Virtual greetings, from our home to yours! We hope you and your loved ones are keeping your social distance right now, to do your part to help slow down this pandemic. As for our Dream Dinners team, we’re taking extra health and safety precautions at our locations, following the CDC’s recommendations and guidelines. Call your local store to see what adjustments are being made. We’re also sending out lots of virtual hugs and support, as we know this is a very scary time for so many people across the country.

One thing we can do to support you is to share some available resources! With kids and parents all at home right now, it’s important to be intentional about how you spend your time inside, otherwise; it’s easy to become bored, anxious, and inactive. We’ve compiled these resources for you and your family to get your brains firing and your bodies moving in the midst of this #quarantinelife!

Bringing the Zoo to You

First, here’s something for all you animal lovers. Zoos all over the U.S. are now offering live streams of their animals, so you can take your kids on a virtual trip to the zoo: The San Diego Zoo, The Houston Zoo, The Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, and Monterey Bay Aquarium, to name a few. Brookfield Zoo in Chicago is even offering “Bring the Zoo to You” educational talks, via Facebook Live. 

Virtual Art

For the aspiring artist, there are now virtual “paint and sip” classes! Yaymaker offers these online paint classes, as well as Painting Parties. Whether you’re using this idea for a date night in over a bottle of wine or helping your kids have a paint and sip with juice boxes, this idea will definitely entertain all parties involved. In terms of what you’ll need to get started, Painting Parties has a detailed list of suggestions for where to start (in the FAQ section of their website), and Yaymaker sells paint kits to go along with their classes.

Fitness at Home

With gyms being closed in many cities now, fitness companies are now offering live-streamed classes and online videos at a huge discount, or even for free, when they were a part of a paid membership previously. Some that we’re keeping our eyes on: for continuing your Yoga practice and staying calm and centered, there’s Core Power Yoga. For a wide variety of everything from strength training to kickboxing, and different difficulty levels too, there’s Daily Burn. To get your groove on while doing some serious cardio, try 305 Fitness. Many of these workouts can be easily adjusted so that your kids can join in, but if they struggle to follow along with the videos, just have your own family dance party, with their favorite tunes! Dancing while singing into hairbrush “microphones” is definitely encouraged.

Virtual Museum Tours

Lastly, one more option that is especially good for keeping our brains busy: virtual museum tours! Renowned museums all over the world are offering this, from The Louvre in Paris to The MoMa in NYC. For a great breakdown of what’s available, check out this Good Housekeeping article. Taking your kids on a virtual museum tour is a fun way to keep them learning outside the classroom and a nice break from traditional homeschooling.

These ideas are, of course, only scratching the surface of what’s out there! We’d love to hear from you – what are you watching and doing to stay active while at home with your families? Drop us a note on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and let us know what you’re up to. Let’s stay connected while we’re staying safe!