Stay Connected to Your Friends During COVID-19

With the country still observing social distancing rules, you probably haven’t seen your friends face-to-face lately, at least up-close.  So how can you make your virtual time with friends more interesting?  With a little creativity!  Try some of these tips next time you’re on Kidzworld or when you’re video chatting.

Use Kidzworld to Stay Connected to School Friends. 

Create a group for your school and invite all your friends using these steps.  It's easy peasy!

1. Click here to go to the groups page and create your own group.
2. Click the "+ Create Group" button.
3. Name your group. This could be your school name or even your mascot.
4. Add a description about your group.
5. Select the category.
6. Upload a picture.
7. Click "create group" to save your group.

Once you have created your group, send a message to your group text.   You can also email your friends and get them to register for Kidzworld, if they aren’t on the site already.

To invite your friends that are already on Kidzworld, click the share (arrow) button, or the "invite friends" button and add in their user names. 

If anyone has an issue creating group, let us know!  We at Kidzworld are here for you during this troubling time!

Spruce Up Your Video Chats.

Play Online Games With Friends. 

You’re likely doing this already, but if video games have never been your thing, you might find it fun during this unusual time.  Your parents might be a little more lenient with how much time you spend online right now, so why not take advantage of it and hang out with friends on Xbox or Nintendo?  Also consider using some of these gaming apps with friends—Just make sure to come to an agreement with your parents about your use of screen time, ahead of time.

• Draw Something
• Fortnite
• Jackbox Party Packs
• Mario Maker 2
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Minecraft
• Roblox
• Words with Friends
• Kahoot
• Pogo
• Let’s Play Uno
• Pokémon Go

Play Old-School Games With Friends.

Play a good old-fashioned board game with two to four friends virtually. Use a video chat app like Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Caribu or Marco Polo.  (Make sure your parents know which apps you’re using.)  One participant can control the actual game board.  Play games like Balderdash, Sorry, Trivial Pursuit, and Pictionary.  Or if you’d rather, apps like Jackbox Party Packs, Pogo and Let’s Play Uno, featured in the list above, allow you to play board and card games electronically.

You can also set up a charades night or play Heads Up! with your phones.  Download Heads Up!, a free app that’s just like charades but even more fun, to everyone’s phone.  Truth or Dare, or even a themed game of Show-and-Tell might also be fun.

Do Other Fun Stuff Together Virtually.

Using Zoom or another app, do whatever activities you’re into with friends who like doing the same things.  Ideas include:

• DIY crafts—Origami, cartoon drawing, candle-making, knitting, Legos, etc.
• Makeup tutorials—Teach your buds about makeup application, or let them teach you. 
• Host a cooking class.  If you’re a cooking connoisseur, host the class yourself (with your parents’ knowledge), or get an adult to host it for you and some friends on Zoom.  Pick a recipe, send everyone the ingredient list ahead of time, and set a time to go through the recipe step by step, Food Network style.
• Jamming.  If you and some friends play instruments, teach each other songs, play together, or make music collages.

• Have a long-distance movie party.  Pop some corn and watch a movie with a couple of friends.  You can use the Google Chrome extension Netflix Party to stream shows together and chat at the same time.  If you don’t have Netflix, don’t worry—Many other apps are available that do the same thing.  
• Teach each other Tik Tok dances on video chat. Of course Tik Tok is on the list.  Enough said.
• Make movies together.  If you’re into filmmaking or YouTube, team up with friends to decide who will write a script (Or, you can take turns writing different parts of the script on Google Doc.)  Shoot each scene by phone, and have someone edit the scenes together.  Then, have a showing of your movie on Zoom.

• Bedtime stories.  Take turns telling funny or spooky made-up stories.
• Plan future events together.  Make a list together of all the stuff you want to do when you can hang out face-to-face again.
• Take a class together.  See what online classes are currently available and enroll in the same one.  This could include a workout class, yoga class, or arts and crafts class.
• A Virtual Party.  Schedule a Zoom party and just hang out.  Make it a themed party and dress up and eat snacks, or just do some of the activities listed here.

Go Retro; Go Offline.

We might forget about ways people stayed connected before the online world existed!  Here are a couple you can try.

• Have a pen pal.  Exchange good old-fashioned letters and cards with friends through snail mail.  It will make trips to the mailbox more fun, and add some variety to your virtual social life.
• Hold a scavenger hunt.  If you have friends who live in your neighborhood, feel more connected to them with an “I Spy” type game.  Leave them messages in your driveway with sidewalk chalk, or place an object, drawing or message in your window for them to find as they walk down the street.  Take turns going for neighborhood walks (separately) and look for these little messages of encouragement as you pass by friends’ houses.
• Call someone.  Often a regular phone call to a friend or family member works just fine!

Now more than ever, even though we can’t socialize face-to-face, it’s important to come together and support one another using our creativity and technology.  If you feel overwhelmed with feelings of depression or anxiety and need help, especially if you feel like you don’t have anyone to talk to, you can call this helpline, listed on the CDC’s website:  Disaster Distress Helpline, call 1-800-985-5990, or text TalkWithUs to 66746.

Share With Kidzworld

Tell Kidzworld your ideas!  What are your "go-to" ways of keeping in touch with people?  Which of these ideas have you already used?  Use the space below!