck at home. While we’re hoping that a solution is on the horizon, many people are still stuck working from home, and others are still hesitant to be out and about during this pandemic. We don’t blame you.

However, we have found that being stuck at home can get really boring, and we mean really boring. Finding the motivation (and the inspiration) to try new activities can be difficult, which is why we want to help.

We have created this giant list of fun indoor activities (geared specifically towards adults), some of which are more productive and stimulating, and others are better for kicking back and relaxing.

Read a book

If you’re looking for a good solitary activity, there’s nothing quite like kicking back and reading a great book. Not only is reading relaxing and a great way to settle down for the night, but it’s also mentally stimulating. You can learn a lot from reading!

Whether it’s a court drama, a fantasy novel, a biography, or a nonfiction book, it’s hard to go wrong with this classic activity. If it’s cold out, you can read by the fireplace, or if it’s pleasant out, you can read out on the back deck.

If you’re comfortable with going to the library, you can try something new, or in this day and age, it is just as easy to check out books online on your phone or tablet. Personally, we prefer good old-fashioned paper.

Journal

When’s the last time you really dedicated yourself to journaling? It’s probably been a while, huh? While you’re already stuck at home, why not make a habit of journaling each day? Journaling can be very therapeutic, especially if you’re stressed out.

It is an excellent way to lay out all your thoughts and feelings and process them a little bit easier. We recommend journaling in the morning and talking about the previous day. It’s a great complementary activity to drinking coffee or tea.

If you’re in the market for a new journal or notebook, take a look at our beautifully-designed selection of themed journals! There’s no better way to get excited about writing than picking up a brand new journal.

Draw or paint

Now that you have all this time on your hands, you can really dedicate yourself to creating a beautiful masterpiece.

Whether you’re using watercolors and an easel, drawing on the driveway with chalk, or coloring with crayons in a coloring book, drawing and painting are great ways to pass the time.

Plus, once you’re finished with a drawing or painting, you can frame it and use it to decorate your living room, bathroom, bedroom, whatever room you want! You can also go outside and use mother nature for inspiration if you’re feeling stuck.

This is a great activity to do with your kids. See what works of art you can come up with!

Play a board game

Playing games is a perfect way to wind down the evening after you’ve already eaten dinner, or you can eat dinner while you play a game. It’s a win-win situation.

Challenge one of your family members to a stimulating game of chess or backgammon, or have a fun family game night with something like Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, The Game of Life, or Sorry!

Once you start playing board games again, you’ll forget why you stopped playing them in the first place!

Play a card game

This one falls in the same category as the last one, but they are definitely different. Card games use cards, and board games use boards. See? Totally different. If you’ve never been much for card games, you’ll be astounded at just how many there are.

This could be the perfect time to learn some! Card games to play with your whole family include Spades, Golf, and Hearts. You can also play a one-versus-one game like War or Garbage.

In the mood for adding a little bit of stake to the evening? Put some money down on a game of poker like Texas Hold ‘Em or Blackjack. Just want to play something by yourself? Um, Solitaire! There’s literally a card game for everything.

Want to hear something that is completely underrated? Ice cream and card games. We highly recommend it. Nothing is quite the same as eating a great bowl of ice cream while playing cards with the family.

Play a video game

Following the trend of playing games, next up we have video games. Like card games, video games can be played by yourself, with friends, or with family.

You can invest yourself in an engrossing single-player experience like The Last of Us or The Legend of Zelda, play online with your buds and duke it out over some Call of Duty or Rocket League, or have some good old-fashioned couch competition with your family with games like Mario Kart or Tricky Towers.

Video games are all the rage nowadays, and there’s a reason for that. They are a great activity for when you’re stuck at home, and like cards, there’s an option for everybody. Just be warned that it can be easy to binge on a video game, just like you would a TV show. Moderation is key.

Cook or bake something

Being too busy and too tired after a long day of work have been great excuses for not wanting to cook dinner each night and rightfully so. We understand that, for many people, the last thing they want to do is come home and cook and do dishes.

Being stuck at home and having weekends to yourself has somewhat eliminated those excuses though. This might be the perfect time to rediscover your passion for cooking, baking, and creating!

With just a little bit of time and effort invested, the culinary arts can be a wonderful thing. Discovering a love for cooking now might save you some money on takeout and delivery once you’re able to be out and about once again.

Dig out one of your old cookbooks or some of grandma’s old recipes (or these days, look online for an endless supply of inspiration), and try something new! Even if it doesn’t turn out great, don’t get discouraged. Just keep trying until you’ve found a new household favorite.

Have a barbecue

If you're comfortable with having some friends and extended family over, and you feel that it’s that time of the year, shake things up a bit by hosting a barbecue and a backyard party!

You can make any weekend feel like the 4th of July or Memorial Day by firing up the old smoker and grilling some hotdogs and hamburgers. A backyard barbecue might be just the social interaction you need to avoid going completely stir-crazy.

Spending time with your friends and family can be a perfect way to recalibrate yourself and remind yourself that other people still exist in this age of staying at home. Plus, some fresh air never hurt anybody, right?

Garden

Okay, now we’re getting serious. Easily one of the most quintessential at-home activities, but also one that takes quite a bit of planning and preparation, as well as some effort and serious time investment.

If you’re willing to look past those things though, gardening can be one of the most rewarding at-home activities there is. It is a very fulfilling activity that can yield fresh ingredients for your new passion for cooking.

It is also a great way to decorate the outside of your home, appreciate the outdoors a little more, and get some physical activity and sunshine. Do a little bit of research, figure out what grows best this time of year, and get going.

If you’ve never gardened before, it may seem overwhelming, but we know you can do it. You can always read a book about gardening or look up an online guide to help learn the basics.

Write a letter

Writing letters is not exactly… in, right now. In this day and age where text messages, email, social media, and phone calls run society, people often don’t make time to sit down and write out a thoughtful, personal letter.

Want to know some people who would appreciate a handwritten letter? Your grandparents. Heck, even your parents probably would too. Writing a personal letter to someone can be very enriching. It’s good for your soul, your heart, and your brain.

Think about someone you are thankful for and write to them about why you are thankful for them. Or, you can reach out to a friend or family member that you haven’t seen in a while and turn yourselves into pen pals.

You’re looking for ways to pass the time anyways. Why not write a letter?

Do a jigsaw puzzle

Putting together a jigsaw puzzle might be the most quintessential time-killing activity. A jigsaw puzzle is something that you lay strewn across a dedicated table or surface that you and your family slowly whittle away at over the next few weeks (or months) until it’s finished.

The great thing about jigsaw puzzles is that you don’t need to finish it all in one sitting (unless you’re doing some kind of personal challenge, in which case that sounds fun too!). You don’t need to invest a giant chunk of time into it.

Just get it out, and whenever you feel motivated or are just completely bored out of your mind, work on it for a few minutes or an hour. Heck, you can even locate just a single match every time you walk past it.

With a little bit of puzzle glue and a frame, you can even use your fully-completed puzzle as a new way to decorate your home!

Make a scrapbook

What on earth are you going to do with those hundreds (maybe even thousands) of photos cluttering up your iPhone and Google Drive storage space? Why not print out some of your favorites and turn them into a scrapbook?

You can make a scrapbook for each one of your major family vacations, make one that is dedicated specifically to your kids’ birthdays, or just create a mishmash of all your favorite memories!

Get crazy with it! Head over to your local arts and crafts store (or just use whatever you have lying around the house) and decorate your scrapbook with all kinds of designs, cut-outs, and patterns.

Take it from us, photos are far more satisfying when you have them on display or in a scrapbook than when they are just cluttering up your phone or camera. Plus, reminiscing on your past experiences and memories is always a fun time.

Organize your children’s artwork

Is your fridge (and home!) overflowing with artwork and special projects from your kids? Use this time at home to get organized and find the perfect way to capture their memories in a special storage solution or time-capsule.

Storage containers are often the go-to solution for preserving your children’s keepsakes, awards, or mementos. It can keep them safe and avoid being damaged overtime.

In addition, this will help clear the clutter from your living room, fridge, office desk, and more. Sounds like a win-win! For those seeking to get organized, preserve their children's artwork, and have a way to showcase their special creations, we’ve got a great solution for you!

Capture your child’s mementos and creations in a professionally bound book while delivering smiles and warm memories every time it’s opened. These treasured keepsake books make for a meaningful gift to yourself, your child, or their grandparents.

Do chores

You’re stuck at home, so you have no more valid excuses to keep putting off all the chores and projects you’ve been meaning to get to. Paint that garage, finish that basement, clean those floors, finish building that deck! Get the whole family involved, so it’ll go by more quickly.

Trust us, this is the perfect time to tackle all of those projects, and you’ll be upset with yourself if you let all this time go by without finishing at least some of them.

Or, if you seriously have no major projects you want to do, just fill up your time by being productive. Vacuum, sweep, dust, do laundry, clean your bathroom, declutter your coat closet, finally do something about that god-awful junk drawer. You’ll be glad you did!

Have a picnic

Whether you have it at a park or in your own backyard, having a picnic provides the perfect opportunity to appreciate the outdoors, appreciate yummy treats, and appreciate good times with your friends and family.

If you’re feeling particularly sophisticated on any given day, you could even have a tea party instead! Trust us, after you do it once, you’ll be wondering why you don’t do it every day. Not to mention, setting up for a picnic is so quick and easy!

All you need is some basic finger food, a basket, a blanket, some people to partake with, and some cards. Yeah, okay, we really like card games. We’ll admit it. Get you and your family out of the house and enjoy the fresh air and sounds of nature.

Make a scavenger hunt

This is the perfect activity if you have little ones that you share the house with. If your kiddos are feeling particularly rambunctious on a given day, put that energy to work by designing a fun scavenger hunt for them.

Pretend like you're working, so your kids don’t get suspicious, and get busy making some clues and hiding some fun prizes all over your home. If it’s close to Easter-time, you could even theme your scavenger hunt around Easter eggs and put a little spin on the traditional egg hunt.

Your kids are guaranteed to have a super fun time deducing all the clues you’ve made and locating the goodies and trinkets you’ve located around the house. You’ll have a good time hunting with them and helping them out as well!

Sew

It doesn’t get much more relaxing than this. Sewing, crocheting, and cross-stitching is an excellent way to keep your hands busy while you focus on a movie or a TV show or just turn your brain off altogether.

Plus, you can make some seriously cool designs via crocheting and cross-stitching, and you can also sew up that hole in your pants that you’ve been living with for the last few years. It’s fulfilling, relaxing, and perfect for killing time when you’ve got nothing else to do.

Play charades

Another game for the whole family to enjoy, except this one doesn’t involve any sort of boards, cards, dice, or game pieces. Put your acting skills and ability to think outside the box to the test with a good old-fashioned game of charades.

If you never learned how to play, the perfect time is now! This is a great game for the whole family after you’ve already eaten dinner and want to have some fun to close out the evening. 

You can make charades as easy or as difficult as you like, and you can also limit the use of props if you feel that takes away some of the challenge. No matter what, you and your little ones are sure to be giggling hysterically by the end.

Decorate your home

We can think of many at-home activities that are better than decorating your home! If you’re going to be stuck there or living there for the foreseeable future, you might as well make sure that it’s nice to look at. It’s your home, so decorate it exactly the way you want it to be.

If you love Star Wars, decorate it with pictures of Darth Vader and aliens that live in a galaxy far, far away. If you love a minimalistic approach, then make it that way. If you love plants, flowers, and other flora, fill up your house with them.

Don’t let anyone else tell you differently. You and your family are the ones that spend the most time there, so decorate it the way you feel it should be decorated.

Watch a movie

Possibly the ultimate “shut-your-brain-off” activity (perhaps tied with the next activity we have listed), it doesn’t get much better than settling in on a cozy couch nestled in a warm blanket and watching your favorite flick.

It’s also a great family night activity if none of you feel like doing anything that’s active or requires brain-power.

Get your laughs on with classic comedies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Ghostbusters. Have some family fun with animated films Toy Story or Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Or, if you don’t want to shut your brain off and instead make it work harder, watch something complicated like Tenet or The Departed.

If you’re comfortable with it, you can even have some friends or family members over for a dedicated movie night. Set out some fun movie snacks and marathon an entire franchise like Indiana Jones or Harry Potter.

Watch a TV show

There’s no denying that TV shows are in, right now. The popularity of streaming services is at an all-time high with giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ leading the charge. 

TV shows are a dime a dozen nowadays, and because entire seasons are often released at a time, as opposed to weekly episodes, they are more conducive to binge-watching than ever before.

While we personally don’t recommend binging a show (lest you get burnt out and decide you don’t want to finish it), there’s no denying that an engrossing show with interesting characters and plot threads can help pass the time when you’re stuck at home.

Build LEGOs

Building LEGOs is an activity that is fun for both kids and adults! Open up a bucket of bricks and get creative with your kids, or you can purchase a massive, intricate set that’ll take hours to fully construct.

Whether you do it by yourself or with the rest of your family, building LEGOs is an excellent way to keep yourself busy while you’re passing the time at home.

Just like jigsaw puzzles, a complicated LEGO set can be built over a long period of time, and once you’re finished, you have an awesome new model that you can display somewhere in your home! Don’t listen to that stigma that LEGOs are just for kids.

Exercise

Yep, you knew it was bound to show up on this list at some point. The people in this world can be divided into two camps: those who hate exercising and those who pretend that they like exercising. No, we’re just kidding.

Exercising can be legitimately enjoyable if you go about it the right way, and it is also an excellent way to relieve stress and stay active while you’re stuck in the house. Even just a little bit of exercise is better than none at all.

You don’t have to go out and run for ten miles and do hours of planks to benefit from exercise. Even just a half-hour of exercise each morning can do wonders for your physical and mental health. If you can put your mind to it, you won’t regret it.

Go for a walk

Speaking of exercise, walking is one of the best exercises you can partake in. A daily stroll can provide a fantastic opportunity to stretch your legs, soak up some sunshine, breathe in the fresh air, and indulge in the sounds of mother nature.

Take your dog(s) with you if you can. Your furry friends need to get out of the house every once in a while too! If going on a walk sounds a little too boring, you could go on one with your friends or family or listen to music or a podcast while you’re out on the trails.

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Listen to music

Music is more easily accessible than ever before thanks to music streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. Listening to music is a great companion activity to many of the other activities that we already mentioned on this list.

You can listen to music while you sew, make your scrapbook, garden, go on a walk, exercise, cook, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Vinyl records have also been increasing in popularity in recent years.

This may be the perfect opportunity to invest in a record player and bust out the old records that you have stored in your attic!

Wash your car

If the weather’s nice out, why not treat your car to a nice spa day? Your car can take quite a beating and get pretty dirty while you’re driving out and about, so grab a bucket of water, some soap, and some sponges and get cleaning.

You can even make your kids help you clean the family car. If they complain about it, just tell them that it builds character! Next time you decide to hit the road or go grocery shopping, you’ll have a shiny new ride waiting for you.

Other fun indoor activities

There are so many fun indoor activities that we didn’t even mention. This list is just the tip of the iceberg. You can listen to podcasts, build a fort with your kids, refurbish old pieces of furniture, or take up beer brewing, photography, or some other hobby.

The list goes on and on. With a little creativity, a little motivation, and a little help from this list, being stuck at home during the pandemic could be the best thing to ever happen to you!

Journals and Notebooks from Nottai

Have you decided to take up journaling, poetry, or creative writing to pass the time while you’re stuck at home? You’re in the right place!

Our selection of beautiful-designed, themed notebooks and journals are perfect for people who love or are wanting to get back into writing. They can be personalized with your name, and they also act as a perfect gift for avid writers.

Take a look at our collection of themed notebooks and journals!