At-Home Activities For Our Kissing Tree Tribes

Hello, Kissing Tree neighbors! During these days when we’re all stuck in the house and social distancing, we thought it would be helpful to compile a list of activities and ways folks can stay entertained, connected, and well fed. And what better way to do that then by brainstorming some activities for each of our Kissing Tree Tribes?

If you don’t know about our Kissing Tree Tribes yet, hold onto your hat. The Champs, Foodies, Voyagers and Creators are groups that bring us together and host activities and adventures. You can choose your tribe yourself, or take our short quiz to figure out where you feel most at home. Not only that, you don’t have to limit yourself to one tribe. You can take part in a cooking club with the Foodies and then take part in a game of pickleball with the Champs—it’s all good. All the tribes welcome everyone. Take the tribe quiz.

Who Are The Champs?

From the golf course to the swimming pool, Champs are happiest when they’re moving their bodies. Champs are known for activities that celebrate health and wellbeing—with some friendly competition thrown in for good measure. From yoga and cycling to blackjack and dance-offs, the Champs are getting stronger and living longer.

Activities for Champs

Go for Walks

While the fitness center might be closed, it’s a great time to go walking or jogging around our beautiful Kissing Tree neighborhood. Being outside for as little as 30 minutes can have a positive effect on your outlook and help things feel more normal. Take your dog for a walk, or listen to music, a podcast, or an audiobook. It’s a great way to get out of the house and change your scenery while still keeping a safe social distance from other people.

Try a New Workout

There are tons of free workouts available on YouTube. Check out Yoga with Adriene—she is an Austin yoga teacher who has built a world-wide following for her easy-to-follow yoga and meditation classes. If you’re looking for something a little more high impact, Peloton has recently made its workout at home app free for 90 days. You don’t have to have their fancy bike or treadmill to participate—the app includes both live and recorded strength training classes, stretching, yoga, high-impact fitness classes, and more.

Play Games on Your Phone

Many families have been connecting to loved ones by playing group games. These are games you download to your phone via the Apple App Store or Google Play, and then everyone can play together. Family members of all ages will like Psych, a group trivia game where each player makes up an answer and players vote on their favorites. The word nerds should check out Words with Friends, and history buffs can get a serious game of Risk going. It’s like the traditional board game, but played online.

Who Are The Voyagers?

Voyagers live to explore, whether that’s exploring new places or exploring new ideas. This quarantine is particularly hard for them, because they long to be out — out of the house, out of the city, maybe even out of the country. In this time of hunkering down, Voyagers are looking for new ways to expand their horizons and learn new things.

Activities for Voyagers

Travel Virtually

Want to imagine you’re somewhere else? Good news: Good Housekeeping pulled together a list of museums, zoos, and theme parks offering virtual tours. Check out the Panda Cam at the Atlanta Zoo or try a 360° virtual experience of the Small World ride at Disneyland. If you’re feeling a little stir crazy, a virtual adventure might be just the thing to perk you up.

Learn a New Language

So you can’t visit Barcelona or Spain right now, but this is the perfect time to dig into those Spanish lessons or brush up on your Italian via the free Duolingo app on your phone. If you want a more robust experience you do on your computer desktop, Babbel gets great reviews and is currently offering discounted lessons.

Watch Movies Together

Travel documentaries and movies set in exotic locations can transport you to a new location at least for an hour or so. And you don’t have to go alone—now, a new Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party lets you watch movies and TV shows with friends and family on your computers with a chat room. It’s really easy to install if both parties have Google Chrome web browsers and Netflix accounts—here are instructions.

Organize Those Travel Pictures

If you’ve always meant to make a scrapbook or photo album from your past adventures, now is the time. Order a beautiful empty album online to put your photos in, or make your own photobook on Shutterfly or Mixbook. Getting your pictures sorted and labeled is a wonderful way to relive those past adventures—and decide where you want to go next!

Who Are The Foodies?

Whether they’re baking croissants, trying new restaurants, or sampling wines, Foodies love all things related to food and beverages. From finding amazing ingredients to new cooking techniques, Foodies are all about gathering friends and family around an abundant table.

Activities for Foodies

Try a New Recipe

Assuming you’re stocked up on sugar and flour, this is a great time to learn to bake homemade sourdough or perfect your lemon bar recipe. If you’re out of some key ingredients, H-E-B is offering curbside pickup and grocery delivery services – while the time slots are filling up a few days ahead, it is a good option for reserving your groceries and not having to fight the crowds or wait in lines.

Learn to Make Pasta From An Italian Grandma

Eating Well magazine recently profiled the amazing livestream cooking classes Nonna Live, where anyone can sign up to learn pasta-making secrets from 84-year-old grandmother Nonna Nerina. When you sign up for a two-hour class with Nonna or one of her granddaughters, you’ll be sent a shopping list as well as wine recommendations to pair with your meal!

Order Out and Support Local Restaurants

At press time, it seems like DoorDash and UberEats are both still delivering food in the San Marcos area. While not all the normal restaurants are open, there are a good range of choices. You can use either of these services through your phone or computer.

Who Are the Creators?

Whether they’re makers or aficionados, Creators actively support arts, music, and culture. They’re always improving their craft, often in the company of fellow tinkerers. From painting and writing to welding and carpentry, they combine their technical skill with extensive imagination.

For the Creators

Learn A New Craft

If you’ve always wanted to learn a new skill (or perfect an old one), it’s finally time! Maybe you want to check out some online knitting video tutorials, or take up watercolor or acrylic painting.

Document Your Experience

Throughout the ages, people have used art to untangle their feeling and connect with each other, and with this global pandemic, we’re experiencing something that’s largely new and uncharted. Write a short story. Paint about it. Do a drawing. Make up a song. Tell your story. In this moment, the world needs art more than ever.

Livestream Live Music

With the canceling of SXSW, there are a lot of local musicians who have lost out on gigs they were counting on. Many of them are doing livestream concerts on FaceBook, StageIt and other platforms to try to connect with fans and make up a little bit of that lost income. It’s a great chance to see your favorite artists up close and personal or find some new favorite singers.

Tour a Museum

Google Arts & Culture is offering virtual tours of more than 2500 museums around the world, including Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, London’s National Gallery, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also offers a series called The Artist Project, which includes videos of famous artists speaking about works that inspired them.

We hope we’ve given you some fun ways you can stay busy and connected. Stay tuned to our Kissing Tree Facebook and website for more ways we can stay (virtually) connected to our neighbors and friends.

We’d love to hear from our Kissing Tree community about ideas you have and ways that you’re keeping yourself entertained. Please send us ideas and pictures of your activities to events@kissingtree.com, and we’ll plan to do part 2 of this blog post for the beginning of April!