How to stay entertained for 10 days if you get pinged

From mastering alien instruments to rejecting reality, make that time at home really count

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The innocence of a child’s imagination is a wonderful thing. To a bright young mind, anything can be everything. See that washing basket? It’s a deep sea submarine ready to explore the haunting mysteries of the ocean’s darkest depths. Your older brother’s knackered drumstick? It's the perfect wand for hunting down Dementors.

As an adult however, that washing basket represents nothing but the guilt of an unfinished chore. The drumstick, another expense that needs replacing. For a grown-up living through these tough, crazy times, the prospect of being pinged and staying at home in isolation for ten days is a terrifying thought.

Images of a grizzled Steve McQueen robotically bouncing a baseball against the claustrophobic walls of The Cooler spring to mind. But there is some hope. We’ve rounded up a selection of gear and activities that can help make those days at home more bearable, to help break up the monotony of mindless scrolling and/or talking to your cat about his carefree days outside. There should be something for everyone, or, at the very least, some ideas to spark some inspiration.

Build a LEGO typewriter

Give a monkey a room full of LEGO and an infinite amount of time, and they’ll eventually put together a fully working typewriter before inevitably churning out the complete works of Shakespeare. While you’ll only have ten days to work with, you have the benefit of being able to read instructions, making this typewriter LEGO kit an ideal way to while away a few hours in that beautiful, hypnotic trance that only a LEGO build can provide. It’s also a functioning bit of kit, with a black and red ink spool ribbon and working keys joining forces to let you type on actual sheets of paper.

Price: £180 | LEGO

Create the ultimate synth duet

If you’re stuck at home with a partner for company then this two-person synth is an unusually fun way to keep yourselves occupied while defusing the inevitable cabin fever. Resembling a spaceship control panel from a race of aliens that have embraced Scandi-Chic, the Dato DUO is rammed with all sorts of inviting buttons, dials, sliders and keys, just waiting to be fondled in the name of creativity. Designed to produce fun results no matter your skill level, it provides infinite possibilities for synth heads and casual users alike.

Price: €272 | Dato

Increase your life expectancy

The CAROL exercise bike looks to shake things up by using AI to measure your fitness level, before creating a tailor-made, high intensity workout routine that’s most effective for you. The best part? It promises to offer the same cardiovascular benefits as a 45-minute run, in a single eight minute and forty second session. It doubles up as a regular exercise bike if you want a longer session, but why bother with that when there are so many other activities you could crack on with?

Price: From £2,195 | Carol Bike

Become a master chef

The Anova Precision Oven is a fancy bit of tech that can elevate your meals to Michelin-levels, by bringing the wondrous power of a commercial combi-oven to your home. Precise and steady temperature controls along with a built-in meat thermometer mean you can create things like perfectly cooked, moist and crispy chicken without having to faff around with the likes of a sous-vide. Keen bakers will also love the built-in water reservoir which provides calculated amounts of steam for Instagram-worthy loaves.

Price: £549 | Anova Culinary

Work with others

If you’re isolating without symptoms then chances are you’ll be working from home. Some of us are better at this than others, and you’ll know which camp you belong in after working from home since last March. For many of us struggling to focus, our fast-eroding motivation can usually be contained by working from a public place like a coffee shop, where the guilt of someone catching us mid cat gif marathon forces us to actually get on with the task at hand. If you’re isolating at home though, that plan’s dead in the water. Thankfully you can use a handy site called CAVEDAY to join an online video call with others, all of whom are present simply to be in the virtual presence of other people working. You won’t have to talk to anyone — think of it as a virtual study space where (hopefully) a screen of other people working is enough motivation to finally start invoicing, writing, or whatever else it is that you’ve been putting off for far too long.

Price: From $40 | CAVEDAY

Reject reality

There’s simply no greater way to escape the feeling of being trapped indoors than being transported to other worlds. From exploring the universe and immersive gaming experiences, to flying above the Grand Canyon in Google Earth (or even simply watching Netflix from the comfort of a virtual chalet), the possibilities are endless. The Oculus Quest 2 is the best value headset for most people right now, cramming in impressive specs, a sharp screen, and intuitive controllers for the bargain price of £299. The only caveat is that it’s linked to your Facebook account. You could spring for headsets from the likes of HTC and Valve too, though they’re far more expensive, and require an equally pricey gaming PC to power them.

Price: From £299 | Amazon | Oculus

Spice up your walls

Bored of staring at the same walls every day? You could do something drastic like rearranging your room. There always comes a point though, usually when you’ve just carried the couch over to the other wall and realised it was better off where it was, where motivation drains from your body It’s far easier (on your back as well as your mind), to simply dress the walls with pictures or artwork. If you want to be fancy, you can pick up a digital frame like the Meural Canvas II, which has a matte, high resolution screen that can display all sorts of tasteful artwork, either from its own subscription service, or anything you care to beam its way via the app or an SD card. A mere wave can quickly switch to the next picture, or bring up information about the artwork that’s currently on display.

Price: £774 | PhotoSpecialist

Spin Spin Sugar

If you’ve toyed with the idea of learning how to DJ but are put off by the steep asking price and table-hogging size of the equipment, you’re not alone. Committing to a bit of kit that might end up as nothing more than a dust magnet is a scary prospect, but there is an answer. Numark’s DJ2GO2 Touch is a compact DJ controller that’s small enough to rest on your laptop and fit in the snuggest of bags, at a price that won’t break the bank. A perfectly capable tool in its own right, it’s an ideal choice for complete beginners looking to learn the basics, before deciding if they want to upgrade to a full kit later on. Experienced DJs also use it for on-the-go mixing, and it’s still got everything you need to orchestrate a virtual house party.

Price: £64 | Amazon

Relive your glorious past

Did you know that you can play virtually any game from retro consoles like the NES and Mega Drive, up to the likes of the original PlayStation, online? Because you can. Visiting ssega.com opens up, for example, a world to classics like Sonic the Hedgehog, complete with keyboard or controller support, and, of course, the same killer soundtracks. You can access sites for all the other retro controls from the right hand side, providing endless hours of sweet, sweet nostalgia.

Price: Free | SSEGA

Print all the things

It’s safe to say that 3D printers have come a long way. You can now snap up a variety of 3D printers that are fast, smooth, more accurate, and packed with enough tech to make them a genuinely useful addition to your tech arsenal. The Qidi Tech X-Pro is a solid choice for most as it has useful features such as multicoloured prints, a Wi-Fi connection, touchscreen and more, all in a compact machine that’s easy to use. As for what you can print with it? The possibilities are endless. From a handheld fan, to a minimalist vase and a Tic Tac gun (yes, really), there are hours of time to be wasted.

Price: £436 | Gearbest

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This article was originally published by WIRED UK