How to Make the Weekend Feel Special During COVID-19

If you’re a stay-at-home or work-from-home parent, this coronavirus quarantine may not feel especially different…until the weekend arrives. Weekends are the time to step away from work and routine and indulge in play dates, trips, and Ann Arbor area activities–all of which are off-limits due to COVID-19 closings. 

So how do you make the weekend still feel special for the kids (and you)? Consider one or all of these safe, quarantine-approved activities: 

1. Family Spa Day: Draw up a bubble bath, bust out the nail polish, and take some selfies with your sheet masks (and tag #a2kids). We all could use some extra pampering during this stressful time, plus we demonstrate to our kids the importance of self-care. 
2. Family Game Night: Rediscover board games with the family! Don’t have any on hand? Some crowd-pleasing, all ages games that are easily accessible online or with everyday material include charades, pictionary, or the question game. 
3. Go to the Opera: The Metropolitan Opera is providing FREE nightly Met Opera streams. Grab some sparkling grape juice and/or wine, cuddle on the couch, and expose the kids to the opera (perhaps for the first time). 
4. Listen to the Symphony: Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) wants to “keep the music playing” and has made replays of the DSO Replay free and available to all. Dance as a family, play it in the background while you silently read, blare it on the speakers as you clean…the possibilities are endless. 
5. Take a Hike: Grab the stroller and/or some walking shoes and explore outside! This could be a walk around the neighborhood or a hike through one of our local parks (just make sure to maintain the 6 feet of social distancing!). Check out this cool coloring book the Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Department has created.
6. Try Geocaching: Download any geocaching app of your choice, hop in the car and navigate from one spot to the next. Alternately, you could find a trail or neighborhood with a few hidden caches and start walking!
7. Virtually Tour an Art Museum: Some of the most famous art museums in the world–Guggenheim, Musee d’Orsay, Van Gogh Museum, and more–are offering FREE virtual tours. Make it seem like an event by drinking hot cocoa (and coffee) while the family peruses some of the most famous art in the world. 
8. Virtual Story Time with the Ann Arbor District Library: Join one of the AADL’s beloved librarians for a fun-filled story time with songs, rhymes, stories, and of course “Knees up Mother Brown.”
9. Go “Out” to Dinner: Order takeout from your favorite local restaurant, don a special outfit–for kids, this could be a superhero costume or their Sunday finest–and sit down together as a family to eat some delicious food. Maybe light a candle and play some music! You get a break from cooking while supporting a local restaurant during tough times. Many locally-owned restaurants are offering free delivery and/or free kids meals with an adult purchase. Check out the list from Current Magazine. 

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @annarborfamily for more tips and updated information. Tag us in your best social distancing antics! Use the hashtag #a2kids.