Many of us associate hobbies with outdoor activities, but there’s plenty to do indoors.
Once you’ve binged all there is on Apple TV and Netflix, played all your favourite video games and completed your at-home work outs, why not pick up a new skill?
Whether it’s something you’ve always had on the backburner but never had the time to explore, or you fancy throwing yourself into something completely new. If there’s one exciting thing you can get out of the current quarantine season, growing a new passion sounds pretty good to us.
To help inspire you, here are ten at-home hobbies to learn today…
Baking
Ever watched Great British Bake Off and thought to yourself, ‘I could do this’? Well, why not put it to the test. The great thing about baking is that not only is it a skilful craft but it also means you’ll have sweet treats to enjoy as a result. What’s not to love? There are endless step-by-step baking tutorials on YouTube and recipe books like Mary Berry’s Baking Bible that’ll help you become a star baker.
Calligraphy
Did you know that American actress turned British royal, Meghan Markle, is a talented calligrapher? The Duchess of Sussex often showed off her skills and expressed her love for writing letters on her old lifestyle blog, The Tig. If you too like the idea of having princess-like handwriting, then why not pick it up as a new hobbie? It’s also believed to be an excellent mindfulness activity. Instagram accounts like @tjcalligraphy, @na7tdesigns and @writtenwordcalligraphy are just a few of the many that offer quick tutorials.
Coding
Coding may seem like an intricate and highly complex skill to pick up, especially at home. However, it is now easier than ever to master thanks to the many online platforms that teach beginners from scratch. Code Academy is a great website and even offers a beginner’s quiz to help you get started and help you decide on what exactly you want to learn, and don’t worry, they make all the complicated stuff make sense so you won’t need any experience at all. Who knows? It could be the start of a new side hustle.
Dancing
Want to brush up on your party moves? Get on YouTube, type in any dance genre of your choice and watch the tutorials come flooding in abundance. From contemporary hip hop to ballroom dancing, there’s choreography for pretty much anything and not only is it fun, it’s a great way to keep fit, too. For something less serious and more entertaining, get on TikTok and try to keep up with some of the viral dances. We promise it’s a guaranteed laugh.
Knitting
Forget the idea of knitting being a hobby for the elderly, it’s a crafty skill and can be a very calming pass time too – especially with all that’s going on in the world right now. Handy website instructables.com offers a free online knitting course with 11 classes for beginners. All you have to do is enrol on the website and you’ll get access.
Learn a language
If you’ve ever thought about picking up a new language, now is the time to do it. Not only is it a great skill to have (especially when you live in a multicultural country like the UAE), but it can be a fun pass time too. From Babbel to Duolingo, there are plenty of language learning apps that’ll have a new dialect rolling off your tongue in no time.
Painting
Paining is known to be very therapeutic so if you’re short of things to do then get out some colours and a canvas, and let your creative juices start flowing. Get the kids involved too as they’ll no doubt enjoy making a mess. Check out stepbysteppainting.net for simple and easy tutorials or once again, turn to YouTube.
Podcasting
Podcasting has dominated pop culture as the top thing to do lately, be it listening to one or creating one of your own. If you like the idea of the latter, start brainstorming ideas and download Audacity, a free cross-platform audio software that has made podcasting easy to do from the comfort of your home.
Writing poetry
Always dreamt of being the next Shakespeare? Well, what better time to start trying. If you’ve got a passion for writing but never quite had the time to explore your talents then get started by signing up to famous poet Billy Collins’ Masterclass sessions. Here, he lets beginner’s in on his secrets and provides top tips via a series of video lessons. While you’re there, check out all the other online classes provided by Masterclass – it’s got everything from cooking with Gordon Ramsay to fashion editing with Anna Wintour and filmmaking with Martin Scorsese.
Meditation
It’s no secret that it is a crazy time in the world right now. The current outbreak of coronavirus has us all on edge and it can be easier than ever to feel anxious, so why not try meditating? It’s an excellent way to keep calm, relax and get your thoughts together even at the worst of times. To help you get started, check out Time Out’s favourite six mindfulness and meditation apps.
