5 Animalistic Things to do Inside When Bored - Perfect for Therians

 

Maybe it's rainy, or you live in the heart of the city, or perhaps you just don't feel like opening the front door right now-

I've been there. 

Whether your theriotype enjoys the outdoors or not, sometimes it's better to hideout in the comfort of your own home. There's all sorts of things to do!

...Er, it seems like it anyway, until you've been doom scrolling for a few hours already and you still haven't thought of something entertaining to do.

Fear not, animal friend, I've compiled a list of the top 10 best things to do inside when you're bored as a Therian!

 

Here's the overview:

• Build Hunting Grounds
• Create a Burrow
• Research your Theriotype 
• Practice Vocals
• Make DIY Stickers 
• Journal
• Meditate
• Make a Territory Diorama
• Color Nature Pictures
• Read a POV Animal Book

Let's take a closer look at each of these (and the funny little illustrations I've made for them all, too).

 

Build Hunting Grounds

This one is mainly for carnivores and omnivores, but can be fun for anyone to try. We'll be converting a room into a dangerous territory for a predator to roam- all based on your theriotype!

Any time of day works for this activity, though nocturnal therians may find this more fulfilling at night. You can also draw the shades and cover them with blankets to create a dark atmosphere.

A bedroom is usually the best place for this, but if you need more space to prowl, a living room or dining room works well too. The more furniture, the better. It'll come in handy.

The reason I wrote this in as #1 on the list is because it's my personal favorite. Even indoors, it's a good workout both mentally and physically. It can also induce shifts pretty easily!

 

Now for the fun part, 

Here's how to build your own therian hunting grounds:

 

The most important part is the main layout. If possible, you'll want to arrange furniture (such as beds, couches, chairs, desks, etc.) in a manner that you'll have at least 1 main open area. The center of the room typically works best as you can just push everything to the sides. If your room is rather bare like mine, you can steal furniture from around the house. Please be mindful of stacking furniture, you don't want to create a fall or crush risk at all. It's best to just use light sheets or blankets above you!

Along the edges of the room, push together chairs and tables to create cover for your prey to hide. These will act as trees and burrows around our field.

When you have a well-traversable area, start to fill things in with pillows and blankets. You can lay them down as rocks to hop over, or places for stuffed animals to hide. I like to hang sheets from high up to look like vines. Try to keep in mind the habitat most natural to your theriotype, and recreate that if possible. 

Using stuffed animals as the prey is the most straightforward, but you can use other toys, small pillows, or DIY props to fill in their place. 

If able, have a friend or family member hide them around the room for you so that they're a bit more difficult to find!

When you're ready, practice your best sneak attacks! Crawl around your territory and explore it through the eyes of an animal!

 

Create a Burrow

This activity works well in junction with the one above; you'll need somewhere to relax after all that hard work!

Many kinds of creatures, even outside of predators, make dens and burrows to sleep and raise young in. 

We'll be building a comfy pillow-fort burrow to hide in. You'll want to collect as many pillows and blankets you can find (couch cushions work great).

In contrast to the hunting grounds, I find this activity best to do during the day. All the better for a cat nap! I recommend a bedroom or Livingroom as your place of building. Especially under a large dining table or bed, it feels very secluded and cozy!

Creating a den is one of the very special things I like to do. It's a really good, affirming reset that I find I need frequently as a Therian. If you've been feeling overwhelmed or stressed recently, this is definitely a recommended break.

To make a den, try finding a small space to build in. Under a bed, in a closet, below a table, couch cushions in a cube, etc.

After you've selected a space, use pillows and rolled blankets (into a good snake shape) and line the borders of your den with them to make a sort of nest shape. Use heavier blankets, like sleeping bags, towards the bottom for cushioning and lighter blankets near the top for a soft, nest-like finish.

My favorite part is to start decorating. I usually use stuffed animals, little projects such as coloring supplies, and electric tea lights to fill the space with. If you have any faux plants around, like fake vines, those make a wonderful addition too.

When your den is complete, curl up inside for some relaxing projects, like maybe the one below!

 

Research your Theriotype 

 

Not everyone (including myself, at least while writing this) knows what their theriotype is. It can be a lengthy and difficult process, but it can also be interesting and comforting to find answers!

If you're thinking the Therian label is right for you, but you don't know much past that, this is the activity for you.

Though I personally haven't found the perfect fit, I have a pretty good research process down, and have spoke with many who are comfortable with their theriotype. So far from what I've found, the best resources are:

 

• Journaling with prompts
• Animal study books and articles
• Talking with friends or family
• Spending time in different environments and habitats
• Free-form or guided meditation

 

The best time to do this self discovery is when you are calm, but not exhausted. My go-to time for this is when my baby is taking a nap, while drinking tea on the front porch. For others, after finishing homework, while going on a hike, or relaxing in their bedroom before bed have been helpful. Take your own lead and pay attention to when you feel most focused on your internal and subconscious mind.

In contrast, avoid self discovery journeys while stressed, burnt out, overly anxious or stimulated, or when you're feeling too energetic to focus.

Outdoors is typically the best place for most Therians, as a good portion of the worlds animal species' natural habitat is outside in nature. This is not the case for every Therian, so again, follow your own cues or experiment with what works best for you. I find the front porch to be my favorite as I live in town, but when I have the opportunity to hike on the Ice Age Trails in my area, I would almost always prefer that.

You might find that a beach, city park, swamp walkway, or some other random place feels most comforting to you to think in. Go there if that's the case.

Finding a Theriotype is not important to some, but to others it can provide a type of closure or comfort. It allows you to provide yourself with activities and resources that best fit your mind/spirit/body, and can help you better understand yourself.

With that being said, lets talk about how to actually research these things!

Journaling is always going to be my number one suggestion. Giving your brain and body a way to express how they are feeling is an excellent source of uncovering the unconscious. This doesn't need to be a "dear diary" type thing. It can literally be jotting things down on a sticky note as you think of them, doodling on the back of a homework page, or audio recording a memo on your phone on your way to work.

The idea isn't to make a perfect, finished product. It's to help document your thought processes and feelings as you go about your day. Think of it like clues, and later when you can focus more, you can start decoding them all together.

While there are many ways to journal, the best questions to get you started are "When do you feel the most comfortable during your day?" and "When do you feel the least comfortable during your day?"

These questions will help get you a footing to start looking further.

I want to continue moving forward on to some other activities, so visit my blog collection from my menu if you'd like to read more about journaling and Theriotype discovery!

Make DIY Stickers 

This one is super fun, and really easy.

I started doing this project when I was about 10 (though they weren't Therian stickers, they were monster ones). It's perfect for any artsy people wanting to decorate their belongings or trade with friends.

Tape stickers really only require 3 things to make:

-Drawing

-Packing tape (you can use scotch tape, but you have to use a few extra strips)

-Parchment paper (don't use wax paper, the tape does not peal off of it well)

 

In short, you sandwich your drawing between two pieces of tape, and it can be stuck just about anywhere. If you'd like a page to print out to make them, I have a more in-depth tutorial and free PDF printable here.

 

Read a POV Animal Book

Though I haven't in a hot minute right now, reading books that are narrated from the point of view of an animal is absolutely magical.

The most classic is Warriors, a series about domestic cats living in the wild, but there are many more. My favorite was Hollow Kingdom, about a crow in a post-apocalyptic world.

If you're looking for more, just search "Books with animal POVs" and you'll find a million.

 

Looking for more ideas?

This was originally a top 10 activities post, but it was starting to get really lengthy. I split it into 2 and am posting it on my page soon. I'll update this here when it's out :)

Thank you so much for reading, let me know what else you're wanting to read about next!!