The spring rains are approaching that invite a time for cozy indoor activities. Whether you’re looking forward to binge-watching your favorite comfort show alone or want to create community in your living room, here are some ways to create some reflective space or celebrate cozy springtime magic.
1. Host a Board Game day
A great way to create community and celebrate friendships is by playing each other’s favorite games or learning a new game together. You could even take turns hosting game days to ensure you get to try everyone’s favorite board game in your friend group. It’s a great way to learn more about your friends as well as who might be a good liar. This weekend, while I was at camp with my youth group, we played lots of new games due to storms and some of my favorites were Avalon and Werewolves, found on Amazon. Both of these games involve a storytelling element and a social deduction process that definitely present a brain challenge. They can also present challenges in your friendship as these kind of mind games often necessitate some form of lying or at least a really good poker face.
2. Turn Your Living Room Into a Home Theater
For those drizzly afternoons with nothing but clouds in the forecast – You can grab some popcorn and your friends to watch a movie on a projector – What makes watching movies better than a giant screen and staying home? You can even make it a pajama party. There are many affordable options for mini projectors here on Amazon that plug right into your laptop using an hdmi port and give you that home theater feel. You could even split it with your roommates or friends to make it more cost-effective.
3. Color or Paint by Number
One of my favorite indoor activities for those rainy days is coloring. There are so many cute adult coloring books available that can be so good for your inner child such as this minimalist one on Amazon. Letting one’s mind wander while you fill a mandala or nature scape with color can be such a great practice of mindfulness and help you reflect. There are even coloring books with swear words to help you get that stress and pent-up energy out through the process of coloring to de-clutter your mind.
I thoroughly enjoy when I have time to pull out my bird coloring book with Gilmore Girls on in the background when I’ve had a hard week and need to tune out the world for a little while. There are so many beautiful springtime paint-by-numbers if you’re looking for something a little more advanced to help ease your mind and learn new art skills.
4. Join the Cross-Stitch Craze
Cross stitch and other works of embroidery are making their way back into the spotlight. In this relaxing art form, you can either start with a hoop template or follow youtube videos to add stitching to items like jean pockets and purses to elevate your fashion for spring and summer. Once you get the hang of cross-stitching, there are dozens of beautiful embroidery kits on Amazon with all sorts of spring colors and florals. These embroidery hoops also make for great gifts.
5. Journal
Take some time to check in with yourself during these rainy springtime afternoons. Journaling can be a great way to process your emotions and evaluate your goals. Are you meeting your goals? Springtime is a great time to pause and reflect on your New Years resolutions to figure out what you might want to refine or if you need to start fresh on pursuing these resolutions. I recently began gratitude journaling by writing 5 things I’m grateful for when I first wake up in the morning and it has really been helping my outlook and my attitude as I begin my day. Spending these April showers contemplating your progress and mental health can ensure May flowers will bloom in your own life.
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