8 Activities for Couples in Quarantine
Edited by Allie Long
Although some states are loosening restrictions and reopening parts of the economy, many people will likely (and smartly) continue self-quarantining until a viable vaccine is found. For couples who have chosen to quarantine together, this pandemic presents both a challenge and an opportunity to grow closer and get to know one another a lot better.
A survey conducted by The Knot found that 86% of engaged couples were quarantined together, and a significant majority reported that the lockdown has positively impacted their relationship. Still, there are a few notable exceptions to this trend, perhaps best exemplified by BuzzFeed’s Julia Moser’s breakup via Zoom — a personal tragedy that perfectly captured the zeitgeist of this cultural moment.
So, if you’re in lockdown and looking for something to do with your partner besides binge Tiger King or the obvious (Fun fact: according to that same survey by The Knot, the most common argument among quarantined couples was “how often to have sex”), then might I recommend one of the following eight couples activities for quarantine?
1. Take Virtual Dance Lessons
If you and your partner weren’t dancing before quarantine, there are myriad reasons why you should start. A paper entitled “Effects of dance-based movement therapy on balance, gait, and psychological functions in severe cerebellar ataxia: A case study” concluded that, in addition to improving “standing balance, gait […], and functional mobility,” dance-based exercise helps improve an individual’s quality of life and self-reported depression. In a time when reports of mental illness are at an all-time high, self-care is more important than ever until a long-term, systemic solution is found.
It’s also great exercise. Search YouTube for any Charleston tutorial video and prepare to have your calves roasted as you twist and lift your feet to the swinging beat.
Beyond quality cardio, dancing is a great way to get to know your partner more intimately in a physical sense. If you’re looking for a starting point, Dance Insanity instructors LiWen and Tytus offer a selection of free introductory lessons to Salsa, Jive, Cha-Cha, and more! Their sense of humor coupled with their energy are great for timid dancers that need some encouragement to break out of their shell. So, Instacart a bottle of wine to your apartment and enjoy a romantic ballroom dance night.
In the mood for something more bite-sized? Jump on the viral dance train. Tik Tok isn’t just a place for Gen Z; it’s also a stage for you to showcase your tightly choreographed 30-second dance routines. Or your loosely choreographed frenetic limb flailing — not everything needs to go on the internet.
Whether you post the results or not, learning the moves can be great exercise and a lot of laughs. Who knows? You and your significant other might finance your first vacation post-quarantine with your viral dance video.
2. Learn a Language
Learning a second language with your significant other boasts many substantial benefits for your mind, including improved recall, decision-making, and multi-tasking. Plus, depending on the language, now you two have a secret way of communicating that only you, your partner, and however many people speak that language in your area know. Too bad Duolingo doesn’t teach Furbish. Then the only other creatures in the world who could overhear you roasting the mask slacker six feet away from you in the grocery store would live in the nineties.
When you get tired of Duolingo’s formula, or the existential threat that owl poses if you don’t complete your daily lesson, FluentU created a list of games you can play to help boost your language skills. Choose anything from card games to InFluent, a “3D free-form game,” where you play Andrew, an inventor, in the pursuit of his lost language learning device. (The Finnish language pack appears to feature Andrew dropping in on a hot tub ménage à trois, set to a rock opera under the Northern Lights.)
3. Prepare a Meal Together
Besides the main benefit of cooking — yummy food — cooking with your partner is another way to develop your communication skills. In an interview with HuffPost, Ayelet Barak Nahum, Ph.D. and culinary art therapist, said that cooking for others “can provide a means for social acceptance and create a feeling of belonging to a community…”
…unless you’re this one British teacher, who reported that she “once had a full-blown row with an ex about caramelising onions, which led to [her] fleeing the house, incandescent with rage.” I’d also feel duty-bound to mention the article goes on to say Mrs. McNicholas has a “longstanding argument with her best friend about the optimum cooking time for butternut squash.” If you’re anything like her, I advise enforcing a strict one-person-at-a-time-in-the-kitchen rule during quarantine.
Otherwise, Better Together has a whole section of recipes for couples to make together, such as sushi, my perfect date-night meal — well, that and a bowl of inordinately long spaghetti noodles.
After dinner, homemade ice cream and chocolate-covered fruit make for good desserts. For more inspiration, I recommend my favorite culinary YouTube channel, You Suck at Cooking, a series that’s one-part delicious recipes and two-parts comedy.
4. Put on an At-Home Workout Video
Maintain your fitness and have a blast with your partner within the confines of your home or apartment with online celebrity-trainer workout videos; just be wary of your downstairs neighbors, else they show up on your doorstep and undermine your self-isolation efforts.
One of my favorite home workout channels on YouTube is POPSUGAR Fitness, where they have a number of boxing, dancing, core, and other miscellaneous workouts. Kiera LeShae, a personal favorite instructor who manages her own channel, superherofitnesstv, makes a guest appearance in this intense 25 minute Tabata workout:
Another option for couples is acroyoga. In acroyoga, couples must develop their trust, strength, and flexibility in order to progress through a series of acrobatic moves. Many of the movements are beginner-friendly, as the following tutorial video demonstrates:
5. Play Games
Maybe you already have a favorite game to play with your partner, but if not, now’s a great time to find one. For example, try the Monopoly app; you and your partner can face off against two AI pieces that definitely won’t ruin your evening by forcing you to mortgage Boardwalk and Park Place while selling all your railroads… or whatever.
I recommend steering away from the board game Fog of Love though, as a Forbes reporter, Lauren Orsini allegedly divorced her husband after playing. Upon completing their first playthrough, she turned to her husband and said “We need to break up. I just don’t think we’re compatible.” So, perhaps save that game for more distant quarters.
Instead of competitive games, you can also schedule something like Karaoke night. With hundreds of karaoke playlists on YouTube to choose from, you can easily orchestrate your own singing party regardless of whether you have any equipment. If you’re an outgoing couple or looking to step outside of your comfort zone a little bit, this might be a good option for you.
6. Have an Indoor Picnic
Or, if you have a balcony, have a half-indoor, half-outdoor picnic. This might seem like an extension of my “prepare a meal together” suggestion, but the activity here is creating the ambience. Yes, you can drink wine and eat a baguette on the couch while watching Real Housewives on Hulu, but it’s not a memorable experience. Just because we’re shut in and working from home doesn’t mean our lives are actually on hold; it’s still important that we actively work to create memories and make moments worth being present for.
Alternatively, you can revisit the last time your life was completely out of your control: childhood. I’m serious; blanket forts and indoor camping are perfect for breaking up the monotony in lockdown . Set a lamp up in the middle of the floor and tell ghost stories around your makeshift campfire while you munch on microwave s’mores (or, if you don’t know any ghost stories yourself, turn on the Camp Monsters Podcast).
7. Play Music
You might not be the next Matt and Kim, or god forbid Cardi B and Offset (in terms of relationship ups-and-downs, not collaborations), but playing music together aids in the formation of a shared identity. For aspiring vocalists, Superior Singing Method offers basic lessons and vocal exercises on their YouTube channel.
If you don’t already own an instrument, you can still start creating music from your computer or phone. Free online music production programs like Soundation allow you to create beats and tracks from your browser, and for iPhone users, you can take advantage of the pre-downloaded Garage Band app to start crafting your own sound.
8. Take an Art Class
So, maybe the two of you can’t go to an artist workshop replete with charcuterie and craft beer; still, much of that experience can be recreated right in the home. Websites like Draw a Box and Proko offer free lessons that you can take to hone the fundamentals of illustration and figure drawing. Perhaps your partner could even model for you, granted you might want to build up your chops first, else you risk your partner looking less like a Botticelli and more like a Picasso.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you’re reimaging complex forms on paper or making hand stencil turkeys. A study by Baylor University revealed that couples taking an art class together displayed significantly elevated levels of oxytocin following the activity. “Our big finding was that all couples release oxytocin when playing together — and that’s good news for couples’ relationships,” said Karen Melton, Ph. D., assistant professor of child and family studies in Baylor’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.
Can you think of any other couples’ activities that I missed? Call them out in the comments or let me know what you think of this list. Stay safe, y’all!
