Disrupting, adapting and discovering family leisure during COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 and the associated restrictions influenced family life including the practice of family leisure of those living in the same household and those who did not. The purpose of this study was to explore how individuals' family leisure was affected by the COVID-19 restrictions in New Brunswick, Canada, and the ways individuals and their families adapted to those restrictions. Phenomenology guided the study. Interviews that utilized a photo elicitation technique were conducted virtually with 12 women, 3 men, and 1 gender fluid individual. The findings revealed the lockdown in March 2020 contributed to a ‘disruption to valued family leisure'. A period of ‘adaptation, exploration, and discovery' followed characterized by determining what family leisure would include through participation in home-based, outdoor, and virtual family activities. Loosened restrictions and the opportunity to bubble with another household introduced the experience of ‘expanding family leisure' as participants considered how family members would bubble. © 2023 Canadian Association for Leisure Studies / Association canadienne d'études en loisir.