Is the COVID-19 quarantine making you feel restless? Mackinac Island just might be the perfect antidote to your family’s cabin fever.
No, not visiting Mackinac Island…at least, not yet. But you can bring a bit of Mackinac Island home to you in some creative ways during these days of social distancing.
Parade Magazine compiled a list of 125 ideas to keep kids entertained during the coronavirus lockdown. We’ve taken a half-dozen of them and added a uniquely Mackinac Island twist.
So, when the kids complain about being bored, throw these six ideas at them. They’ll get your creative juices flowing, help pass the time and get the whole family thinking about carefree days on beautiful Mackinac Island:
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Build Fort Mackinac
Remember tearing the house apart as a kid and using the couch pillows and coffee tables to build a fort? Well, it’s time to do that again. Don’t worry if the pillows and blankets – or cardboard boxes – aren’t constructed to scale of the actual 1780 fort on Mackinac Island. Just make sure to have cannons that can fire socks clear across the living room! For inspiration, take a look at historic Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island.
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Order world-famous Mackinac Island fudge
So long as you’re cooped up inside, you deserve to treat yourself, right? Go ahead and browse the wide selection of Mackinac Island fudge. Pick out your favorite flavor for home delivery or order some different flavors in hopes finding a new favorite. The delicious chunks will be delivered to your door without you ever even needing to leave the house. Plus, you’ll be able to use the delivery boxes in your cardboard fort!
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Do a puzzle of Mackinac Island
You could complete a puzzle of a random photograph of flowers in a field. Or you could put together the pieces of America’s favorite summertime destination, Mackinac Island! Either way, doing a puzzle requires great teamwork that’ll keep the kids from teasing each other – at least for a little while, hopefully! Order puzzles or coloring books, toys and games online from Mackinac Island shops such as the Island Bookstore and Great Turtle Toy Co.
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Listen to podcasts
Great timing! Mackinac Island just debuted a series of 10 podcasts that take you behind the scenes into the lives of the people and places that make Mackinac Island tick. You can learn what it’s like to go to school on an island with only about 500 year-round residents, or what it’s like to grow up in a fudge making family. Each episode features the sweet sounds of Mackinac Island that make you feel like you’re here.
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Read the Mackinac Island blog
Did you know Mackinac Island is home to an ice cream parlor named after a world-champion show 
dog? Or that Fort Mackinac to this day features a gruesome “black hole” dungeon? Check out the official Mackinac Island blog for interesting tidbits about the place that once was America’s second national park, a place that has the most bicycles per capita on the planet, and where real horsepower takes the place of cars. If you find a topic you want to learn more about, check out the great books available from Mackinac State Historic Parks.
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Learn everything you can about butterflies
Why butterflies? Why not? You’ve got time to learn about anything you want. Plus, if you get to know different kinds of butterflies now, then you see them in person later at one of two beautiful butterfly conservatories on Mackinac Island.
When the kids fall asleep after a busy day of building cardboard Fort Mackinac and learning about Monarch butterflies, then it’s time for you to get your Mackinac Island fix. Many of the unique gift shops, boutique clothing stores and art galleries on Mackinac Island will deliver a slice of island life right to your door.
What piece of Mackinac Island will you order today?
