December 07, 2020

60 Things You Can Do During COVID

December 07, 2020/ Lynne Sargent

This resource was shared with attendees of our Impacts of COVID webinar series, but we are also sharing it now here with you!

We invited folks to think about this question and then dive into one of the activities we’ve collated for you below:

First think about what you love to do? How did you spend your time as a kid when time just flew by?

Go for a walk with a friend – add,maybe bring some bird seed to see if the birds will land on your hand to eat, or challenge friends to do an outdoor scavenger hunt you have created. Here is list of trails in Centre Wellingtonhttps://www.centrewellington.ca/en/living-here/trails.aspx#, Guelph Trails - https://guelph.ca/living/recreation/parks/trails/, Those in Arthur may have a new option https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/arthur-walking-group-under-consideration/
If you like walking but not nature, see if anyone is offering walking tours. One option - Stroll Walking tours KW https://strollwalkingtours.com/, or a self guided walking tour of Fergus - https://www.downtownfergus.com/fergus-historical-walking-tours/, Orangeville - https://www.orangeville.ca/en/things-to-do/walking-tours.aspx Guelph - Self Guided walking tour of Woodlawn memorial park, https://www.woodlawnmemorialpark.ca/guelph-memorial-park-family-events/guelph-memorial-park-walking-tour/, Guelph Self Guided Walking Tours digital booklets - https://guelpharts.ca/gac-programming/2014-08-29-19-34-38/walking-tours-booklets
Join or start a walking group - Fergus - https://www.facebook.com/Fergus-Elora-walking-group-361272730740972/,
Go to the beach - regardless of season
Have a picnic
Skip stones off the water
Geocaching - the world’s largest treasure hunt https://www.geocaching.com/play
Embrace winter sports like snow shoeing, skiing, skating, tobogganing, build a snowman
Bundle up and host a coffee/hot chocolate social and chat in your driveway for your neighbours
Craft in a box – create one and have a friend create one and swap, or take turns -one buy all supplies and drop off at friends and video chat with them and create together
Boredom boxes - make a package for your friend filled with things that you know they enjoy - foods they like, magazines they might like to read, projects or crafts they might like to try
Call a friend - in a world where there are so many technical options to connect - sometimes there is so much power in a regular phone call
Host an online paint night
Host an online movie night – netflix option
Have an online games night – Free Houseparty app https://www.houseparty.com/, Jackbox (on Steam) option for games similar to pictionary etc and use zoom too https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackbox_Party_Pack, Board Game Arena https://en.boardgamearena.com/
Have a friendly “betting” on sporting events – where the winner gets “?” - or they just a point and whoever gets to 10 wins -could be something with no cost attached - a pick a silly thing the opponent has to do/say
Letters – they do not need to contain words – they can be a meme, pictures of things that person is passionate about cut out from the newspaper.
Send funny Youtube videos - dogs, dances, choir, jokes, geographic images, whales etc
Send a card to someone – this could have a surprise inside like a teabag for the friend who loves their tea. Email what you have done and perhaps that will inspire others.
The Community Resource Center of North and Centre Wellington has a Pen Pal Program. Sending Support program - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfAyslkwoaDH67eFTB6U_quwPYUPKkvNVRUZjkIbK6MBF3JSw/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3R8UIIDFfI5ISNJArgrRJIhW-4aHMs1DvhsBhvzVlSazOUgjB7-2KYa1A
Contribute to the Community Anthology which is a traveling journal for county residents to document their pandemic experience.
Travel without moving - Post Crossing It's a project that allows you to send postcards and receive postcards back from random people around the world. That's real postcards, not electronic.https://www.postcrossing.com/
Organize a cookie exchange – a way to connect and still prepare for the holidays and still keep some traditions
Start new traditions – Christmas hike instead of meal
Find new ways to celebrate successes – car parades, giant banners, roaming driveway dance parties, drive through baby shower complete with hot apple cider and smores
Drop off a small gift to make someone smile, some fresh cut flowers, a seasonal arrangement from outdoor greenery, or a donut or other baked good.
Online cooking classes. The Cambridge Self Help Food Bank has free online cooking classes. please contact Laura, ljohnson@cambridgefoodbank.on.ca or 519-622-6550 ext. 206
Find a recipe and make it together with a friend while doing a video chat
Share your favourite recipe and ask others to do the same. Go further and put them into a book. Go deeper and use as a fundraiser for a local non profit organization! Becomes a win - win - win!
Video lunch visits – maybe with a senior neighbour
Find or start a Facebook group about something you are passionate about
Take up a hobby you always wanted to try or learn – singing, drawing whatever it is there is a free group or video for that
Join a random act of kindness website/Facebook/Instagram – and try out some ideas like dropping off cookies to someone, shovel someone's driveway
Get a camera, or use a phone camera and go out and take pictures. Make it more complex and add a theme. Go further still and ask your friends to join the challenge and have an email thread/Whats app group etc to share the pictures.
Join or start a book club - don’t forget about audio books. Don’t like to read,
Start a movie club, the same idea as a book club discussion but with movies
Join a plant group and swap plants and learn how to grow things
Share bits of you - wether videos that you have made on your phone, halloween costumes, pictures of what you have seen in the neighbourhood, pets, your gardens
Start an online version of Eye Spy - find an item people need to look for and then find that item in your neighbourhood and send the pictures back to the group and maybe even tell a story about it
Creative projects - unleash your inner artist - doodles, mandalas and then display your work on your window/door so the community can enjoy your talents, painting stones for a community installation (one facilitator helped people paint stones for the Guelph General Hospital and Lest we forget messages for Memorial Day)
Take a virtual tour or field trip https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/free-virtual-tours/ or https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-virtual-field-trips-4800629
Offer to help connect someone to a virtual education program
Take an online course with a friend
Connect with the local volunteer bureau
Try some meditation. https://www.heromovement.net/blog/free-guided-meditation-resources/
Take a yoga class. Yogachantalle@gmail.com - Chantalle offers online yoga at a reasonable cost and she is very experienced with folks of all abilities. Or Free yoga classes online https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecut.com%2Farticle%2Fbest-free-yoga-classes-online.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3nh9-pMbdRqpqeqa5l4QQdE-RU-Mv0j6r7cUq6LcLPy-7dEaOgapn55oU&h=AT3FKt3i4FO6QDJSNmlSlaRJ_R29KVO5hWxFBl14qj5IHmPOi6dmdDk1jmI9JPNyvDXF5eE4nbVwcUQw6SNkUxf6u6S-IGZIVZST48DipfZfhrH70w42b8eF-ShXDDStmiY or here https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene
Host a virtual Karaoke night
Play some two player card games. https://vipspades.com/blog/2-players-card-games/
Road Trips - and add some road trip games, or forgo the road trip and try them from home. https://thoughtcatalog.com/christine-stockton/2018/06/road-trip-games/
Do you want to get to know someone better? Ask them if they have a photo album or two that they would share with you. Then have a chat about what you are looking at.
Do you like poetry? Write your own poem, listen to a poem written by someone you know and find poems on the internet that you enjoy. And don’t forget that hip hop is probably the most popular type of poetry.
Have you tried audiobooks? These are recordings of books that you can listen to. This website lists websites with audio books. Your local public library may have them too. https://bookriot.com/2016/09/15/11-websites-find-free-audiobooks-online/
Create a workout. Be creative with equipment (use a soup can as a weight). Share the workout with your friends. Take turns serving as the exercise leader. Or try Nike Training app https://www.nike.com/au/ntc-app lots of free trainings available
Create a dance party, turn the lights down and turn your favourite dance music up. Great exercise and fun to boot. Or even learn a tik tok dance.
Every day pick one type of music you’ve never heard before. Listen to a few songs or artists. Find something new that you like. Here’s a list of different music categories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popular_music_genres
Set up an obstacle course, for yourself and anyone else you live with. Set it up in a friends back yard or invite them to try it in yours.
Try the the Stay at Home festival brings you live streaming events https://www.stayathomefestival.com/
Go through your kitchen cabinets/fridge/medicine cabinet and throw away everything with expiration dated that has passed. Challenge your friends to do the same and see who has the oldest item.
Create a spa day. Find your favourite scented cream and apply it to your hands, arms, legs and feet. Put a wet face cloth in the freezer and once cold/frozen place it over your eyes and relax listening to calming music. Invite your friends to do it to and chat while doing it in your own homes. Share pictures of your painted nails if you decide to make them sparkle.
Find things on pinterest that you would like to do or try. When using social media be sure to follow these safety rules http://archive.ncpc.org/topics/internet-safety/social-networking-safety.html

November 20, 2020

Impacts of COVID Web Series, November 19th 2020

November 20, 2020/ Lynne Sargent

In partnership with Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition and Realizations

The night began with some casual socializing and sharing. It was great to see the community out and have a chance to connect with each other organically. Joanna, our executive director, gave a great introduction to Facilitation Wellington Dufferin and what independent facilitation is. We affirmed the values for the night including: responsibility; compassion; balancing risk-taking and openness with keeping personal boundaries; privacy; and acknowledging that learning is a continual process. We invited everyone to check in with how they were feeling, and to answer the question “What do you need to navigate challenges related to COVID that you don’t already have or know about?”

Then, the larger group split off into breakout rooms. The first topic was to talk about activities and hobbies that we were able to maintain during COVID despite changes in the world around us. The mood in breakout rooms was one of discovery and making connections with and about others, as well as focusing on good things in our lives.

We then moved into discussing the more challenging impacts COVID has had on our lives as a larger group. We talked about the ways that our relationships and roles have shifted and continue to shift as we go through different phases of COVID and the circumstances of our own lives change. Many folks were positive and finding the benefits even in the challenges, and emphasized the complexity of the situation and how it was very different for everyone, and even different for the same person at different times.

We then moved into a discussion of self-care and how to ensure we are capable of caring for ourselves by finding the time and resources to do so. We unearthed challenges with balancing our care needs with the care needs of people in our community. Keeping in touch via dropped off gifts, shared but distanced activities, and communication was a big key strategy that was discussed as ways to manage our concern for others.

We talked about the simplicity of life under COVID and learning to appreciate the time we have, as well as how important it is to connect with loved ones. Some habits of our “old lives” we don’t miss at all! It’s okay that self-care and our hobbies have changed. Some folks mentioned they have been enjoying finding mindfulness in their lives through things like walking and meditation. We watched a video called “WTF is Mindfulness?” a very simple guided introduction to mindfulness.

Wondering what mindfulness is? Try this short meditation to find out. https://au.reachout.com/

We discussed ways to keep moving forward in COVID by learning new skills, especially skills that allow us to connect with each other, such as by becoming Zoom experts like facilitator Hailee! Some of us also found new appreciation for old skills. Sharing new hobbies or new expressions of hobbies with our families and communities either virtually or by activities like dropping off delicious baked goods we found was a great way to stay connected and express care.

Joanna shared a quote which invited us to think about how we can take COVID as an opportunity to mindfully move forward and “lock in a new normal” by deciding what habits and methods of living we have enjoyed learning during COVID that we would like to hold on to. We invited everyone to consider how they have stretched or grown during COVID 19.

Participants also received a list of resources including resources on mental health, relationships, finances, fun, and self-care. but we are also sharing them here with you below this post, and at this link!

If you’re interested in attending one of our other webinar events, the next event will be November 26th 2020 at 7pm, and will feature speaker Brendan Johnson from the Guelph Neighborhood Support coalition. To register for this FREE event, please head to Eventbrite by clicking here!

Resources to help through Covid

Mental Health

10 Things you can do right now to reduce anxiety, stress, worry related to COVID-19

https://bouncebackontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BounceBack-Tip-Sheet-Covid19-EN.pdf

Canadian Mental Health Association

https://cmhaww.ca/

Covid 19 - Helping Ourselves. Helping Each Other

https://www.here4help.ca/

Course - Free 3 hour online course you can take at your own pace.

Mind Control - Managing your Mental Health During Covid https://www.coursera.org/learn/manage-health-covid-19

Living Life to the Full – Helping You to Help Yourself (January - March 2021)

12 HOURS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE Cost $50 total for the 12 weeks

https://cmhaww.ca/events/llttf-winter2020/

Webinar events hosted by CMHA

https://cmhaww.ca/events/

BounceBack BounceBack is a free, guided self-help program that’s effective in helping people aged 15 and up who are experiencing mild-to-moderate anxiety or depression, or may be feeling low, stressed, worried, irritable or angry. Participants receive telephone coaching, skill-building workbooks and online videos to help them overcome these symptoms and gain new skills to regain positive mental health. To receive telephone coaching support, clients must either be referred by their primary care provider (family doctor, nurse practitioner) or psychiatrist, or they may self-refer as long as they’re connected with a primary care provider. For those who are not quite ready for coaching, our online videos can provide helpful tips.

Youth 15-18 https://bouncebackontario.ca/what-is-bounceback-youth/

Adults 19 + https://bouncebackontario.ca/adults-19/

Impacts of Covid on Mental Health in our Community

https://www.guelphcf.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=-kDSQDcIjsA%3d&tabid=100