Stress Relief Activities
The UCR Library is committed to creating a supportive atmosphere for our students, including helping students de-stress!
That's why we present our free Finals Week Stress Relief (FWSR) event series at the end of every quarter (the week before finals and the week of finals). Past FWSR events include therapy fluffies (therapy dogs) with The Well's Active Minds, food/snack giveaways, social media contests, and craft activities.
Our fall 2024 Finals Week Stress Relief event series will take place Monday, December 2 - Thursday, December 12. Find out more at library.ucr.edu/fwsr.
Need virtual stress-reducing activities now? Our FWSR committee has curated the below list of activities and services available remotely through online platforms that you can enjoy all quarter long!
Click through the category tabs below to see all the options.
DIGITAL BOOKS & MAGAZINES (OVERDRIVE/LIBBY)
Take a look at all of the digital books, audiobooks, and magazines you can check out on ucr.overdrive.com for FREE from your phone, laptop, or tablet using your UCR credentials. If you have the Libby app, you can check these out by adding us as a library on the app!
KANOPY
Make it a movie night with Kanopy! On campus (and using the campus wifi) or logged into the campus VPN from anywhere? Watch movies, documentaries, and TV shows on Kanopy for FREE!
SAN DIEGO ANIMAL CAMS
Live animal cams at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and San Diego Zoo.
EXPLORE.ORG LIVECAMS
Explore is a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Both educational and inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others.
EARTHCAM ANIMAL CAMS
EarthCam is the global leader in providing webcam content, technology and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam exists to encourage exploration, foster discovery and connect people through innovative live camera technology.
AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC WEBCAMS
Visit Aquarium of the Pacific's exhibits virtually! Check in on our animals with live webcams placed inside some of the Aquarium’s exhibits.
MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM JELLY CAM
Mellow out to the hypnotic drifting of the jellies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
SMITHSONIAN'S NATIONAL ZOO WEBCAMS
Enjoy the webcam view of different animals at the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.
UCLA GUIDED MEDITATIONS
Free guided meditations recorded by UCLA MARC's Director of Mindfulness Education, Diana Winston.
OMEGA INSTITUTE CHANNEL
Mega is a nonprofit, mission-driven, and donor-supported educational organization. For more than 40 years we’ve been the nation's leading center for holistic studies – helping people and organizations integrate personal growth and social change, moving beyond ‘the way it is’ toward ‘the way it can be’.
RELAXING SOUNDS PLAYLIST
A curated video playlist with relaxing sounds, including rainforest sounds, gentle rain, and low-fi Hip Hop.
VIRTUAL STUDY SPACES
A curated playlist with ambient sounds to create the sense of studying in a public place.
ASMR PLAYLIST
(ASMR) is a calming, pleasurable feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation. This tingle is said to originate in a person's head and spread to the spine (and sometimes the limbs) in response to stimulation. The stimuli that trigger ASMR vary from person to person.
HANSEL AND GRETEL
Listen to the tale of Hansel and Gretel, read by Andrew, with an introduction by Jason, both members of the UCR Library's Finals Week Stress Relief committee.
THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE
Listen to the tale of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, read by Andrew, with an introduction by Jason, both members of the UCR Library's Finals Week Stress Relief committee.
THE THREE BROTHERS
Listen to the tale of The Three Brothers, read by Andrew, with an introduction by Jason, both members of the UCR Library's Finals Week Stress Relief committee.
THE FROG PRINCE
Listen to the tale of The Frog Prince, read by Andrew, with an introduction by Jason, both members of the UCR Library's Finals Week Stress Relief committee.
DOCTOR KNOW-IT-ALL
Listen to the tale of Doctor Know-it-All, read by Andrew, with an introduction by Jason, both members of the UCR Library's Finals Week Stress Relief committee.
STORYLINE ONLINE
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Daytime Emmy®-nominated and award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online®, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
QUEENDOM
Scientifically developed tests and fun quizzes to help you learn more about yourself.
PEOPLE MAGAZINE
People is a weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news, human-interest stories, and gossip.
COLORING BOOKS
Color to your heart's content.
MIDI.CITY
Midi.city is a free online synthesizer, which has over 128 different instruments including: Pianos, Saxophones, Drums, Trumpets, Synth Pads, Guitar, Violins and all other instruments defined in the General Midi specification.
VIRTUAL PIANO
Virtual Piano enables you to play the piano instantly through your computer keyboard, mobile or tablet. You don’t need to download or install anything.
TELEPARTY
Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party) is a new way to watch TV with your friends online. Teleparty synchronizes video playback and adds group chat to Netflix, Disney, Hulu and HBO.
GARTIC PHONE
The online Telephone Game! Play the popular game for free now.
TETRIS
Play a game of Tetris.
SUDOKU
Play Sudoku.
JIGSAW PLANET
Choose from several puzzle themes. Play collaboratively or individually.
ARKADIUM
Play arcade-style video games.
QUICKDRAW WITH GOOGLE
Help teach your neural network to recognize doodling by adding your drawings to the world’s largest doodling data set, shared publicly to help with machine learning research.
SHERLOCK HOLMES ESCAPE ROOM
This escape room can be completed individually, as a group, or as a competition between friends. See how accurately you can make it out and solve the case!
ALICE IN WONDERLAND ESCAPE ROOM
Try out this Wonderland-themed Digital Escape Room! It is based on the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.
SKY APPRENTICE DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOM
Since we are all stuck at home for a while, let’s “escape the room” together on this spy themed mission where we take you around the world solving clues!
ROMEO & JULIET ESCAPE ROOM
Juliet's parents won’t make this easy and they want you to demonstrate you are enough smart to deserve their intelligent daughter. Will you be able to do it?
OSCAR'S STOLEN OSCAR
Holy Shark! Something is very fishy at the National Aquarium. Our resident Hollywood Star, Oscar, is missing his...Oscar! I guess not everyone was a "fin" of his work.
MINECRAFT ESCAPE ROOM
Try this Minecraft themed Digital Escape Room! You can complete this escape room as a family, individual, or against friends.
ESCAPE: THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS
You won't need anything to play this other than:
- A TIMER OR CLOCK TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR TIME
- A PENCIL AND SOME PAPER
REJUVENATE PLAYLIST
Music selections curated by your Finals Week Stress Relief committee members.
ONE MUSIC SCHOOL
Learn to play the Ukulele with the One Music School channel. New videos posted Wednesdays and Saturdays.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Inspiring people to care about the planet! National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible.
EPIC GARDENING CHANNEL
Learn urban gardening so you can grow fresh food year round - no matter where you live! We also cover the cool stuff going on in the hydroponics, aquaponics and gardening communities.
HOME MADE MODERN
HomeMade-Modern.com is an online design source that shares design ideas with hopes of inspiring people to make more of the things they own.
HGTV HANDMADE
HGTV Handmade releases four new videos every week on crafting at home using what we have around the house. Watch for new DIY ideas and crafty inspiration.
BOB ROSS CHANNEL
The official YouTube channel of "The Joy of Painting" and Bob Ross. Watch and paint along with every episode of The Joy of Painting! Happy painting!
COOKING PLAYLIST
A video playlist filled with cooking hacks, easy recipes, and tasty treats, curated by the Finals Week Stress Relief committee members.
NATIONAL CENTER FOR CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights believes in justice and dignity for all – and the power of people to make this real. We inspire visitors and our other audiences with immersive exhibitions, dynamic events and conversations, and engagement and education/training programs. Experience the virtual tour! The National Center for Civil and Human Rights invites you to enjoy the rich history and contemporary relevance of our exhibits.
STREET ART WITH GOOGLE
Explore the stories behind the art. Virtual tours of cities around the globe.
MASP - MUSEU DE ARTE DE SÃO PAULO ASSIS CHATEAUBRIAND
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a private, nonprofit museum founded by Brazilian businessman Assis Chateaubriand, in 1947, as Brazil’s first modern museum.
MUSÉE D’ORSAY, PARIS
The history of the museum, of its building is quite unusual. In the centre of Paris on the banks of the Seine, opposite the Tuileries Gardens, the museum was installed in the former Orsay railway station, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900.
VAN GOGH MUSEUM
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) in the world. The permanent collection includes over 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 500 drawings and more than 750 letters.
BRITISH MUSEUM
An interactive online tour of the Museum of the World, presented by the British Museum.
SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum located at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device.
NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM
Online exhibits include Outdoor Adventurers, Standing up for Change, The Women of NASA, Women in STEM, Fashioning Yourself!, Legislating History, Game Changers, Harriet Tubman, and many more.
R'PANTRY
R'Pantry is managed by The Well and provides emergency non-perishable food, personal hygiene, household care and childcare items for students experiencing food insecurity.
COUNSELING & PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES
UCR's Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) is here to help, offering services via TeleMental Health (phone and secure videoconferencing).
TUTORIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (TAP)
Tutorial Assistance Program (TAP) through the Academic Resource Center (ARC) provides free tutoring in a variety of subjects and disciplines.
STUDENT RECREATION CENTER (SRC)
The Student Recreation Center (SRC) offers a healthy option to living active and meaningful lives while working on achieving their degrees.
STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES
In addition to providing primary care and treating UCR students for injuries, UCR Student Health Services offers counseling, dental and vision care, and pharmacy services.
THE WELL
The Well provides education, trainings, resources, and programming for students in a variety of health and wellness topic areas, through a network of peer educators, mentors, and professionals.
STUDENT SUCCESS INITIATIVES
The Provost Office supports a number of initiatives to improve the experience of our students and to ensure their success.
EVENTS AT UCR
Events and workshops offered by various departments and offices at UC Riverside.