If you’re not considered an essential business or worker, you’re most likely stuck indoors right now. There are a wide range of challenges that come with quarantine (of which you are probably aware): keeping children occupied during virtual meetings, maintaining mental health, and staying active are all difficult feats to accomplish—especially if you don’t have the right tools.
Many companies and organizations have recognized the issues that most of America is facing and have stepped up to provide free—or in some cases, almost free—resources to keep everyone in the house occupied, entertained, and frankly, sane during the forced business closures and mandatory social distancing brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We compiled a list of great tools available to anyone during this time. Use them and pass them along to your employees so everyone can make their isolation during the coronavirus outbreak at least a little better.
Tools for getting work done
Jamm
If you and your employees are able to work from home, one of the most important tools for keeping everyone connected and collaborative is a good communication system. Jamm, a voice and video collaboration software for remote workers, is offering their platform for free for three months.
Get it by visiting Jamm’s COVID-19 page.
G-Suite
Google is offering premium features of Hangouts Meet to all G Suite customers through July 1, 2020, including meeting capacity for up to 250 participants, local live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers, and the ability to record and save meetings to Google Drive.
Learn more by visiting Google’s coronavirus response page.
The professional social media site is working to make remote work better for everyone by offering 17 free videos on how to work from home the right way and set yourself up for success.
Watch the videos on LinkedIn’s Learning page.
Evernote
Evernote’s free basic service is now being offered for free to help employees stay organized with their app that includes sections for notes, ideas, reminders, and lists. Students also get 50 percent off a full year of Evernote Premium.
Learn more by visiting Evernote’s website.
Atlassian
The entire suite of Atlassian’s cloud products are now free for remote teams of up to 10 people. The offer includes Jira Software, Confluence, Service Desk, and Core.
Check out their new remote work hub to get started.
Tools for keeping your kids busy
Free doodle lessons
The Kennedy Center posted every episode of “Lunch Doodles,” an educational show hosted by Mo Willems that teaches children how to—you guessed it—doodle. The program comes with downloadable activities, free of charge.
Get the videos on the Kennedy Center’s website.
Barbara Bush Foundation
The Barbara Bush Foundation created an Online Literacy Toolkit full of free resources for parents navigating through the new journey of teaching children at home, including digital classrooms, reading programs, and more.
Check out the toolkit on the Barbara Bush Foundation website.
GoNoodle
GoNoodle helps keep kids active by turning video games into tools that keep them motivated and active. The free app takes pride in their ability to “tire kids out” in a safe and fun way.
Get started by visiting their video and games page.
Tools for staying healthy
Headspace
Wellness app Headspace compiled a collection of guides that include meditation, sleep and movement exercises to help reduce stress and maintain your mental wellness during quarantine. The collection is called Weathering the Storm and is free for everyone.
Learn more at the Headspace COVID-19 page.
Down Dog
The Down Dog app provides yoga, HIIT, Barre, and other classes to keep you fit and active. The classes are fully customizable, and all of the apps are free until May 1.
Download the app on Down Dog’s website.
305 Fitness
If you’ve ever wanted to participate in a dance class but were too afraid to bust a move in public, now’s your chance to shine. The 55-minute cardio dance party is a great way to get physical, right in your own living room.
Get started with the free classes at 305fitness.com.
Gold’s Gym
Gold’s Gym launched Stronger Anywhere, a new program that provides on-demand video workouts, virtual training, and in-app audio and video-guided workouts sessions for free, whether you’re a member or not.
Check out their series of workouts on the Stronger Anywhere page.
Sanvello
Sanvello, a wellness app that provides therapy and self-care resources, is offering their premium membership package for free during the COVID-19 crisis. The package includes all of the app’s content, coping tools, and peer support.
Learn more about Sanvello’s offerings on their Coronavirus Anxiety Support page.
Tools for staying entertained
Virtual museum tours
Museums and cultural institutions around the world are doing their part to keep people occupied by offering free virtual tours, exhibits, videos, and performances that you can enjoy for free from your living room.
Check out Business Insider’s list of virtual tours to learn more.
Love is Quarantine
Single and stuck at home? “Love is Quarantine,” a social media spinoff of the hit Netflix show “Love is Blind,” is working to fix this common issue by creating a dating game out of social distancing. “Contestants” use a Google sheet instead of a pod, and have “dates” via phone calls.
Learn more about how to apply, or just watch the whole thing unfold, on the Love Is Quarantine Instagram page.
Virtual pub trivia
If you miss weekly trivia nights with your friends at your local bar, Big Drop Brew is hoping to make up for the lack of social interaction by hosting a YouTube trivia night, where they ask questions, you write down answers, and find out whether or not you aced the quiz at the end.
The next trivia night is on Tuesday, April 21. Check out the event page on Facebook to learn more.
Sims 4
We may not be able to go outside, but our virtual counterparts on Sims can go wherever they want. While it’s not completely free, Origin is offering the game for about $5—which is an 88% discount—online.
Visit Origin’s website to buy the game.
HBO’s free shows
HBO is offering dozens of their most popular shows, movies, and documentaries for free—that means without a subscription to the service. Beloved series such as “The Sopranos,” “True Blood,” “Succession,” and “Ballers” are among the numerous titles that can be viewed free of charge on HBO Now or HBO Go.
Learn more about the free plan on the “How to Watch HBO for Free” page.
Remember: This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.
