1. Start a family game night.
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SBT Games has a number of board and card games in stock, whether you want to be competitive or cooperative. Check out the SBT Facebook page for regular video recommendations on new items in stock and role-playing games in stock, including Dungeon Mayham (an easy-to-learn D&D-based card game) and Unlock! (a cooperative escape room game).
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Improbable Escapes has created five virtual (and family-friendly) escape adventures you can play at home. Work as a team to solve the puzzles while interacting with a live game-master in the physical game space.
2. Get crafty.
Feeling the urge to create something cozy for yourself while you’re cocooning at home? There’s no better time to start a knitting project. Purlin’ J’s Roving Yarn Co. (Kingston’s only mobile yarn truck) is roving a little less these days, but you can still order yarn, accessories, and kits online and get free delivery in Kingston.
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Tie One On Creativity Bar offers delivery of its craft kits. Offerings from local artisans include a vinyl sign kit and a candle making kit.
3. Get connected.
Youtube is always an option for online exercise classes, but then you’re missing out on personal instruction and encouragement. If you’re craving more human connection while you get back into your body, Samatva Yoga offers all its classes online, from “slow and stretchy” yin and restorative yoga options to more energetic power yoga. The studio also offers online versions of its special workshops, such as pre-natal yoga and a Healthy Hips workshop. Free options are weekly guided meditation classes and a regular online book club discussion.
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Check out the Tett Centre’s online offerings, including its Arte el Martes Project, a monthly Zoom get-together for community members to chat in Spanish and create art. Bring your own art project to the call, whether it is drawing, painting, knitting, or embroidery! All mediums and skill levels are welcome. Enjoy conversations and topics related to art-making and Latino culture, customs, food, and more. These free sessions run on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 7 to 9 pm. on Zoom. No registration required.
4. Get artsy.
The Agnes Etherington Art Centre has created Digital Agnes, an online platform for curatorial collaboration and creative research that highlights virtual exhibitions, digital publications, and interactive online experiences. You’re invited to digitally explore past exhibitions such as “The Powers of Women: Female Fortitude in European Art” from Winter 2018 or tour an interactive map of Rembrandt’s Leiden circa 1630.
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5. Connect with your community
You can help the Queen’s University Archives with its crowdsourcing transcription project. Delve into local history while you transcribe digitized handwritten documents, review the transcription work of other volunteers, or help create index terms. Learn more.
CFRC Radio (Canada’s longest running campus-community radio station) offers a variety of locally produced podcasts, covering politics, sports, film, science, and the Kingston community. Explore them all here.
The Kingston Canadian Film Festival teamed up with Thom Ernst to create a podcast where we invite Canadian filmmakers to talk about their artistic influences past and present. The first episode features Jeff Barnaby, a Mi’kmaq filmmaker, writer, composer, and editor. Thom and Jeff chat about cinema, zombies, and colonialism. The podcast features guests like Festival faves Audrey Cummings and Matt Johnson among others. You can listen on your favourite podcast platform or their website.
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6. Experience Kingston at Home
You can embrace the city’s festive spirit with Together at Home: For the Holidays, presented in partnership with the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts and The Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. Cozy up with a hot drink and connect with Kingston’s makers, chefs, and musicians from the comfort of your own home with a series of festive videos. You can listen to the music of Miss Emily, learn to weave, or follow along with a spiced ginger cookie recipe!
