5 creative ways to connect with friends and family, even when apart

1. Set up a virtual happy hour.
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere right?  Whether it’s with your bowling buddies, book club or best friend, schedule time to connect with your favorite people through a Skype group video call. Grab your beverage of choice and snack, and toast to the highlights of your day. Bonus prize to the person calling in from the time zone farthest from you!  Messy home? Turn on background blur to put all the focus on you.

2. Reinvent game nights.
Here are free MSN games that you can play online with others during your virtual game nights. This can be a great time to master your Chess game or develop a love for Bridge or Pinochle. Feeling extra playful? Give the new Cards Against Humanity: Family Edition a try. Created in partnership with child development experts and psychologists and designed for ages 8+, it’s currently free to download. Pick your game, invite your playmates and connect with them through a group video call.

3. Meet up for a meal.
Gather friends and family as you prepare and cook a meal in your respective homes. Then sit down and enjoy your efforts together while on a group video call. You can even coordinate menus ahead of time and suggest different themes for the meal. Moroccan tagine? Mexican tamales? Bing can help you with menu ideas.

4. Go for a walk and talk.
Take a walk with anyone, anywhere.  Head outside for some fresh air and a walk around the block, your neighborhood or even just your yard.  Remember when we used our phones to actually call people instead of just texting memes and emojis back and forth? Use Microsoft Teams to chat, call, and share video simply from one place, to stay closer to all the people in your life.

5. Have a PowerPoint party!
Yes, really.  Think of fun topics, create and present your slides, then decide who “wins” for bragging rights or customize your own Certificate of Achievement. Choose a topic and have fun with it! What are the worst foods you’ve ever made? Which decade had the best music? Best TV series of all time? Create your slides with PowerPoint online, do a group video call with Microsoft Teams and then share your screen as you present. You can even record your presentation to share with friends later!

Teams provides an accessible experience, just turn on live captions Your real-time captions will include speaker attribution—so you’ll not only see what’s being said, but who’s saying it.