To 17 Hobbies You Can Pick Up For Free Online
1. Master the kitchen.
There's no better hobby than cooking; it engages all of your senses, keeps you busy, challenges you to be creative, allows you to treat yourself, and impresses your friends and dates. To whip your chef game into shape, try starting with the simple and down to earth tutorials from Hilah Cooking. If you fancy a health food angle, keep your eyes on health food bloggers Fit Foodie Finds and Sarah Wilson, and don't forget BuzzFeed Food to learn how to whip up everything your tastebuds desire and more.
2. Learn to draw.
Embrace your artistic side by learning the basics of drawing. Sketching is a brilliant and portable hobby that you can easily learn from the comfort of home, then practice and improve wherever you happen to be. The excellent free courses on Draw Space are a great place to start, and if you prefer videos, follow Brandon Schafer's YouTube channel for a three lesson beginners' course followed by plenty more installments with tips and exercises.
3. Become a beauty guru.
Drawing's not the only art form you can learn online – learning to do your make-up was never so easy, creative, and varied than it is in the age of the beauty blogger. Take advantage and learn to play up your look and have fun with colour, contour, and style. If you're an absolute make-up beginner, start here. If you've got the basics covered but want to learn to infuse a bit of artistry into your look, check out the glam-inspired vlogger NikkieTutorials, and don't miss our round-ups of the best British beauty bloggers here and here.
4. Get into yoga.
Yoga classes can be expensive, but not when you're learning from home with the insanely helpful and completely free sites Yome and Do Yoga With Me. Both resources offer video sessions in a variety of styles for yoga practicers of all levels, plus guided meditation practices.
5. Make things 'appen.
Instead of playing a game on your phone to kill time, why not make one? App programming can be creatively rewarding as well as professionally useful, and you can start learning for free with this useful course from the University of Reading. If you're not eager to wait for a course to open up, go it on your own with this video series.
6. Learn to strike a chord.
Instrument tutorials abound online, but if you're looking for minimum financial and time commitment, start with the ukulele. A decent cheap one costs about £20, so there's no real investment, and with an hour of practice a couple times a week, you'll see fast improvement. Start with the basics using helpful and in-depth videos from the Ukulele Tricks Youtube channel or Ukulele Underground.
7. Pick up knitting.
This classic hobby is a great way to keep yourself occupied, plus you can make unique gifts for friends, family, and yourself! Master the basics with this handy guide from Queen of DIY and you'll quickly be ready to knit your first infinity scarf.
8. Embrace the magic in you.
Amuse yourself and always have some entertainment in your back pocket by learning some simple card tricks. Magician Andy Field's Youtube channel is a prime resource for getting your slight of hand down to a science, and The Card Trick Teacher reveals tons of card tricks step-by-step so you can start blowing minds.
9. Learn to make your move.
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If you're looking for a creative workout you can do from home, check out Mindy Jiroux fab step-by-step choreography to match the current radio hits. True beginners should start with Dance Tutorials Live's trove of instructive videos to get a handle on using your body and learning some sweet moves while you work up a sweat.
10. Release your inner novelist.
There's a story in everyone, so get started on telling yours with Open University's free Fiction Writing course. Storytelling is an invaluable skill that you can use to free your imagination in your spare time, and to improve your communication skills in professional and social settings; there's literally no downside. If you're confident with the basics but need some inspiration try this clever prompt Tumblr.
11. Start your own jewelry line.
Get hands-on with your style and achieve a truly original look by learning to make your own jewelry. This handy hobby is a great way to channel creativity, create a unique personal style, and even make some cash by selling your creations on Etsy. Use the comprehensive How to Make Jewelry to learn everything from the materials needed to selling your jewelry and all the work in between, and check out the super P.S. I Made This blog for more inspiration.
12. Enhance your photoshop skills.
Whether you want to make a funny Nicholas Cage GIF to send to your friend or make your CV pop with one of a kind design, the You Suck At Photoshop channel is the place to go to master the software and even learn to have fun with it.
13. Learn a language.
Learning a language is a valuable skill most of us shirked in school and wished we hadn't, but there's plenty of ways to get back on the bilingual bandwagon without shelling out tons of money. If you're keen to travel, communicate with an international friend, or read foreign books in their native tongue, sites like Livemocha, Memrise, and Duolingo are incredibly useful online resources for mastering the basics of a new language.
14. Train up to start our own blog.
Learning how to be heard on the internet and everything that comes with building a blog can be intimidating; you'll need to get comfortable with web design, content creation, social media, and photography. To start, read The Minimalists guide to starting a blog, which covers the basics of getting your site up and running and creating content. See tips above for brushing up on Photoshop, and master your phone camera with these guides here and here before you invest in a fancy camera.
15. Learn to sculpt.
Get into a seriously hands-on hobby by learning to work with clay. Using your hands can be therapeutic, and with some practice you can end up with some beautiful and unique works of art. Get started with these comprehensive Youtube tutorials, and get playing!
16. Pick up juggling.
Get physical in a fun way by learning to juggle. Mastering the basics shouldn't take more than a few days of practice, and from there you can get to the fun part: tricks and daredevil stunts. Start from the beginning with famous Dutch juggler Niels Duinker's video series and just be careful not to hit yourself in the eye.
17. Animate
If you're into story telling and visual art, why not learn how to animate on your computer? Start as simple as possible by learning to make a GIF without Photoshop here, then work up to using Paint and Movie, Maker for Windows, or learn how to use the open-source animation software Synfig on any operating system.
Want to pick up more skills online? Check out this list, or expand your hobby horizons by trying out some of these.
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