Are you spending more time with your good friends on Netflix than with real people? Is the pub around the corner where everyone knows your name your go-to outing? Would you be ashamed to admit the number of hours per week you spend reading Perez gossip? If you answered yes to any of those questions, we think it’s high time you try something different to ward off the post-holiday winter blues. Round up your buddies and put away the fuzzy robe because Vv Magazine has put together a list of ways to tear you off your couch. Get out of your winter rut with this 6 creative ways to end cabin fever in Toronto…

Board Game Café
In a modern society where most of the characters we play against exist only in the virtual world, it’s time to get real at a board game café. Sink your adversary’s battleship, test the limits of your dirty mind, or colonize your friends’ hard-earned real estate, all while munching on delicious snacks and beverages. Perfect for a first date or a friend date, play the afternoon away at Snakes & Lattes at Bloor and Bathurst, Roll Play just north of Yonge and Dundas, or Castle Board Game Café at College and Spadina.

Knitting Lessons
If you feel a stab of envy whenever you spot someone snug as a bug in a woolly scarf, stop with the pity party and learn to make one for yourself! There’s no better time to take up knitting than February in Toronto. The city is host to stores like Lettuce Knit in Kensington, where you can spend hours salivating over the luxurious yarns made from the wool of animals you’ve never even heard of before (doesn’t alpaca just sound fabulous?) These shops often host knitting lessons for all skill levels. Once you get the hang of it, head to the Knit Café on Queen West or the Purple Purl on Queen East, to enjoy a ‘stitch and bitch’ session over cappuccinos.

Evergreen Brickworks
If you’ve had one too many peameal bacon sandwiches from the St. Lawrence Market — behold, an environmentally friendly alternative! The Evergreen Brickworks market hosts a year-round weekend farmers market so you can spend a Saturday afternoon snacking sustainably on local goodies. Brickworks also hosts activities to exercise your brain and your booty such as yoga classes, pottery workshops, and public skating.

Chocolate Making Workshop
Why not take your lover affair with chocolate to the next level? Indulge in one of Chocolate Tales’ workshops, a delicious, hands-on way to spend 90 minutes. Held at four different locations across the city, these workshops are suitable for chocolate addicts of all levels, shapes and sizes. You’ll learn to make truffles, ganache and other treats that will have you drooling all over your apron. Trust us, you’ll feel less guilty about eating chocolate if you made it yourself.

Paint Nite
Working 9-to-5 can drain you of all your creative energy and make you feel like a shell of a human being… at least in February. Don’t let the energy die! Spend a night off at a Paint Nite session. Venues like Pappas Grill on the Danforth and Office Pub on John Street host evenings where professional artists help you fuel your inner Van Gogh while tossing back some brews. Select workshops based on your level of skill. Buy your tickets online in advance because they sell out quickly! Please drink creatively.

Axe throwing
If OKCupid messages are the only things that get your heart racing these days, shut the laptop and head to BATL for a league that’s a few steps above volleyball on the thrill-o-meter. Here, you will throw axes at targets (shaped in your imagination like whomever you choose, muahahaha). Try it once or pay upfront for eight weeks of adrenaline-filled fun. As founder and CEO Matt Wilson claims, “Everyone wants to throw an axe, they just don’t know it yet.”

What are some of your favourite ways to cure winter blues? Which of our 6 creative ways to end cabin fever in Toronto have you already tried and what did you think? Let Vv Magazine know in the comments below or tweet us @ViewTheVibe.