Well this is a bit surreal, isn’t it?

As we begin the first full week of coronavirus containment, most of us are in need of inspiration when it comes to staying entertained without any physical social interaction.

Happily, plenty of folk have been busily finding ways to bring us all together via the magic of the internet – starting today, you can fill your spare time with live streams and free content that has been kindly released in the interest of keeping us all sane while we hunker down and wait for all this to blow over.

1. Improve your video-making skills

What better time to learn a new skill? Judie Russell from The Vid Academy is offering a free 10-day video challenge to help participants start creating or improving their video content, with tips, techniques and tricks to increase your confidence.

Complete one challenge a day over the next 10 days here.

2. Take a quiz on the couch

When: Monday, March 16th

“I’ll be starting a series of live streaming events, all three tomorrow will be good old fashioned quizzes… but done pure modern on-screen,” says Ronan Leonard of Witness the Quizness.

“Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your exes… tell everyone to stay at home and tune in!”

The first one takes place at 3.30pm and you can check out the live stream here.

3. Stay at home with the Mary Wallopers

When: March 17th, 8pm

They were due to support Lankum at Cork Opera House on Paddy’s night, but this is a good alternative, given the situation. The Mary Wallopers are hosting a live-streamed gig from their house on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th at 8pm and you can catch it all on Youtube.

Hello everyone! It’s not all bad, we have a pub in our house for the live stream! See you Paddys night. Link up tomorrow. Tell ur friends. #bateitwithballads pic.twitter.com/6zZyxj3l6f

— The Mary Wallopers (@marywallopers) March 15, 2020

4. Get baking with a daily tutorial at 10am

When: 10am daily

Patricia O Flaherty, who runs A Touch of Magic Cookery School, is sharing family-friendly recipes every day at 10am, from Carrigaline. Pre-heat the oven and check them out every morning here.

5. Kid’s Disco with Stevie G

When: St Patrick’s Day, 10am

Mr Grainger has taken to his attic where he will be live streaming dancefloor classics until all this blows over. There’s a Kid’s Disco on Paddy’s morning (check out the YouTine channel here) and his artistic partner Andrea Williams will be hosting dance classes from home too – check out her Twitter feed for updates.