With finals next week and the holiday season just around the corner, students will start to spend time with friends and family remotely this year. Though it may be tougher to have the annual experience of the holidays while social distancing, there are plenty of activities that can help make the end of the year seem a bit more normal.
First, you can send out holiday cards to relatives or college friends that live far away. Seeing a card in the mail can brighten anyone’s day. Of course, the postcard could be a simple picture of your pets or household members or just a simple store-bought card works just as well.
Another classic is baking cookies or decorating gingerbread houses. Set up a time and day to FaceTime your friends and you can decorate and enjoy your holiday treats with each other. Maybe you learned a new baking trick to teach someone else. You can also swap recipes so that you can both enjoy each other’s cooking skills. To go along with your cookies, make sure you make some hot chocolate and put in some marshmallows!
You can also use one of the many streaming platforms to watch holiday movies from far away. We mentioned Netflix Watch Party as a good option to watch movies and shows at the same time as your friends. This way, you can watch classic holiday movies together without feeling far apart.
If your group of friends does the quintessential Secret Santa gift exchange, you can plan on swapping gifts still by mailing each other presents. Wait until everyone has their gift and have a Zoom or FaceTime call with everyone to open the presents at the same time. I would suggest wrapping the present before sending it off so that when they receive the package, they do not open it right away.
One more suggestion would be to donate old clothes or old toys this holiday, as many people have been hit hard this year. Many charities like Toys for Tots and local toy drives are looking for gifts to give children this year. Making someone else’s holiday makes yours even better.
Even though this year was not how anyone would expect it to turn out, hopefully we can end on a good note. Happy holidays!
