Virtual Recreation Center

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Meals for Seniors

Drive Thru Meals Available Now:

Are you over 60 years of age and in need of a warm meal? If so, Monterey Recreation and Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula is offering a DRIVE THRU meal pick-up program. Meals for seniors will be offered Tuesday through Friday from 11am-noon at the El Estero Park/Dennis the Menace Parking Lot. Face masks are required when picking up your meals.

For more information and to make a reservation, please email montereyrecreation@monterey.org or call Monterey Recreation at (831) 646-3866 and leave a message for staff.

Senior Drive Thru Meal Program

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montereyrecreation@monterey.org

831.646.3866

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Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

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Virtual Recreation Programs Register Here!

Creative Brain® Learning and More!

Monterey Recreation is excited to announce a partnership with Creative Brain® Learning to offer fun and enriching virtual learning opportunities. A variety of classes will be offered for children ages 5-15 years. Classes are designed to engage participants in mind-expanding learning opportunities while also being creative and FUN!

Register Now - Space is limited!

Virtual Recreation Registration Instructions

Have questions or need assistance registering, email montereyrecreation@monterey.org.

Virtual Recreation Registration

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Family and Senior Drive Thru Produce Distribution

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Flyer and Frequently Asked Questions
Face masks are required when picking up your food.

NEW! List of Regional Food Bank Distribution Sites

#showushowyouplayMonterey

Hello and welcome to the Monterey Recreation Division - Virtual Recreation Center. We are committed to ensuring that our participants have resources to maintain healthy lives, grow meaningful relationships and have motivating experiences. We realize that Virtual Recreation is a temporary measure until we are able to offer our in-person programs and services again. In these challenging times, our Virtual Recreation Center will bring programs and resources to you and your family in the comfort of your own home with the hope of making it easier for you to prioritize your health and well-being. We will update this page regularly with new resources as they become available. New weekly activities will be posted every Friday.

At this time, City of Monterey parks remain open as the State and County Shelter in Place (Stay at Home) orders do permit passive use of public park space as long as social distancing requirements are being met. No gatherings, organized sports, activities, meet-ups or play dates are permitted. All playgrounds, volleyball and basketball courts and the dog park are also closed. Please enjoy our outdoor spaces with members of your shared household only.

Visit this page often or follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates and ideas to keep you and your loved ones healthy, entertained and informed. Please note that we do not endorse or receive funds to advertise any of the third-party sites or services listed or referenced on this page.

Have an idea or resource you'd like to share? Email us! (montereyrecreation@monterey.org)

Rec Staff Message

We also want you to #showushowyouplayMonterey. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and use the #showushowyouplayMonterey hashtag.  Tag us in your photos to share how you are having fun at home.

Stay Active

As our daily lives are currently filled with more indoor time than we may be used to, there are many ways to stay healthy and active. Take care of yourself; make sure to eat a well balanced diet, get plenty of sleep, and stretch at least twice a day. Try to include some sort of physical activity into your daily schedule. Below are a few ideas for staying active indoors.

Take a Virtual Fitness Class with the Monterey Sports Center. Check out the Monterey Sports Center Facebook page to see new Fitness classes livestreamed each week including Yoga, Cardio Dance, Barre Sculpt, Pilates, Sculpt Express and MORE! They even offer classes for kids and family fitness.

There are also plenty of online fitness options for all interests and abilities.

Fitness for Adults

Therapilates Mat Class for Bonebuilding & Injuries

Therapilates Chair Class for Better Bones & Balance 

Walk at Home - Walking Workouts

Zumba Gold

Quick and Easy at Home Workouts

Fitness for Active Adults and Seniors

Pound Drumming Workout

Good Housekeeping - 25 Fitness Centers Streaming Workout Classes

Tai Chi YouTube

Do Yoga With Me

POPSUGAR Fitness YouTube

Fitness Blender

Jazzercise

Fun Fitness for Kids 

YOGA ed.

PopSugar Fitness: This is a great video for the entire family and it includes fun, family, workout challenges.

Disney Magic Moments: Learn to Hula at Home

SworkIt Kid Workouts

16 Strength Training Exercises for Kids

Cosmic Kids Yoga

Fitness Blender Kids

GoNoddle

Stay Connected

Connecting with Others - Keeping Each Other Safe and Connected Is Everyone's Responsibility

Although we are all socially distancing physically, as humans we need to stay connected emotionally. Try one or two of these every day. 

  • Call or video chat with a friend or relative you haven't spoken to in a while to check-in.
  • Write and send a letter to a loved one. US Postal service is an essential service which means your letters will be delivered!
  • Host a virtual playdate with Skype or Facetime or use Facebook to play games with your friends.
  • Host a Virtual Netflix Party - Watch Netflix with Your Friends and Family

During this stressful time, it's also important to remember to support each other and maintain emotional connections within your immediate family. Try a few of these ideas to stay connected with members of your shared household/family.

  • Plan a family movie night or dance party.
  • Play board games with your family or use facebook to play games with your friends
  • Play hide and go seek, charades and other low contact games
  • Set a day for some spring cleaning or an outdoor gardening project with your family
  • Tackle a puzzle together.

Stay Nourished

Food Safety with COVID-19

The Stay at Home Chef - Restaurant quality recipes you can make at home.

Tasty - Love to cook? The possibilities are endless with tasty video tutorials!

Family Friendly Recipes

Nomster Chef - Illustrated recipes designed for cooking with your kids. Videos and adult resources available too!

Disney’s Famous Churro Recipe

Disney’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Toy Story Land

Support a local restaurant - Many restaurants are still open for take-out or delivery orders. Support your favorite places and order food for pick up or try Doordash,UberEats, Doorbell Dining, Grubhub or other delivery apps and have it brought to you. 

List of Monterey Restaurants Offering To Go and Delivery

Exercise Your Brain

Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.

It's easy to get lost in the world of video games and television while at home, but it's just as important to stay physically active as it is to stay mentally active! Try these resources to keep your mind sharp.

Adults: 

Free Audiobooks with Audible and Amazon

Daily Crossword

Duolingo- Learn a New Language

Daily Jigsaw Puzzles

USA Today Games

Sudoku

Keep Calm and Get Creative - Tips for Working from Home and Working from Home with Kids

Marie Kondo - Tips for Cleaning and Home Organization

Learning for Kids

PBS Kids - Learning games and videos for young children.

Scholastic Learn From Home - Educational Activities for All Grade Levels

Open Library - K-12 Online Library

Coding Games

Learning Games for Kids - From Math, Science, Geography, and even typing this site is full of online learning games.

Seussville

ABCmouse

FUNBRAIN

ABCya

MYSTERYdoug

Arbor Day Kids

National Geographic Kids

Outdoor Activities

Shelter-in-place orders require us to stay in or near our homes... but that doesn't mean you have to skip your daily dose of Vitamin D!  

Take a stroll around the block! You don't have to go far to find cool stuff in nature - try this scavenger hunt.  

Walk/run or bike around your neighborhood and say hi (from a distance) to all of your neighbors who are getting outside too.

Dog Park, Skate Park, Ballparks, Basketball, Volleyball and Tennis Courts: Closed until further notice

Parks, Beaches, Open Space and Trails: Open at this time

 Safety Alert!

Important guidelines are in place to keep everyone safe in our parks and open spaces.  Per the Monterey County Health Officer’s statement of April 3, 2020, please heed the following.

1. Stay home as much as possible! 

Exercise and sanity are absolutely important, however, we recommend that everyone stay at home as much as possible until this situation passes. Countries that have figured out how to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 have all enacted much stricter social distancing measures than we are currently experiencing here in California.

2. If you do go out, act as if everyone you encounter outdoors has the virus (even if they don’t!)

3. Outdoor recreation activity should take place near your individual residence. Do not carpool under any circumstances;

Following California guidelines, only drive across town for the absolute essentials! Car crashes are no joke, and driving to the parks, beaches and recreation trails is unacceptable right now, as automotive transport facilitates virus spread between communities. Get to know your local park and neighborhood streets and sidewalks. 

4. Please, do not ride/hike/gather in groups of any size. Aim for solo or household only activities as much as possible!

Gathering in a group and hitting the trails increases the chance of virus transmission between members of your group as well as transmission to other trail/park users. As a group, you create a bigger obstacle for other users and set a bad example for the outdoor community.     

5. Pick off-hours to ride or hike, and avoid times of heavy trail/park use.

6. Keep rides and hikes short if you do choose to enjoy public trails and parks.

a. Slow down more than usual, and give fellow trail users more room than you may normally give should you need to pass.

b. Now is not the time to train for a marathon or challenge yourself on an extreme ride.  Our healthcare system cannot support additional emergencies right now, and no one wants to be the one to distract medical resources from an ongoing pandemic. 

c. Give others ample opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors!  This isn’t the time to start that marathon training you’ve always meant to do.

7. Use the restroom before come to open space, and avoid spitting while on the trail.

8. Keep your dog on a leash at all times.

9. Speak up if others are not following these recommendations! Share this knowledge. 

10. In the event that parks, open spaces, or play areas are shut down, please respect closures.  These decisions are made for everyone’s safety.

Additional closures may be necessary to protect our community.

Physical Distancing in Parks and Trails