It can be hard to even imagine screen-free activities for kids at this point. We seem to be so connected to our devices that, at times, it can seem like nothing can be done without them.
The earlier generations were caught in the tornado of modern technology in their adulthood and their late teens or early twenties.
Our children find themselves glued in front of screens from a very tender age, maybe even from their very birth.
Another thing that only our children’s are experiencing is online schooling. While the time that children would spend at school mostly consisted of screen-free time, now they’ve become one.
MedlinePlus lists sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, increased likelihood of obesity and many other risks caused by screen time in kids.
These are only the well-studied and well-known aspects of spending too much screen time for kids. There is also another much scarier unknown behind screen time.
The fact of the matter is that we haven’t properly studied the long term effects of too much screen time in kids.
As we mentioned before, this is probably the first generation that has been dealing with this much screen time, from such an early stage.
This also doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the horrifying effect that social media has been proved to have on the psychological wellbeing of everyone involved.
We have prepared a list of 5 very fun screen-free activities for kids that you can use to help cut the time kids spend in front of the screen!
1. Swimming
It is very easy to guess that most screen-free activities for kids will involve some sort of physical activity and one sport or another.
We pick swimming in particular because it is one of the healthiest sports to practice. It is especially great for the health and well being of children.
Another thing that makes swimming a perfect candidate for screen-free activities for kids is the fact that pretty much anyone can lear how to swim.
Most pediatric associations recommend that children start with swimming at the age of 1. Also, swimming lessons for toddler are in high demand!
As with any other sports related activity, swimming can help a bunch with the psychological development and well being of kids, on top of helping with the physical one.
2. Reading
Screen-free activities for kids can be many things really, but not a lot of them can be educational like reading can.
Selling reading as a worthy proponent in a list of very fun screen-free activities for kids can be a bit hard at first glance but we believe that this is the perfect time to do so.
While children have had to deal with teachers and school in their tables, laptops and such, reading a book can be teased as an escape from all that.
If your children are young, or younger than the reading age, you can have the time of your life reading stories to them.
However, if they can read on their own, we would recommend that you go for a ‘reading club’ theme with them.
Pick a book and read it separately, then once the reading is over, you can discuss it. Of course, try and keep things fun and simple.
Do not ask what the author meant, just their opinion of the story and of the main characters. What would your kids do in that situation? So on and so forth.
3. Learning A New Skill
Just like reading, you might be wondering whether this entry belongs on a list of the most fun screen free activities for kids.
The key part of making this activity fun is in picking the skill you would want your child to learn. It is very important that you include them in this decision.
Most kids have something they are passionate about and a majority of them would love to fully immerse themselves in that particular activity.
If they like sports, maybe practices in that particular sport could be very beneficial. If they like movies – acting classes, maybe they like something “geeky” – teach them more about science.
If you can make learning an instrument one of the many fun screen-free activities for kids then you are totally killing it as a parent.
Learning an instrument such as the guitar or the piano, is not only a very awesome trait to have on a social setting, it has also been proven to increase the cognitive abilities of participants.
4. Screen-Free Games
The obvious choice if your looking for screen-free activities for kids would be to play board games or other games that don’t include phones and other devices.
You have a huge array of games to choose from, if you include both board and card games. From monopoly all the way to uno, anything goes.
It helps to think about what the people before us used to do. Back in the day, board games were the rage and everyone considered them to be an amazing tool for some quality family time.
Depending on the age of your kids you can get creative with the games you play too. For example peek-a-boo isn’t the perfect game to play with a teenager.
Just like with learning new skills, you have to adapt the type of games you play to the preferences and passions of your kids.
This way the games will be more fun and they can make for a great and appealing reason for your kids to drop their screens and spend some time doing other things!
5. Other Screen-Free Activities
Some really fun screen-free activities for kids could be: drawing, knitting, cooking, fingertips art, origami, writing a play together, acting that play out, making puppets, etc.
A lot of these activities can be really fun if implemented in the right way. It is important that you remember that the key to fun screen-free activities for kids is the implementation.
You can take the most mundane thing, cooking a meal, and make it super fun by including your kids and making an adventure out of it. The quality of the activity and the fun lies in the way you go about doing it.
Think about the play example from earlier. If you tell your kid to write a play and then leave them to it, that can be more like choir than a fun thing to do.
Instead engage with them, write it together, let them know that at the end you will also act it together. To hammer down our point once again, it is all about the implementation.
Coming up with fun screen-free activities for kids can be a really great way to try and circumvent the negative effects that too much screen time can have.
This is a modern problem that child psychologists, pediatricians and parents will have to tackle in a way that ensures the safety and well being of our kids.
Although, as of right now, there is no clear answer on how to solve this problem completely, fun screen-free activities for kids are the best way to go about it, that we currently have!
