10 Ideas for Online Family Get-Togethers

As winter quickly approaches and we are less able to spend time outside with our loved ones (at least in the Northeast), I have decided to revisit some of my ideas for get-togethers online.

Clearly, this has become a passion of mine during Covid.

Make sure you subscribe to the blog so you don't miss out on any new ideas or events.

It's so challenging to maintain community through a computer screen. It can be exhausting. But there are ways to make it fun, and even liberating.

Truthfully, my relationship with my family is better now than it has been in 38 years, and that is due in no small part to this pandemic. That's what I call an unexpected surprise.

Here is my "Top 10" list of online family activities (in no particular order). *Previously published on Medium, May 9, 2020.

Also, all of these things can be done with friends or colleagues as well. Second also- I'm happy to lead you and your family or team in any of the above, or to share a list of 50 activities I have also created.

1. PHOTO SHARING

My phone currently houses over 8,000 photos- 8,087 to be exact. Quarantine has been a great catalyst for me to actually look at them. Wonder of wonders, I even deleted some (an added bonus)! In addition to all these, in order to participate in family activities, I’ve delved into actual photo albums; literal printed pictures from before the digital age. As a child of the 80’s, I have more than my fair share. Does anyone remember the time when you would automatically get doubles of everything plus the negative?

There are a lot of ways you can use your photos as a sharing opportunity with family members. Pick a theme and have everyone start their photo search.

2. COOKING

If your family is anything like mine, food plays a vital role in your lives. My big fat Greek family can’t get together without cooking enough to feed a few dozen of our closest relatives. Recipe discussions and bickering over who does it best is a staple of most of our holidays. Spoiler alert- we all know who does what best, but we aren’t about to say it out loud.

Share a recipe with the group and get cooking. Make it sentimental by including the recipe of a relative no longer with you or make it an adventure by telling people the ingredients but not how to use them. Be sure to take photos of the finished products.