11 easy ways to stay entertained without leaving your house
(BPT) - Cold weather paired with stay-at-home orders means families across the country have been spending more time at home. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time together and make memories in the process. No matter what your household size or the variety of ages that live in your home, there is plenty to do without leaving the house.
Try interactive games: When you're not sure what to play, ask Alexa. The smart device is your gateway to countless great games like Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Deal or No Deal, Escape the Room and classics like Pac-Man, The Floor is Lava, Clue, Twister, Simon Says and Mads Libs if you’re feeling nostalgic. Plan a family game night, stock up on favorite snacks and have some fun. It's a challenge to try something new you've never played before and you might be surprised to see who wins!
Backwards day: Sometimes the opposite can be more fun, so plan a backwards day and do everything in reverse. Young children really enjoy doing activities like wearing sweatshirts backward or eating breakfast for dinner. You can even create a custom routine for backwards day with Alexa — the sillier the better when it comes to backwards day, so don't worry if things get a little goofy.
Have a dance party: Play some tunes and show off your best moves with a family dance party for smiles all around. You can even have a multi-room dance party when you play music across multiple Alexa Devices. Simply use the app to create a Multi-Room Music group and ask to play your favorite music.
Music sharing: Want to share a song with your family and friends to let them know you’re thinking about them? Alexa can help with that! Sharing music with your loved ones is as easy as saying “Alexa, share this song with Claire.” The person you’ve sent the song to can listen on their Echo device and send back a reaction. What better way to discover new music.
Look at family photographs: Get a little sentimental by spending some time looking at images of your family over the years. While some of this can easily be accessed on your phone, don't limit yourself. Dust off old photo albums and have fun trying to guess who is who and sharing memories with younger generations. If you have an Echo Show, you can say “Alexa, show my photos” to view your photos.
Try new recipes: Extra time at home means extra time for trying new foods and recipes. Whether it's cookbooks in your home or asking Alexa to show you a new recipe on your Echo Show, have everyone pick out a few they want to try and then plan a day each week to cook them together. Another idea is to choose theme weeks and cook to match your theme.
Stream video content: With Echo Show, you can plan a family movie night and stream your favorite movie or TV show from providers like Prime Video, Hulu, NBC and others. Amazon also recently introduced Netflix on Echo Show so you can browse the full Netflix catalog as well as pause, resume and stream movies or TV shows using just your voice. To get started, customers can say, “Alexa, open Netflix” and log into their account.
Cheer for favorite sports: Plan a game day and do favorite tailgate activities at home, including favorite food, that lucky outfit and fun decor. Remember, follow your team on the Alexa app and simply say "Alexa, give me my sports update" for the latest scores, upcoming games and more. You can also watch NBA video highlights from your favorite team on your Echo Show device.
Find your next great read: From making dinner to making time for yourself, Alexa can help you find your next read when you’re looking to unwind. Simply ask, “Alexa, what should I read next?” and get suggestions for your next read based on personalized, top-selling or trending books from over 20 million Audible, Kindle or print titles.
Catch up on your favorite podcasts: Looking for a new podcast to listen to or want to catch up on your favorites? Alexa has you covered! Just ask Alexa to play the podcast of your choice or if you need inspiration on what podcast to listen to just say “Alexa, recommend a podcast” and sit back and relax.