Marie Sykes (masykes@ursinus.edu)
When Ursinus returned to campus last August, there was no shortage of outdoor activities to ease students into living on-campus and interacting face-to-face once again. However, with over a foot of snow on the Berman Lawn, the reality is that we cannot continue taking classes outside or sit outside the Kaleidoscope and watch Birds of Prey or Jumanji. Even so, there are plenty of indoor activities students can do while minimizing shared surfaces and close contact.
Start a new TV show or stream movies. This is one of the places my friends and I started upon coming to campus, watching everything from Avatar: The Last Airbender (yes, we were the Avatar group costume), nature documentaries, sewing and cooking youtube videos, and Starkid musicals. All you have to do is find a space with a TV or projector, hook your computer up, and hit play.
Play Cards Against Humanity. Now, playing with physical cards isn’t covid friendly because it is nearly impossible to sanitize cards but there is the popular web and free alternative, Pretend You’re Xyzzy, which advertises itself as a “Cards Against Humanity clone.” If you don’t want to meet in person, you can even call and play over Zoom or Discord.
Play Among Us. This game is not quite as popular as it was last autumn, but it is still a fantastic alternative for those who wish to play with their friends or with other Bears. It’s a free app and you can gather in a space large enough to host you and your friends and still play games without ever needing to touch shared surfaces. Jackbox Games is another alternative, and while there is a cost, everyone connects from their own device. Video games in general have provided students with a good outlet to play together and while controllers are shared when on a console, they can still be easily sanitized and used in a safe environment, just like at the new “Games Club” meetings.
Work on skills together. Drawing, knitting, reading, yoga, writing, and anything you can do indoor with masks in a large space are often more fun when practiced alongside your friends. You can use this time to be productive and learn fun new skills together as a group!
Start a book club with your friends. Gather and read together (it doesn’t even have to be the same book) and talk about your books as you read them. The library has a wide variety of both fiction and non-fiction books, and they just launched this spring’s “One Book, One Ursinus” program with Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.
Play Dungeons and Dragons. This is my own personal favorite on the list, my own friends and I just starting our first campaign this semester. With our ragtag group of adventurers, we’re able to go on COVID-safe travels in a world COVID has not disrupted.
No matter how long we are stuck inside this winter, there is no shortage of COVID-safe, fun, indoor activities!