The Coronavirus lockdown doesn’t mean you have to cancel all your social plans.
You just have to adjust them a bit because staying connected while apart is so important during this strange time.
First of all, if you’re not sure what video chat apps to use, WhatsApp is a great one, and Zoom is getting more and more popular for big groups.
So, if you are looking to make video chatting a bit more fun, we have come up with 7 group activities for you and your friends.
1. Watch Party
Even with social distancing, you can still have a movie night with your pals.
You and your friends can simply pick a film, set up a group chat and share your reactions as you watch. Don’t forget to tell each other to pause the movie if someone needs a snack refill.
If you have Netflix you can use Netflix party for this using a Google Chrome Extension.
2. Book Club
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 Another simple one: pick a book and video call your friends to chat about it.
You can pick a weekly time-slot for your book club which is really useful for structuring your week and routine.
Better yet, it will motivate you to read more and get your screen-time down.
3. Cook Along
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Mix YouTube cooking tutorials with Come Dine With Me and you will get a virtual group cook-along.
You and your friends can take turns teaching each other how to make your favourite meals. It’s an excellent way of adding fun to the kitchen and getting some food inspiration.
You can share stories on how your recipe came about and your memories of cooking the meal.
To add a bit of healthy competition, you can even rate each other’s recipes and finished products.
4. Exercise Club
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If you are finding it difficult to move your body during self-isolation, create an exercise club with your friends.
Choose an online exercise class, be it a YouTube HIIT class or a Yoga Instagram live- and set your camera up so that you and your friends can do it together.
The social accountability is a great way to motivate yourself to actually work out.
5. Happy Hour
If you’re you’re missing your nights out on the weekend, introduce Happy Hour to your life.
This can be as straightforward as dedicating time to video chat with your friends over a drink.
Or, to mix things up, you can add themes to your evenings. Think cocktail party, Sing-Song night, fancy-dress party or even drinking games night.
6. Quiz Night
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Quiz night is probably one of the most popular video chat activities.
You can select one person each time to be quiz master or each draw up questions to host your own round.
Some rounds that have been going down a treat so far include categories like; Pop Culture, Movies, TV characters, World Landmarks, Movie Theme Songs (audio round), Irish Sport, General Knowledge, or pick some specifics like a Harry Potter or Simpsons round.
If this sounds like too much work, there are loads of apps and websites you can use like myquiz.org that will create the quiz for you.
7. Games Night
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 There is an endless amount of games that you can play over video chat.
You can go for a classic, no-equipment-required game like charades.
You can video chat while competing on multiplayer apps like Draw Something or Words With Friends.
To make matters easier, you could even use an app like Houseparty which allows users to play live games and video call in the same app.
If all of your pals happen to have the same board-game, you can play things like Monopoly or GuessWho – just watch out for cheating!
