Winter is slowly passing through and Springtime is the light at the end of the tunnel. Warmer, longer days hopefully full of sunshine and fun. Now that we’re coming out of a winter fog, it’s time to talk about getting our kids up and out doing fun, screen free activities.
Everyone has their own opinion about how much screen time is appropriate for their kids. It is without a doubt addicting, so it’s important to pay attention and manage what time they do have with the screen.
I tried to get creative and come up with some screen free activities that we can do WITH our kids. Getting engaged with what they’re doing makes them more excited to do it! There are a few things that you can use to sit them down and do if you need to get things done, but most are activities you can do together.
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A few screen free activities for your kids and you!
Decorate a box.
Save one of your Amazon boxes and let your kids get creative. Use paint, markers, crayons, stickers, anything you can decorate with.
Build a fort.
Use your couches, tables, entertainment center or whatever makes the most sense and make a fort. We like to put our air mattress inside to make it even more fun.
Create a sensory bin.
Sensory bins are all the rage. Instead of purchasing one, see what you can create using things around your house. Find a fun theme like rainbow colors, under the sea, at the farm, ice cream shop, etc and see what you can come up with. Then the kids will be able to play with it for a while!
If you’re not sure what to put in your sensory bin, here a few ideas:
Water beads – Fine Motor Tools – Small Plastic Animal Toys – Kinetic Sand – Small Sand Molds – Pipe Cleaners – PomPom Balls – Other items that are good for touch, sight and smell!
Plan a treasure hunt.
Create a scavenger hunt type map or write out clues and instructions to lead your kids to the hidden treasure. The treasure can be anything, but I recommend a new book. Whether it’s for reading, coloring or an activity book, once they find it, they can spend more time using it once the treasure has been discovered!
Play with an Aquadoodle Mat.
These mats are super neat and practically mess free. You’ll fill different pens and such with water for your kids to color on this magical mat. It’s great for so many ages.
Bake and decorate cupcakes or cookies.
My little girl is obsessed with baking. She loves to help me in the kitchen whenever she can. Find a reason to make cupcakes or cookies. Maybe bring them to the neighbors or a play group.
Set up a lemonade stand.
Kids LOVE making lemonade stands. On a nice day, let them do it! Have some fun making lemonade together, create some signs and find a place to set up shop. You could possibly hand out those cupcakes or cookies you decorated above as well!
Write a book together.
This may take a little more patience, but could spark some amazing creativity in your children. Let their story come to life by helping them write it out. It makes for a great teaching and learning experience. Once it’s written out, help them type it up and print it out! There will be various levels of help depending on the age of your children, but so much fun.
Create a time capsule.
Memorialize this moment in time and create a time capsule. Get an old shoe box and help your kids pick out a few things to put in it. Pictures of them at their current age, little trinkets that represent them now and an about me printable. Then tape it up, set a date to open and bury it in your yard or put it up in the attic.
Color with sidewalk chalk.
You can’t go wrong with sidewalk chalk. Draw a hopscotch, trace each other’s bodies, create a beautiful picture, whatever you want!
Make your own chalk paint!
It’s easier than you think and only requires 3 ingredients that you probably have in your home! Your kids can help you make it then spend some time outside painting their sidewalks.
Go backyard camping.
Set up a tent or create one like an indoor fort! Bust out the sleeping bags, cook some popcorn and set up your backyard like a mini camp site. If you have a fire pit, make some s’mores or cook a fun campfire dinner. I found this awesome article on campfire meals for families that I’m dying to try with my kids!
Have a picnic.
This kind of goes along with the camping idea, but a little more simple. Bust out your picnic blankets, baskets and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You can have it in your backyard or even take it to a park!
Play with Kinetic Sand.
We love kinetic sand in our house! It’s so much fun and not quite as messy as a full sandbox. Create castles, make mud pies, run it through your hands and more. You can also use kinetic sand to create sensory bins for your kids. Add it items to touch, dig up, bury and more.
Create your own board game.
How fun would it be to create your own board game with the kids? There are lots of ideas out there. I’m not going to claim to have any unique ideas of my own, but Pinterest has tons of options that can help spark your creativity!
Have a family game night.
After you’ve made your board game, have a family game night! Play your new game and then play some of your favorites. Maybe pop some popcorn or make another fun treat to munch on while you play.
Play with a water table or run through the sprinklers.
If the weather is nice, get outside and play! We love our water table and play with it as soon as the weather is nice. If you don’t have one, bust out the sprinkler or just the hose. Playing with water is always fun and can last for hours. Just don’t forget the sunscreeen!
Put on a puppet show.
This activity is awesome because it could take a while! Grab some brown lunch bags or paper plates and make some puppets. Have each of your kids make a couple and you too! Next find the perfect place to have a show. The couch is always a good option if you can get behind it, otherwise use a blanket to cover a table! Put on a fun puppet show and create your own story.
Go on a family bike ride, skate or scooter.
Simple as that. Get the gang together, get outside and get moving! Whatever your preferred wheeled vehicle may be.
Paint some rocks!
I found this idea when looking for fun Easter activities to do as a family. Find some flat stones, ours were from a fountain in our backyard, grab some paint and brushes and start decorating! You can even write kind words on them and leave them at a neighborhood park for others to find. It’s always nice to brighten someone’s day.
Make slime.
In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup glue, 1/2 TBSP baking soda and 1/4 TBSP of contact-lens solution. Use a spatula to mix well, adding more contact-lens solution as needed until the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. I recommend adding some glitter to make it beautiful and sparkly! Once the slime is ready, you can begin to stretch it, make shapes or create whatever you want!
Create your family tree.
Draw it out or make it with construction paper. Use what you have to create your family tree. Print out pictures of everyone too to make it more engaging. It’s a fun learning experience for the kids! I don’t have an example yet, but Pinterest is full of ideas.
Plan and make a meal that the kids can cook.
I mentioned baking above, but if you don’t feel like having more sweet treats around the house, let them help you cool a meal. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, whatever you think will work! Here Chloe is helping me make my Apple Cinnamon Waffles for brunch one weekend. You can also find awesome kid friendly dinners to try. See what types of foods your kids want and find a way to have them make it.
Practice color, number or letter sorting.
I realize this may be geared towards younger kids, but I’m all for educational busy tasks! Get bins and have them sort toys by color, number or letter. If they’re older, find a way to work with words!
Play hide and seek.
A classic, but always fun. We play as a family and our kids love it. Our 4 year old is all about hiding and our 18 month old likes to follow around and see if he can find anyone. It’s really sweet and can actually be super funny and entertaining for all.
Bust out the legos. Build a tower or some other creation.
We all know there are millions of things you can build with legos. Find a kit or make your own creation. Don’t forget the Duplo sets or Mega Blocks for little ones.
Have a dance party!
Turn on some jams and just dance around. This activity may only last for a song or two, but stopping to do it is so fun and burns quite a bit of energy!
Sponge or nature painting.
Get ready to be creative and find some fun things to paint with. Sponges, leaves, sticks, blades of grass, flowers, etc. Whatever they can get their hands on outside to use as part of their art.
Workout with your kids.
This is a big one for me as a fitness instructor. Workout WITH them. It doesn’t have to be every day, but plan out your workout at home and get them to do it with you. There are lots of kid friendly workouts you can find. I would also suggest kid yoga, but that does technically involve them watching a screen.
Be sure to pin this workout to try with your littles later! And check out my other at home workouts for you to do with or without the little ones.
Play games that get your kids active!
This spell your name workout game for kids is a great way to work on letters or spelling words while getting them moving! Check out this game as well as several others that will keep your kids active and off screens for hours.
Write and Color with Printables
Don’t forget that this is a great time to learn! If the weather is nice, take your kids outside to color and write. There are tons of free printables out there! Take a look at my learning to write printable e-book designed for ages 3-6! Six pages of printables focusing on tracing and writing letters, numbers and words!
A few other ideas that you can run with:
- Create spray art
- Write letters or draw cards for family or friends
- Make a toilet paper roll craft
- Create a color matching game using tape and paper
- Tic tac toe
- Two words: Spa Day! Paint your nails, do face masks, relax in the bath
- Have a fashion show
- Host a fancy tea party with all their favorite dolls
- Do yoga through an audio guided practice (I also love Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube, but that obviously has a screen!)
- Read a long chapter book
- Play hair salon
- Practice a rubix cube
- Make friendship bracelets
- Play Simon Says
- Have a family slumber party
- Do puzzles
- Animal races – race pretending to be different animals
- Play taxi driver
- Create a chore chart
- Play-doh creations
- Make a glowing sensory bottle
Final Thoughts
Getting our kids away from the screen and out to play is super important. We live in a screen filled society, so it’s our job as parents to encourage time away. Get creative and find fun things to keep them busy, entertained and happy. Screen free activities are actually more fun!
Let them get wet and muddy. Don’t fret over the paint on their hand or dirt on their clothes. Encourage them to explore and find new things. They look to you for guidance and if they see you appreciating what they’re doing, they’ll continue to do it.
Let’s encourage creative play for our kids this spring and summer!
This post makes me really happy Amy! Especially now…crazy times.
I completely agree! Just trying to share some fun things to keep our chins up!
These are great! My youngest is obsessed with her aquadoodle right now. I think we’ll try to find some rocks to paint on our walk today, thanks for the idea!
The aquadoodle is so fun! Both of my littles love it. We also had a blast painting rocks. My daughter asks to do it every other day now!
This is fantastic!
Wonderful list! I love how it includes the entire family
Thank you! I figured that we have more time together now so we might as well use it wisely!
I love these ideas! I definitely need all the ideas right now! We’ve used a few of these already this week such as chalk, decorating a box, and baking, but I want to add some of the more family oriented activities! Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you like them! I highly recommend the painting rocks and a scavenger hunt. Both have been super fun for us this week!
These are all such great ideas!! I like a balance for sure and try to not do too much screen time so they’re imaginative sides can come out!
Yes that’s how I feel! I’m totally okay with shows and tablet time occasionally (especially now!), but I still want them to be kids and get out there and do stuff!
Baking and cooking is also a great way to add math to a fun activity. This is a great list of screen free activities!
Yes! I need to keep that in mind. We’ll do counting when we’re cooking since we’re not quite at math yet, but I could totally incorporate it more!
Great ideas! I have never thought about painting rocks but I know my daughter would absolutely have a blast.
Rocks are so fun and it’s different than your traditional art. With Easter right around the corner, it’s fun to paint them like Easter eggs!
This is a great list of screen-free activities. I had to laugh at the build a fort one. Lol, my entire basement is pretty much a giant fort right now. 😀
That is so fun! My daughter just learned about forts and is obsessed now!
Yesssss! Love all these! Now if only it would warm up and stop raining – we’ve Legoed and forted and baked etc etc etc and would LOVE to get outdoors for some of your fun backyard ideas!
Oh no! I hope the weather clears up for you soon!!!
What a great list of tips! Thank you
These ideas are so fun! And I absolutely love the photos! Your kids look like they really enjoyed themselves! Thanks for these wonderful suggestions!
Thanks Faith! We had lots of fun being creative and coming up with this list!
These are incredible ideas! Thank you!
Keeping the kids occupied especially in these uncertain times is key! Great ideas.
Agreed! I find that the busier my kids are the happier they are especially after being home for so long!
These sound like super fun ideas! I ordered the kids a splash pad for when it starts warming up, and we ordered them a play set for the backyard. Hopefully that keeps them occupied.
We love our splash pad! We were able to get ours out a few days last week and it kept my little ones busy for hours!
Great tips, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading!
Such fun and meaningful activities to do with our kids! Thanks for your wonderful ideas!
Thank you! I definitely try to do things WITH my kids. Some days I’m definitely better than others!
Great activity ideas for children to keep them learning and engaged. Sensory plays are always fun though messy. Will try some of these for our next play time.
Yes, sensory play can definitely be messy, but so fun!