20 Things to Do On New Year’s Eve in Quarantine
Are you used to partying like crazy on New Year’s Eve? We know it’s a bummer that all the events are being canceled this year and we know you’re staying home to make sure that you and your family are safe. For that reason, we’re taking the NYE party to our homes! Here are a few ideas of things you can do to celebrate the end of this year at home.
By Mariam Elhamy
- Plan a virtual party with your friends or family and make sure everyone is dressed up and online at the same time and play song choices by everyone in the call.
- Send out snacks, drinks or pizza to the people you normally party with so you all share the same meal. You could also do a virtual baking class where everyone follows your steps and instructions.
- Do a “throwback” themed game where everyone shares their favorite memory of the year and how they did things differently than normal because of social distancing.
- Do a Netflix watch party and binge watch 3 movies you all love. Or have an outdoor movie night with a projector.
- Online karaoke! Sing your heart out and share it with everyone.
- Play Act it Out or Charades and make everyone guess what you’re doing.
- Have your family take turns giving each other massages, manicures and pedicures.
- Put up a tent inside the house and pretend you’re camping. Bring roasted marshmallows.
- Write small notes of funny things people do without noticing and take turns reading them out loud and trying to guess who does what.
- Play The Floor is Lava, where you can only walk on furniture and if any part of your body touches the floor, you are out!
- Learn some simple magic tricks on Youtube and show them off.
- Start a 500-piece puzzle.
- Do the musical chairs game at home on Christmas music.
- Play Guess The Smell. Put different nice or not-so-nice smelling items in a bag and make everyone smell and guess. The person who guesses the most items wins.
- Play Dark Room. Turn off the lights and have someone go outside the room. Everyone hides and the person outside has to come look for them.
- Buy or make your own pinata and BOOM CANDY!
- Make towers with lego pieces. The tallest tower wins.
- Play Two Truths and a Lie where each person tells 2 truths and 1 lie. Everyone has to guess which is the lie.
- Host a neighborhood floating sky lantern release at midnight.
- Do a countdown virtually and pop confetti or fireworks.
Bring on the candy canes! Peppermint to help with memory and to relieve stress, making it the perfect sweet treat to cope with the super-busy whirlwind nature of the holiday season.
Apples are abundant in an antioxidant called flavonoids, which improves mood within just two hours of eating them! In one study, flavonoids improved cognitive function and the effects lasted six hours post-consumption.
Don’t skip the cranberry sauce with dinner. Cranberries are loaded with vitamin C and flavonoids. As humans, we are unable to produce our own vitamin C, which is a major player in dopamine metabolism in the body. People with depression, mood and psychiatric disorders are quite often deficient in vitamin C.
Pumpkin is rich in mood-boosting minerals, such as potassium, as well as vitamin A, and B vitamins. Pumpkin seeds contain abundant tryptophan, which is a precursor of serotonin, a mood-boosting chemical produced by our bodies.
This holiday season, consider why mashed potatoes are a healthy food: Potatoes are loaded with vitamins and minerals including potassium, which helps maintain optimal cognitive function, and positive mood.
