Banish the boredom with our lockdown bucket list.
Vital as it is to stemming the coronavirus outbreak and flattening the curve, lockdown is anything but a cakewalk. The hours seem to stretch on and on, and there’s only so long you can stare at Facebook to while away the time. We’re not immune to this either, which is why we’ve attempted to deliver you from boredom with Secret London’s lockdown bucket list, filled with creative, time-consuming, and often daft ideas to make the most of your time indoors. Go get stuck in!
1. Visit Disneyland virtually and try every single ride
2. Challenge your pets with an obstacle course, or try some of these fun ideas to keep them entertained
3. Finally get round to watching that one bingeworthy TV show you missed first time around
4. Mount a Shakespeare production with your neighbours
5. Magic your way out of a virtual Harry Potter-themed escape room
6. Livestream some of these brilliant events
7. Refresh your wardrobe by upcycling old clothes
8. Hop on a pasta masterclass with an Italian nonna
9. Construct the greatest pillow fort of all time
10. Stand a broom on its end (which you can do any day of the year, just FYI)
11. Become a whiz at Mexican food with Wahaca’s Instagram cooking lessons
12. Get your culture fix with the Royal Opera House’s upcoming streamed productions
13. String your Christmas lights back up to cheer up your lockdown – or just celebrate Christmas again, no-one’s going to stop you!
14. Become a guitar hero with Fender’s free lessons
15. Order a “cheese survival kit” from London’s temple of fromage
16. Watch every David Attenborough nature documentary
17. Recreate a London landmark using objects from around the house (and please share the results with us!)
18. Finally understand how to use TikTok – all the kids are doing it, you know…
19. Be lulled to sleep by a Dolly Parton bedtime story
20. Hop on a tour of the world’s greatest art galleries
21. Become the Instagram influencer you always knew you were
22. Turn your room into an urban jungle with these plant delivery companies
23. Practice social distancing with the help of Wes Anderson films
24. Set up a virtual disco for all your friends
25. See London’s history unfold in this mesmerising video
26. Become a master of disguise with a little help from a former CIA officer
27. Find some inspiration from these lockdown legends
28. Design a new Zoom chat background for meetings (adding yourself to memes is highly encouraged)
29. Watch the Northern Lights on this breathtaking live stream
30. Raise money for charity by watching the West End production of ‘Fleabag’
31. Set off on a lockdown gap year by transforming each room in your house into a far-flung destination
32. Make your favourite restaurant dish at home
33. Dive into the world of opera with this online library of performances
34. Lose friends and alienate people with a game of online Cards Against Humanity
35. Kick back with an audio book from David Walliams
36. Design your very own cocktail, preferably with an overly grandiose name
37. Brighten up your bedroom with a coronavirus-themed travel poster
38. See how long your social media cleanse can last
39. Build your own coronavirus-free city out of Lego
40. Work your way through Netflix’s new releases
41. Reorganise your bookshelves in the most colourful way possible
42. Wander the ancient city of Petra without leaving your bed
43. Organise a flat-wide pillow fight to decide who your zombie apocalypse leader is
44. Catch up on the good news with John Krasinski’s weekly YouTube broadcast – they’ve already had an impromptu Hamilton reunion!
45. Indulge your wanderlust with a tour of these US National Parks
46. Wander round Greenwich’s marvellous Painted Hall
47. Stream The Globe’s past Shakespeare productions for free
48. Support local business, armed only with your credit card
49. Join one of Joe Wicks’ upbeat PE lessons
50. Adopt a grandparent and help them beat loneliness
51. Learn a new language (bonus points awarded for the most obscure ones possible – Khuzdul Dwarvish, anyone?)
52. Check out the highest-resolution photo of Mars ever taken
53. Set off on a virtual walking tour of London
54. Study the night sky and learn how to identify constellations
55. Have the finest cocktails in Kentish Town delivered to your door
56. Interpret your weird dreams and turn them into short films
57. Break a Guinness World Record every week
58. Count penguins in the name of science
59. Rewrite your favourite songs with lockdown-inspired lyrics
60. Let it all out with a tearjerking Netflix film
61. While away the hours reading the funniest Twitter responses to the lockdown
62. Challenge your isolation buddies to a needlessly complicated board game of your own invention
63. Keep your home feeling fresh with these handy tips
64. Have a costume party with all the wackiest outfits you can muster
65. Let the dulcet tones of Patrick Stewart soothe you with a Shakespeare sonnet
66. Make inspiring rainbow window displays for the whole street to enjoy
67. Watch every Marvel film in the correct canonical order
68. See more than 800 Frida Kahlo artworks at this exhibition
69. Explore your whole house blindfolded, to give you a new appreciation for your space
70. Launch yourself back into the Wizarding World with Harry Potter at Home
71. Learn how to become a ninja
72. Rewatch the National Theatre’s best productions with their weekly broadcast
73. Craft Bread Ahead’s legendary doughnuts using their online cookbook
74. Create a public holiday to celebrate yourself (mine shall be The Ides of Landon, coming to calendars soon)
75. Get arty with Grayson Perry’s new Art Club television programme
76. Sing along to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musicals
77. Gather the gang for a Netflix session with this handy browser extension
78. Create spectacular doughnuts at home using Doughnut Time’s DIY kits
79. Whip up your favourite Wagamama dishes at an Instagram cooking class
80. Get really good at public speaking (hey, it might come in handy)
81. Pose like a classic painting (and share the results online!)
Portrait of Madame X for Covid-19 pic.twitter.com/AuC3tGLPG6
— Virginia Jones 🧛♀️ Ⓥ (@badiniadones) March 29, 2020
82. Spend hours watching cute animals on these live camera feeds
83. Pick up a handy new skill in just three weeks
84. Direct a Spaghetti Western using your stockpiled pasta as the cast
85. Invent a wacky new sport (Kitchen Quidditch is up for grabs, if you’d like)
86. Master new cuisines with Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski and his new cooking masterclasses
87. Learn ‘The Routine’ from Friends
88. Chat lovingly about our city with this ‘Global Tea Break’
89. Try wearing every item of clothing you own all at once
90. Try your hand at self-improvement with these handy apps
91. Brush up your photography skills with Nikon’s free online classes
92. Turn yourself into the next viral GIF
93. Crack on with a life-sized game of Hungry Hippos
94. Marvel at the flips, dives, and tricks of Cirque du Soleil with their fabulous online show
95. Do paint by numbers and then pass them off as your own artistic brilliance
96. Be awestruck by this video of London side-by-side, ninety years apart
97. Recreate your favourite Greggs dishes at home
98. Launch crazy science experiments using only ingredients found in your kitchen
99. Catch up on the Netflix original programmes that everyone’s talking about
100. Text your number neighbour and make a new friend
101. Plan all the amazing things you’ll be doing in London post-isolation