Summer is heralded as one of the best seasons out there by many people that like to spend it out of the house. The weather is warm and inviting, while all the water sports are no longer freezing and unbearable to take part in.
However, summer can’t last forever, and it is eventually replaced with the much colder winter.
Opposing summer, winter has freezing temperatures and dangerous weather that can cover the roads and limit transportation.
This can make it difficult to think of things to do within shelter other than drinking until the snow feels warm, but I’m here to share some indoor activities that can be just as thrilling as partying in some random person’s house.
First and foremost are some board and/or card games. These offer a seemingly endless variation of games to play with your friends. From “Settlers of Catan” to “Nertz,” the amount of games out there is infinite.
Board games offer a way to waste anywhere from 30 minutes to four hours playing a single game and can be a very good outlet. Games like “Catan” can challenge players to think, while a game like “Catchphrase” will bring friendships together and possibly destroy a few in the process.
Card games are a tad more simplistic, as they can be played with a single deck of cards, but there are so many ways to arrange them and a huge pool of game types to pull from that there is virtually no way to run out of new things to try.
Card games like “Poker” can reveal who is the most crafty, while “Slapjack” will leave bruises littered among hands. Together, card and board games offer an infinite source of fun when it is just too cold to leave the house.
Second lies in the visual: movies and television. A great way to ignore that the snow has blocked the door is to get lost in Jim and Pam’s search for love in “The Office.”
When the grass and mountains are covered in white, one can kick back with the “Dark Knight” and watch Batman defeat the Joker. There is so much material out on Netflix, Hulu, cable, or wherever you pirate your movies from that hours will zip by with your closest friends and family while you are all comfy and cozy under layers of blankets.
Even if the urge to leave the house surpasses the urge to stay warm, there are movie theatres that can be a great release from being cooped up for so long, plus the big screen is always fantastic to watch on.
The last way to spend some great time indoors is probably what your grandma would think to do first: reading. Diving into a classic book like Alexandre Dumas’s “The Count of Monte Cristo” or delving into a newer read such as John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” can be a very rewarding experience.
Books have been around for a very long time and have continued to be relevant in a society dominated by technology, so there is obviously something good about these weird things with pages.
Not to mention the extrinsic benefit of being able to say that you’ve read a book. No longer will the elders in your family see you as an illiterate child, now you can talk about literature and symbolism, back off, MOM!
Follow the suggestions and winter will be nothing to the fun having pro that you have become. Games, movies/television, and reading all offer unique and exciting ways to cope with the winter blues and lack of sun.
Until winter is over or we spontaneously grow a layer of blubber, these are the best and safest ways to enjoy winter while remaining a constant body heat without help from several jackets.
