Daily distraction: Take your kids — and yourself — to Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center, 2016. Image by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

By Talya Zax March 29, 2020

Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing.

It’s Sunday. The weeks right now are long and taxing, so it’s especially important to take real time today to relax. Here are three tips for how to decompress.

1) Take your kids to Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center has put a wealth of performances online, and while their archive is a treasure chest for adults, it’s also, quietly, an excellent resource for kids. So if yours are missing their standard weekend activities, look no further. There’s music-accompanied story time; songwriting class; a puppetry workshop and more.

2) Take yourself to a concert

Lincoln Center again! If it’s just adults around, go for a rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Light” by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; watch a performance by the legendary flamenco dancer Soledad Barrio with Noche Flamenca; or, for something slightly more serene, try a little Mendelssohn.

3) Become a birder

If you’re like me, right now you’re missing nature intensely. One option: From your window or roof, or backyard if you’re so lucky, get into birding. The Audobon Society has a great guide to becoming an amateur ornithologist, including not only instructions on how to spot and identify birds, but also how to do things like, say, make your own hummingbird nectar or draw birds accurately. So stick your head outside, locate the nearest pigeon, and get started.

Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.

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