Winter Break is the well-deserved, highly anticipated reprieve after a tough semester. But when the time finally arrives, you may find that not having a set schedule leaves you completely lost as to how you should occupy your new free time. Here are some winter break activity ideas from A to Z, to help you combat boredom wherever you may be:
Allrecipes.com- After buying caf food day after day for an entire semester, cultivate your culinary talents by trying out some new delicious recipes that will excite your taste buds!
Birthright- For anyone who has never gone to Israel on an organized program or stayed there for longer than three months, this is a great organization that provides a free, educational, and exciting trip.
Cruise- Cruises are a great vacation option for frugal college students because you pay one price that includes your room, food (most cruise lines have packaged kosher food available), and on-ship entertainment.
Dance- Why not find a new hobby? Aside from being fun, dance classes are also a great stress reliever and form of exercise. Broadway Dance Center and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater are two options in the city that offer many adult beginner classes in a variety of styles.
Entertain- Your room might feel a little too empty after living with people all semester. Invite some friends over for a good old-fashioned sleepover, complete with manicures, candy, and a classic movie (High School Musical, anyone?)
Family time- Remember those people that you grew up with but barely saw all semester? Winter break is a great time to reconnect with them.
Glaze- Pottery painting is a relaxing activity that allows you to tap into your creativity. And the best part—you’ll leave with a personalized creation!
Habitat for Humanity- B’nei Akiva runs a Habitat for Humanity winter mission in South Carolina to build a home for a needy family. This is a great experience to do something meaningful in a wonderful environment.
Internship- Start your spring internship during winter break so you’ll have time to learn the ropes and get comfortable before you need to balance your internship with your classes.
Job- While YU’s winter break isn’t quite long enough for a “real” job, you can still make some money here and there babysitting or tutoring.
Kindle- When was the last time you read something for fun? Now that you’re free of required reading for your classes, you can finally get to all those great new novels you’ve been wanting to read.
Laugh- Laughter has been shown to have beneficial effects on psychological and even physical health. Get a dose of the best medicine by going to a stand up comedy or improv show.
Museum- Luckily, Stern is situated right amongst a plethora of fascinating museums. Art museums such as the Met or MOMA, the Museum of Math, the Museum of Natural History and the Jewish Museum are just a few choices.
Netflix- Winter break is the time to catch up on all of the shows you’ve missed so you’ll no longer have to leave the room when you hear your friends discussing the latest episode of Scandal.
Orchestra- Attend a concert at Lincoln Center (many are free on Thursday nights) or a Broadway show.
Pen Pal- Put down your cell phone and write your roommates some handwritten postcards. Everyone loves getting actual snail mail!
Quilting- Discover your inner Martha Stewart! Search Pinterest for a fun craft project to try out.
Road Trip- Road trips are a more cost-effective vacation idea than flying somewhere if you split gas and tolls with a small group of friends. You don’t even need to travel so far—map out a route of a few interesting spots near your hometown if you want to stay local.
Shopping- Do you ever need a reason to shop? Stock up on winter clothes when all of the stores have their post holiday winter clearance.
Travel- Whether you prefer to escape somewhere hot or head to the ski slopes, it’s nice just to get away for a bit.
Unwind- After an action-packed semester, sometimes all you want to do is…absolutely nothing. Catch up on sleep, take pointless Buzzfeed quizzes, surf the latest viral Youtube videos. Just relax—you deserve it!
Volunteer- Volunteering is both rewarding and enjoyable, and can sometimes even give you valuable experience in a field you are interested in. Some ideas of places to volunteer are food pantries, soup kitchens, nursing homes, hospitals, and youth programs.
Winter sports- Winter break is the ideal time of year for skiing, snow tubing, and ice-skating. Even just sledding in your own backyard with some friends is a great activity!
Xylophone- You don’t have to be limited to only learning things that are relevant to your future career. Use your free time to learn something totally new, like how to play an instrument.
YU Torah- Torah is like water—don’t go without it for too long!
Zumba- Dig up that gym membership card you convinced yourself you would use over the semester and try out some of the group classes. Kickboxing, spin, and Zumba are all great options that are challenging, fun, and effective.