For the most part, we’ve all had to isolate and basically avoid everybody outside our immediate family over the past few months. While this is for our own good, the truth is we’re in dire need of interaction with other people.
Of course, the most rational thing to do is to stay indoors and keep interaction with the outside world to the barest minimum. But then again, humans aren’t exactly the most rational beings.
Now that the lockdown has begun to ease, a good ole family reunion sounds like the perfect idea to connect with the people we’ve missed. But, how do you have a family reunion without so much…union? Read on for some cool ideas to keep your family safe and healthy during a get-together!
Backyard Barbecue
Okay, you didn’t think we were going to send you all out to catch the virus, did you? The point is to contain the spread of the virus as much as possible. While we want to have fun and spend time with our loved ones, it is more important to employ best practices to stay safe.
The backyard barbecue is easily one of the best ways to make a family reunion fun, but still precautionary. Outdoor gatherings are better than indoor gatherings as the virus is less likely to spread outdoors.
Based on the description of the R-naught variable, which estimates the number of new infections from a single case, if one person has the virus, they can infect three others, and those three can go on to pass it to three others.
Safety Tips for a Barbecue
So, ensure your family members from different households maintain a safe distance from each other at all times. Keep a hand-washing station set up throughout the gathering, as well as hand sanitizers and paper towels.
Use disposable plates and utensils, and serve the barbecue straight from the grill. Avoid having solely finger foods too!
Zoom Camping
Here’s another great idea for a pandemic-safe family reunion. You can coordinate with all your family members residing in different areas and organize a virtual camping trip. Each family can set up camps in their backyard. This ensures that there is no health risk and you stay safe while enjoying a reunion.
You can have a campfire, marshmallows, camping chairs, and family humor. What more do you need? Make sure to have face-masks, hand sanitizers, and good internet speed.
You can laugh out loud by making jokes, sing some songs, and dance together while leaving the zoom call on. This will be a new normal that you will enjoy with your family till the spread of virus is contained.
Contactless Games or Sports
Emphasis on contactless. Playing sports like volleyball (or worse, football) is not advisable. Too much contact is required and that is the opposite of what you or your children should be doing in a pandemic-safe family reunion.
Go for games based on storytelling, item recognition, or sports like table tennis that do not require direct hand or body contact amongst the players.
While Covid-19 has a higher chance of spreading from person to person, the virus can still thrive on surfaces and objects, so passing those from member to member isn’t great.
There can be family groups on online games where you can all play together by forgetting the fact that you are not next to each other. You can play virtual board games, snooker, and even an online football match.
The Bottom Line
Spending time with your family members in person without proper precautions is careless at present. But, a virtual reunion or a well-planned reunion is going to make sure than you have the best time with your family members while staying super-safe.
