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1. An Audio-Technica record player that can turn any plain old day inside into the Best Dance Party Ever at a moment's notice, and using the best audio format, imo.
2. A basic chess set for challenging your friends to the ultimate game of strategy. All the better if you're both very bad at chess and can just have fun.
3. A New York Times crossword puzzle book to fill your idle hours with mind-strengthening fun. I have and adore these books and have even been known to do puzzles with friends over FaceTime.
4. A beginner embroidery kit so you can practice your stitching and make an adorable little work of art in honor of your pant bbs.
5. An Amazon Fire TV Stick because if we're being honest with ourselves, there's no better way to pass time indoors than TV and movies. The Fire TV Stick makes *any* TV a smart TV and gives you easy access to all one million of your subscription services.
6. An absolutely monstrous copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child to cook through one delicious time-consuming recipe at a time. Maybe start with the salads and chilled desserts. Yes, I'm basically asking you to act out the plot of Julie & Julia.
7. A 1,000-piece mushroom puzzle so you have all these new lil' friends to hang out with after you piece it all together.
8. An indoor mini golf green for days when it's simply too hot to fathom leaving the house to go mini (or real) golfing.
Promising review: "The surface is large, but it can be rolled up and stored away in two minutes! The holes are slightly elevated (to create the holes) but negligible; unlike the one I had a long time ago that returned the ball. I like the shape of the mat (looks way more natural than a rectangular long strip) and the surface is soft and comfortable, yet it feels durable. I have no doubt I can make things more challenging by elevating certain areas underneath if I so desired. The 'sand trap' is also an excellent inclusion as it stops the golf balls from escaping the mat and keeping me from chasing down golf balls. Hopefully it can interest my kids to get off the electronics for a few minutes now and then, and if so, it will deserve an extra star. —Oniomaniac
Get it from Amazon for $35.09+ (available in two styles).
9. A tub of Lime Crime Unicorn Hair dye, because dying your hair is a perfect afternoon project in my personal, slightly irresponsible opinion.
10. An escape room board game so you can work with your friends to — you guessed it! — escape from a mad scientist who's trying to turn everyone into werewolves. Nobody wants that!
11. A kombucha making kit because making your fave strange and delicious fizzy tea using a benevolent floppy bacteria will be — in a few words — an experience! And a cool drink at the end of the process is just the reward you need.
12. A subscription to Book of the Month so you always have a bestseller to reach for when you just want to curl up with a good book. The perfect summer afternoon pastime.
13. Or a Kindle Paperwhite if you want to hold basically Every Book Ever in one slim little package. You never know when you're gonna find yourself on a spontaneous weekend getaway with time to read!
BuzzFeeder Heather Braga loves her Kindle! Here's her review:
"It's the thinnest and lightest Kindle Amazon has released to date! And — as is made abundantly clear by the photo above — it's 100% waterproof. I'm typically a hardcover girl through and through, but I recently gave the Kindle a whirl. It's very convenient to be able to slip it into any bag without it taking up much real estate and the transition between pages is very smooth."
Get it from Amazon for $139.99+ (available in three colors and two storage sizes).
14. A Yonanas fruit soft serve maker that'll turn your fave frozen fruits into a delicious and healthy dessert in just a few seconds. Hard to beat an activity that comes with a little treat at the end.
Promising review: "I saw one of these in action at a friends house like five years ago and thought it was just a made up memory because making ice cream out of solely frozen fruit seems wild. But when I saw a TikTok about it, I immediately went to Amazon and bought it. This was the BEST decision of my life. I cannot believe still how amazing this thing is! It makes the creamiest, best tasting fruit ice cream ever. It’s easy to take apart and clean, and super easy to use." —DMCKAY
Get it from Amazon for $39.98+ (available in six colors).
15. A bath bomb-making kit that has everything you'll need to make 15 luxurious bath bombs. And you know what that means? An excuse to take 15 super long baths, better yet if they're cold ones, honestly.
16. A sketch book and charcoal pencil set so you can translate the beautiful world around you onto the page. *Cut to 50 portraits of your AC unit strewn about.*
17. 642 Tiny Things to Draw, which, aptly, gives you 642 tiny things to draw. I can see it now. The fan on high. Your pencil sharpened. A menagerie of little doodles, dotting your pages.
Promising review: "I am not an artist but this is fun! I keep it on my nightstand along with some sketch pencils and draw when winding down for the night. Yes, some of the prompts are a bit odd but I just go with it. Sort of tests the imagination! My 10-year-old granddaughter loves it too." —Amazon Customer
Get it from Amazon for $9.95.
18. A tabletop loom so you can flex your creative muscles and come out of the other side of summer a full blown fiber artist.
BuzzFeeder Chelsea Stuart owns this and loves it! Here's her review:
"My boyfriend got me this loom for my last birthday — the very beginning of March — and little did I know then just how much time I’d have to practice my tapestries. Over the last few months, I’ve watched countless YouTube tutorials, read through a few weaving books, and just tooled around on my own to learn basics like how to warp the loom and then more complicated things like different types of weaves. I would definitely call myself a crafty person, but even if you’re not, don’t let that dissuade you — it’s a really fun hobby to pick up and you can totally go at your own pace! Just make sure you keep it away from your cats (I learned this the hard way)."
Get it from Amazon for $46.99.
19. A mini waffle maker because the days of long, leisurely brunches out on a patio are on hold for now. Your indoor mini waffle brunch era, however, is just getting started.
20. A handheld milk frother so you can kill at least a few minutes (and save a few bucks) every morning by whipping up the best milky iced coffee ever made.
21. A Nintendo Switch console — since childhood we've spent long summer days when it's too hot to play outside playing video games. Why should that change as a grown up?
Here's BuzzFeeder Samantha Wieder's review of her Nintendo Switch:
"I got my Nintendo Switch pretty early during the pandemic at a time, when they were even harder to find than toilet paper. I set up a million and one push notifications to alert me when stores had them in stock online and was successfully able to get my hands on one during a brief GameStop restock.
I initially bought mine to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I was a huge fan of Animal Crossing as a kid so the nostalgia aspect combined with being able to escape to my own perfect little island was just what I needed to make 2020 a little easier. Since then, I've purchased a few other games for my Nintendo Switch that I really enjoy. What I love about this compared to the Nintendo Switch Lite is that you can either bring this on the go or connect it to your television. The picture is clear and beautiful, the console is light and comfortable, and overall it's just a fun way to destress."
Get it from Amazon for $284 (available in other colors/models).
22. A beginner's sweater knitting kit so by the time the weather breaks you'll have a lovely new knit to wear and show off. Perfect timing!
23. A gentle bubbly clay mask to combine an evening of self-care and entertainment with one wild skincare purchase.
24. A wireless Bluetooth karaoke microphone so you and your crew can have a knock-down drag-out karaoke night (and save a little $$ by skipping the sticky bar).
It can also connect to their device via cable. Check out our Bluetooth karaoke mic writeup.
Promising review: "Oh my gosh, I love this! I got mine in the mail yesterday and ended up playing with it for about five hours last night LOL. It connects via Bluetooth so you can connect it to your phone — the music and your singing comes out of the microphone's speaker. It has a volume control for your voice and for the music and also an echo feature. You can put an SD card into the bottom of it and record yourself, or connect it with an audio out to record on one of those karaoke apps on your phone. Between this and being able to find just about any song on karaoke via YouTube, you could easily have your own karaoke parties at home!" —Ferretocious
Get it from Amazon for $49.99 (available in 13 colors).
25. Ticket to Ride — a board game I love so much and with such a passion, my family says I have "Train Fever." *Choo chooooooooo!!!!!!*
26. A reviewer-loved copy of Burn After Writing so you can wind your way through a guided journal of questions and thought experiments in your plentiful spare time.
27. And if all else fails, a big inflatable pool to help you chill out in the backyard while staying as cool as humanly possible. Have fun splishing and splashing, y'all!
Promising review: "Very easy to unbox and get set up. I used an electric pump (not included) and followed the easy directions. Took me only about 10 minutes to get it inflated. Then it only took me maybe an hour to fill with a garden hose. I love the drain pipe underneath that is angled away from the pool so the water is directed out of the area. But I can see that it might not be good for the pool lining if someone stepped on it from inside the pool. So I was careful to let my kids know not to step in that corner. Overall, great quality, good size (fits three full-size floaties in it!) and my kids loved it." —Karen Moreland
Get it from Amazon for $76.99+ (available in two colors).
The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.