10 Fun Things to do at Home

Whether you’re choosing to stay home as a precautionary measure or you have been quarantined due to the coronavirus, cabin fever is sure to kick in.

That’s why we’ve put together 10 fun WXXI-centric things for you to do at home. Check them out and, if you have one to add to our list, please add it to the comment section below. If you're looking for a list of activities to do with little ones, our Education team has create their own list for kiddos - which you can find by clicking here. 

1. Participate in the 2020 Create Crafts Challenge. Submit a 3-minutes-or-less video of you making your best work to Create TV before March 30 to win a chance to produce your own 10-part video series for Create TV! For the complete Official Rules and submission form, visit: CreateTV.com/challenge.

2. Read a good book. Did you know that Monroe County Library System offers free downloadable audio books and eBooks? Check out NPR’s Lynn Neary’s Reading Recommendation for Book Lovers and download one.

3. Submit a song to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. Unknown, unsigned bands and musicians ages 18 and older are invited to film themselves performing one song at a desk of their choice. The winner will play NPR’s famous Tiny Desk in Washington, D.C. before embarking on a U.S. tour. Click here for details.

4. Try a new recipe from PBS Foods. How about sweet potato dumplings, strawberry lime roasted salmon, or lemon coffee cake – you’ll find these recipes and more on the PBS Foods website.

5. Find a new podcast to listen to. A few of our favorites: WXXI’s own Finding Tammy Jo and EXITED, as wells as NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, Life Kit, How I Built this with Guy Raz. You can find these and more Apple, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.

6. Learn something new on WXXI-CREATE TV. Whether you’re a home-improvement buff, food fan, wandering soul, a yogi, or budding artist – CREATE has a show for you.  

7. Partake in NPR’s Poetry Challenge. NPR is inviting people to craft their own Ekphrastic poems, which are works of writing that respond to pieces of art. Morning Edition poet-in-residence Kwame Alexander has selected two paintings to inspire you: “Heat Wave” by Kadir Nelson and “Young Woman at a Window” by Salvador Dali. Your submission can be a haiku, free verse or a rhyming poem, it doesn't matter – but you must cap your poems at 10 lines. Click here for details and an online entry form.

8. Explore the local arts community with WXXI’s digital series, Arts InFocus. The series brings you intimate conversations with people who create art or curate it. Rochester is home to a thriving arts and cultural community and WXXI is proud to spotlight emerging artists, seasoned professionals, and well established arts organizations in our region. Click here to start watching.

9. Watch, or maybe re-watch, your PBS favorites on WXXI Passport. If you’re a member of WXXI at the $60 level, you have access to WXXI Passport which gives you special access to current and archival programs from both PBS and WXXI. Downton Abbey, Victoria, Vienna Blood, and Howards End – see them all! If you're a member, click here to sign up and access. Interested in becoming a member to acces this, click here.

10. Create a 6 x 6 piece. WXXI is a proud sponsor of Rochester Contemporary Art Center’s international small art phenomenon.  Artworks must be six inches square and signed only on the back, to be exhibited anonymously. Participation is free. All artworks will be exhibited and for sale to the public for $20 each to benefit RoCo. Pieces are due April 11. Click here for details.