Winter in the Northwest can be rather long, cold, and, dare we say it, monotonous. Sure, there’s skiing, camping, hiking, etc., but you can’t do those every day or weekend. That means finding other activities, hobbies, and pursuits, especially indoors since outdoors can be frigid, cold, and dreary. Read on if you’ve just moved to Oregon, Washington, or Idaho and are looking for activities to enjoy this winter. We’ve got a bunch of the best indoor activities for adults below. There’s sure to be one on our list that you’ll enjoy with family, friends, or yourself.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Play Adult Card Games
One of the best ways to pass the time indoors during winter is to play cards. Even better, you can play one of the many adult card games on the market. These are games with off-color jokes, profanity, crude humor, and juvenile rules. In other words, they’re a hoot! Most require several people to play, so you’ll need a group. Also, most recommend playing with people you know well and who can take a joke and handle adult themes. (The pastor from your church? Maybe not.) Some of the best adult card games include the following:
- Cards Against Humanity
- Joking Hazard
- Bad People
- Relative Insanity (Created by funnyman Jeff Foxworthy!)
- Exploding Kittens
- Drunk, Stoned, or Stupid
- If You Had To…
- Search History
- These Cards Will Get You Drunk (For those who want to mix adult beverages with their card-playing activities.)
Build Lego Sets
Lego building sets have been around since 1958 and are one of the most popular toys on the planet. Yes, they’re mainly made for kids. Or at least, they used to be mainly made for kids. Over the last few years, Lego has made a serious push toward creating sets geared for adults. Massive, ornate, and intricate, some Lego sets contain upwards of 4,000, 5,000, and even 8000 pieces!
These, as they say, are not your dad’s (or your mom’s) Lego sets! Some of the biggest Lego sets can take 30 hours to finish and are massive. Other sets, while smaller, are perfect for display. Lego’s Botanical Collection, for example, has Lego versions of orchids, succulents, and a full flower bouquet! Some of the biggest (and most expensive) Lego sets ever made include the following:
- World Map. 11,000+ pieces
- Titanic. 9090 pieces
- Colosseum. 9036 pieces
- Star Wars Millenium Falcon. 7541 pieces
- Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle. 6020 pieces
- Taj Mahal. 5923 pieces
- Harry Potter Diagon Alley. 5544 pieces
Stream a Movie Marathon
These days, streaming a TV show is something millions do every day, and many “binge-watch” their favorite shows. Of course, all streaming services also show films, and many films have sequels. That means you can watch your favorite movies from a specific series in a row, your own movie marathon! Some of the best movie series to watch during a long winter indoors include:
- Star Wars- 9 movies and several connected movies and TV shows.
- The Harry Potter Series of 8 films
- The Planet of the Apes movie series. (Classic and reboot!)
- All the Batman movies. (Too many to count!)
- The Back to the Future trilogy. (One of the best ever!)
- The Godfather trilogy (Watch the films, take the cannoli!)
- The Lord of the Rings
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe. (A whopping 23 films!)
Learn to Play an Instrument
Many adults secretly long to play an instrument and make music. Making music aside, learning to play an instrument isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Today, online classes make it much easier (and more affordable). Plus, learning to play an instrument is something you can do independently. You can also take a class at your local learning center or community college. That way, you might meet some fun and interesting people. Of course, getting to class in wintertime might be problematic, especially with a few feet of snow outside!
Brew Your Own Beer
While not specifically a winter activity, brewing beer can certainly be fun when you’re stuck inside. Not only that, but brewing beer is easier than you might think. Even better, it’s cheaper than buying it at your local packaged goods store! The biggest challenge is that it‘s very time-consuming to brew beer. But, seeing as it’s winter and you’re stuck inside, you got time to spare! By the way, beer experts say that the easiest beer to brew is an ale. They say it’s easy to correct and salvage your hard work if you make a mistake.
TIP: In the Northwest, Oregon especially, microbreweries and craft beer brewers are everywhere you look! If you don’t want to brew your own, there are plenty to choose from that you can enjoy at home!
Organize Your Home
While maybe not the most fascinating, organizing your home is a great indoor winter activity. (And let’s face it, you don’t want to do it when it’s gorgeous outside.) Some great organization projects include decluttering your closets, getting rid of junk, donating things, or reorganizing your kitchen. Organizing your garage or basement might also be something you’ve needed to do for ages.
A step up from organizing would be to turn a spare bedroom into something else. For example, a home office, workout room, reading room, or hobby room. This activity is perfect if your kids have recently flown the coop and you now have a spare room.
Honorable Mentions for Indoor Winter Activities for Adults
- Make your own wine.
- Learn how to cook.
- Start a book club with friends.
- Put together jigsaw puzzles.
- Write your memoirs.
- Make some sort of craft(s).
- Create a DIY project like a birdhouse, bookshelf, wine rack, etc.
- Quilt, crochet, or sew something.
- Take an online course and learn a new skill.
These Indoor Winter Activities for Adults brought to you by Northwest Self Storage
As we said earlier, winter in the northwest can be tedious, so filling it with an activity is recommended. If there’s stuff you need to get out of the house, you can fill a Northwest self-storage unit. Northwest has clean, safe storage units all over the northwest! You can store practically anything in our storage units. Clothing, household goods, wine collections, ski equipment, adventure gear, you name it!
A perfect indoor winter activity is to clean out your house and free-up extra space. Since you can’t have a garage sale until spring, storing your things in a Northwest self-storage unit is perfect!
If you have questions, chat with us online anytime. Better than that, visit the Northwest self-storage center nearest you and meet the onsite manager. They can advise you, help you with boxes and tape, and recommend the storage unit that fits your needs perfectly!
This post was originally published 12/05/2018. It was updated on 08/26/2022.