Lockdown Gems

It's been a rough time but it has been amazing to see the cool and innovative things people have been doing during this lockdown period. We want to celebrate this silver lining and share our favourite trends, activities and ideas that have emerged for your enjoyment. Check them out below!

Virtual tours

Concrete Playground have shared 10 online gallery, museum and landmark tours to virtually get you out of the house. The tours include the Lourve and the Sistine Chapel! You can find out more on Concrete Playgrounds article.

At home I-Spy

Kyall Shanks has created a clever series of colour-coded photographs during his lockdown isolation. Not only are these attention grabbing images, he has also included an I-Spy element complete with a downloadable list of things to find in each photo. You can check them out on his Facebook page here.

Creative ways to keep fit at home

We have been enjoying Shut Up and Dance and Keep it Cleaner’s free live workout classes on Instagram. You can check them out @shutupanddancenz and @keepitcleaner.

Collective e-cookbook

A group of Wellington restaurants and Cafe’s have made a collaborative e-cookbook with 41 recipes from 16 different local businesses. It is pay what you can with a suggested base price of $10. You can check it out here.

People getting creative with their time by recreating famous art

Tussen Kuns & Quarantine on Instagram and The Metropolitan Museum of Art have been sharing people’s recreations of famous art. Check out @tussenkunstenqurantine and @metmuseum or #mettwinning to see people’s creative and accurate re-creations. 

Teddy bears and Easter eggs in windows

If you take a walk you are likely to see at least one teddy bear in a window. We have been enjoying doing the teddy bear hunts on our walks. Jacinda Ardern jumped on the trend sharing a colour in Easter Egg people could print off, colour in and share in their windows. You can join the bear hunt by putting a teddy in your window and registering it on the New Zealand Bear Hunt website.

The Essential Workers Challenge 

Essential workers all over the country have been hopping on the trend of doing the #essentialworkerschallenge where they do a dance at work and share it on social media with the tag #essentialworkerschallenge to keep up the positivity and encourage each other.

Colouring in

The talented Bonnie from @studiobon has created colouring pages from her illustrations that are free to download. The designs are perfect for kids and adults alike and you can either print them off or colour them on your phone/tablet. Once you are done she is encouraging people to share them on Instagram and tag her so she can see your creations. If you want to give them a go you can find the pages here.

Creating still lifes at home

Colin King has made a how-to on creating still lifes in your own home. We love how simple yet stunning his creations are and have been trying out making our own. Check out his website here and if you want to try it out yourself head to his "how to" highlight on Instagram.

Live Online Concerts

Musicians across the world have been doing live concerts online for their followers. Our favourites have been Chris Martin on Instagram, Sting and Jimmy Fallon performing on a Zoom call and Andrea Bocelli performing at the Duomo in Milan.

Some Good News

Actor John Krasinski has been making an internet show called Some Good News (SGM) where he shares cool and positive things going on in the world in the format of a news show with his own comical commentary. You can watch the show on John Krasinski’s social media.

View from my window

We have been enjoying the view from my window Facebook page where people all over the world share what they see from their window in isolation. You can check out and join the group here. Below we have shared ours.

We love sharing all the cool things people are doing. You can keep updated on what we are talking about by checking out more of our WT Journal. Check out our previous post here.