Collaborative post. There is no escape from screens these days with much of our work revolving around them. Activities with screens can be quite addictive especially for little ones. But, is this such a bad thing? Research conducted showed children that spent an hour or more a day in front of a screen scored lower in thinking and language exams. Another study found a correlation between screen time and increased aggression and behavioural issues such as angry outbursts when children used screens for two or more hours. I’ve collaborated with a senior school in Surrey to share with you some great screen-free activities that you can explore with your child.
Screen-Free Activities to Explore with Your Child
Home Science Experiments
Science experiments can help to get your child into STEM by making it fun. An example of an experiment that you can do together is ‘water walking’. All you’ll need are some cups, tissue and food colouring. You put water and food colouring into each cup and one tissue between each. As the water is absorbed by the tissue you see how the coloured water moves. Practicals like this are a particularly good way to teach those that learn through hands-on activity. If your children enjoy experiments there are plenty you can do with items within the home. You can also buy science kits available if you want to step it up a notch.
Visit A Zoo
If your child loves animals, a trip to the zoo is a perfect way to get them outdoors. They will be able to see exotic animals like the ones they see on TV and read about in books first hand for themselves. An experience like this can help them to appreciate nature and see why it’s so important to take care of the environment. Some zoos will have petting sections that can be perfect for kids to get hands on with the animals. Others have animal feeding experiences or afternoon teas overlooking lions or tigers. These are once in a lifetime experiences and certainly far more exciting to do than sit in front of a screen.
Play Family Friendly Games
Family games nights or even days can be really good fun. Aside from them not involving screens, they are a great way for us to spend time together. It’s important to try to do these as often as possible as they are a great way to bond as a family. There are so many different types of games you can play and they may involve using problem-solving skills and critical thinking. Either way they can be really good fun and a lovely way to spend time together as a family.
Gardening
If you have green fingers, you can teach your child all about gardening and get them to plant with you. Digging and the other motions involved can help them to develop gross motor skills and be very therapeutic too. Best of all, you don’t need to go anywhere other than your garden. You and your children will have a great sense of achievement when you see your flowers bloom and your fruits and vegetables are ready for you to pick and enjoy.
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Exploring the Outdoors
You can go on all sorts of great fun family adventures outdoors. They could be as close as your garden, a local park, woods or further afield. Children love to explore and find creatures, build forts and generally have fun. Why not put on wellies and wade through a stream or muddy puddles. Find an adventure playground they can play on in a nearby park. Searching for mini beasts and other wildlife. There are so many different things you can do.
Cooking
Cooking with your child can help get them to exercise their creativity, maths and problem-solving skills. This is needed to adjust recipes to suit others and serve the right number of people. There is a lot of science that goes into cooking too as heat is needed to reduce sauces and evaporate excess liquid. Coking is also good fun, making cupcakes or biscuits, decorating them with buttercream or icing and loads of sprinkles. Seriously, you can never have enough sprinkles!!!!
As you can see, there are plenty of activities to help encourage children to reduce screen time. Kids can also look to do chores at home to earn a little pocket money. If you want more inspiration for ways kids can make a little extra spending money then you might like to have a read of 19 Fun and Age Appropriate Jobs For 10 Year Olds. Don’t forget, some screen time can be beneficial so a mix of this and other activities is the way to go.
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Top Outdoor Toys for the Summer
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Encouraging Kids to be More Active Outdoors
How to Make A Dinosaur Gelli World
Now you’ve read my post Screen-Free Activities to Explore with Your Child, what activities did you like most from those mentioned? Are there any additional activities you’d suggest?
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We love to do all of those things. My kids especially love visiting the zoo!
You have some great ideas here. My daughter loves to garden, so she’s all about being with nature. It’s trickier with my son!
This is a great post! We do a lot of activities; my husband is always telling the kids and grandkids to back off those computers and phones. We are heading to the Zoo this weekend for the Christmas light show.
I really enjoyed this post, these are all really great ideas.
I love these ideas. We need to have more screen free activities, as I sit here on a screen. Ha!
We love the Zoo and we love cooking and baking. We are lucky to live near the coast so we love going to visit the empty beach too and collecting shells. It is good to get them out in the fresh air as much as possible isnt it.
I love these. I find it’s so easy to be on screens all the time so actually looking at how we can interact is so important.
Love these ideas, we used to do these when the kids were younger, so much fun to be had away from sceens baking was a firm favourite if the weather was bad, and walks were great and we would look for the Gruffalo
I’m a big fan of zoo’s as I love seeing the animals. I also love botanical gardens and pretty floral displays as well x
For us it’s all about getting outdoors…even in the winter months! It’s so important for their mental and physical health to connect with nature.
It is a nice idea to add screen-free fun to the mix when it comes to entertaining children.
Visiting the zoo is a great replacement for digital games. Kids will develop curiosity and it expands their imagination.
I love cooking with my kids. Its always fun and it gets out creativity from them
Fun family adventures outdoors is on top of my list here. Thanks for sharing all these
It is so necessary to try and wean kids from the screen. Outdoor activities like a picnic, visit to the zoo, etc, are the need of the hour.
We love screen free activities such as these. Home science experiments and any STEM activities is always a hit plus anything creative such as crafting or painting. Unfortunately we live quite far zoos but my kids love to go there when we can.
I love all these ideas. Visiting the zoo is one of our favorites. We love seeing all the animals.
It does make for a really lovely day out.
I really enjoy reading this post! This is so perfect specially during this pandemic most kids always focusing on their gadgets, its time to have some activities like this!
It’s so important to limit screen time at that age. Especially during the holidays there is so much to do and get the kids involved in. Great tips and ideas!
The holidays can be a nightmare but limiting screen is still important so having activities to do helps greatly.
We’re always trying to get the kids into activities that don’t involve screen time. It’s a constant goal to get them off their iPads and phones.
It really can be. It’s not as easy as we’d hope.
I love a zoo as a child we would go to chessington zoo every easter
Those are great places to visit. It’s so lovely to get out and do things.
Some fabulous suggestions here, it has been a while since we visited the Zoo so that sounds like a great idea and cooking indoors as well when its wet outside
We do Screen Free Saturdays every week, which is really helpful in our household. Their toys get played with, their board games are brought out, and we spend some time cooking too! What good tips.
That is such a great idea. I might give it a go to.
I am always looking for ways to get the kids out of the house and off their devices. Great suggestions!
We love all of these activities. I think it’s really important to have screen-free fun as a family. The kids love visiting zoos but unfortunately we live far from any so it’s a rare special time when we visit one.
These are all so wonderful and great tips to keep the kids doing things not involving technology. I have to say I was born at the best time… I enjoyed a technology free upbringing in the 70’s and 80’s with the exception of my Atari…. but we played outside and I cooked as a kid as it was so much fun to me. My mom worked full time and I would try and cook dinner for her for when she got home when I was 12 or 13… and I am a really good cook because of it. Love all of these ideas!
Cooking with children is fun! It also helps with their coordination skills.
It really does. All kids love to cook.
Great tips. We try to find books to read together as a family to step away from the screen and have fun.
My twins are just getting to the age now where they are getting interested in board games so I am looking forward to distracting them from screens with family games
We’re big fans of games nights/ days here. It’s great to get everyone in the family involved if you can.
Full of wonderful ideas – cooking is my favourite, it’s so engaging for the whole family
this has made me realise i need to be setting a good example for the whole family and minimise my own screen time
These are some great ideas! We do these as well to limit screen time. Thank you for sharing the inspiration!
We love playing board games in my house always get new ones to add to the collection on Birthdays’ and Christmas.
Getting away from screen time is always good. We like to get outdoors as much as possible, it can even be fun in the rain, nothing like jumping in muddy puddles
Some brilliant ideas here. I love being outdoors and gardening and it is good to pass this love onto children.
It can be so lovely and beneficial for us too to get outside more.
Screen free time is so important, great ideas there, we like to bake and craft a lot
Both are great ways to keep children distracted from screens.
What a great variety of different options. Screen free time is so important for my boys. They love digging holes in the garden that i’ve given them a dedicated area to do so without destroying my flowerbeds!
Screen free time is so important for both of my boys. There are some really lovely ideas here. My 2 love digging so i’ve given them a dedicated area so they don’t destroy my flowerbeds!
Love to get my son outside once a day and away from his screen, he’d spend all day on it if he could but the longer he spends on it the more grumpy he gets!
Reminders like these are always appreciated! When the weather is wet and windy, the children don’t want to go for a walk. They do, though, love to play family games. We find games of luck rather than games of skill are better when families play together so even the youngest have an equal chance of winning.
This year we asked for zoo passes instead of toys for the kids and it was such a great success!
My grandchildren love a visit to the zoo and we are getting my grandson into gardening by giving him some seeds to grow and growing strawberries.
I’ve been guilty of allowing my child too much screen time in the past.
Bring on the fresh air for all! such a mood lifter
It really is isn’t it. Makes us feel so much better.
Family games nights and baking are some of our favourite activities! You know I’ve never actually taken my kids to a zoo!! I’ll have to make it happen this year.
They’ll love it, mine do!!!!
The zoo is great i love visiting animals as I love wildlife and birds , although its hard to go anywhere with no transport
We love anywhere with animals although we normally take public transport as it’s the easiest option most times.
great ideas, some of my best memories as a child are being outside and exploring
Me too, it can be soooo much fun!
Some really useful ideas here, Gardening is my go to activity with little ones whenever possible!
It is such a fab way to spend time and fun too!