8 things kids can do at home instead of screen time

First of all, I’d like to start off by saying that this is a no-judgment zone. I don’t judge.  Nearly everyone is guilty of allowing their kids too much screen time. It happens. Life happens. You are doing the best you can with what you have and that’s more than good enough.

I don’t believe in mommy-guilt.  Social media has really revved up this phenomenon and sadly, all that has done is create a generation of parents who walk around in guilt.  It’s gotta stop. Kids feed off this guilt (and take advantage – I see it all the time), and truly, most parents just need a pat on the back. I don’t know about you but my own mother parented me without guilt. Sure, she may have made some minor “mistakes” along the way but she was secure in her decisions and I really benefited from her strength and assertion. And bottom line, she loves me. She would do anything for me and I’m so lucky to have her.

Reality check!

Parenting is a tough job. We all do it differently and there’s nothing wrong with that. If your goal is to raise responsible, strong and happy adults, tell yourself that you have the best of intentions and you are dong a great job. As a health care provider, I repeat this to parents all day.

“He’s not sleeping through the night”. You’re doing a great job.

“He’s a picky eater”. You’re doing a great job.

“He’s throwing tantrums left, right and center”. You’re doing a great job.

“He’s not latching on”. You’re doing a great job. 

The perfect parent only has one requirement: loving the child. If you’ve got that part down (which I know you do), then give yourself a mental break.

With that being said, too much screen time is a bad thing.

We all know this.

Studies have proven this time and time again. Too much screen time has been linked to depression and anxiety (which , by the way, is an epidemic). A recent study actually revealed that too much screen time reduces the size of the cerebral cortex which literally means that it “shrinks the brain”. Kids who have limited screen time have better cognition, do better in school, have better vision and even have a reduced risk of cancer. If those are not reasons to consider setting limits on screen time, I don’t know what is.

So how should you enforce it?

This part is up to you because it depends on your parenting style. My general rule of thumb is to try to avoid all screen time during the week and to limit it to 2 hours per day on weekends. This works for us because we don’t even have time for it during the week. We eat dinner as a family. We rush around to activities, we do homework and we try to get a good night’s sleep.

Don’t get me wrong,  we do have the occasional “movie binge day” at my house and there are times when that rule isn’t enforced but for the most part, I tend to be old-fashioned and would rather encourage my kids to do ANYTHING at all besides watch their iPad.

EIGHT THINGS KIDS CAN DO AT HOME (other than screen time)

• Read a book

Nothing will improve your child’s school performance and intellect more than learning to love to read. This is a must. While some kids are born bookworms, reading regularly is a challenge for many others. If your child falls into the latter category, set small goals. Have them read for 5 minutes at a time. Then for 10 , then for 15, and so on and so forth.

Pick out books together. Start with books on topics they like (even if it’s about video games) , and then encourage them to pick a book that is a little out of their comfort zone. Reward them every time they finish a book. Reading isn’t just about learning but it’s also a lesson in finishing something you’ve started.

• Draw, craft or color

If your kid loves to draw, nurture this.  Otherwise, encourage them to color in their coloring books or to make something with their hands. This encourages their creativity.

My 8 year old can entertain herself for hours using fabric and glue. Below, she made her dad a wallet. It can’t hold coins or credit cards, but hey, it’s a wallet and it’s adorable.

• Garden

Have you jumped on the gardening bandwagon yet? It really is a great family activity. While I wish I had the talent of Da’nelle at weedemandreap.com , I don’t. Da’nelle lives a homestead life in the middle of a city and she makes it all look super easy.

I have a black thumb (if that’s what the opposite of a green thumb is). I am really bad at yard work and gardening and I can kill any plant just by claiming ownership of it.  But to my surprise, gardening is doable. With enough research, willing participants and a healthy acceptance of failure, gardening is possible for family. I have yet to see a child who doesn’t enjoy gardening.

By some weird twist of luck, we were actually successful in planting some tomatoes and jalapenos and the children just LOVE to eat what they grew. Because of this, we are considering installing a small garden in an unused corner or our yard .

So take a stab at it. If you plant the seeds for future budding gardeners, they may spend some of their time watering and caring for their plants , which is so much better than playing videogames.

• Play outside

Ah the infamous “go outside and play” conundrum. Trust me, I get it. This isn’t as easy as it used to be. If you are blessed enough to live in a safe area and you feel comfortable letting them play outside, please do it. Do it often and do it regularly. Fresh air is great. Vitamin D is healthy. Exercise is amazing and kids desperately need it. Nothing beats it.

• Have a dance party

If you cannot allow your kids to play outside for any reason (it’s too cold, too hot, not safe, they are too young…), then consider putting on music and letting them dance it out! This is a fun, safe activity which is so good for the soul.

• Write something

This is another creative activity that every child should learn to love . If they like to write stories, let them write stories. Encourage them to write and perfect a story, then read it back to you.  If they like poetry, let them dabble in some poem writing.  Some kids have journals and this encourages them to get their feelings out and express themselves. If they are musically inclined, encourage them to write a song.

• Play with their toys

Moms. Dads. We bought them the toys. The toys are just sitting there and need to be played with. If the toys are collecting dust, we have wasted money and space. The toys could go to someone who will play with them. And take it from me: kids. must. have. unstructured. play time.

It’s very important. They have to learn to play and use their imaginations. The toys are there for that purpose.

“Why do you want an LOL doll?”

“So I can play with it”.

“So play with your LOL doll.”

It really is that simple.

• Play with their pets 

Similarly, if you own pets, encourage your children to play with them. Studies have shown that early exposure to pets reduces the risk of allergies in kids and encourages childhood responsibility. My kids played incessantly with the class pet hamster when it was our turn to take it home for the weekend.

That poor hamster was in the ball, out of the ball. Back in the ball. And back out. Then back in again.They fed it. They watched it. They laughed at it. They cared for it. They read about it.  It nearly convinced me to get them a pet hamster but then I remembered that they already have two dogs to play with every day!

So now, whenever my kids ask”what can we do?”, I think up an activity that helps the dogs and the kids alike.  “You know what?They need to be trained. They need to be walked. They need a new toy (make them one!)”.

Do you notice a theme in the activities listed above?

Kids needs to learn to just “be” without a screen to depend on. You could argue that grown-ups need this too. So the next time your kids walk up to you and say the dreaded “I’m bored”, have a back up plan in place. We write ours out together so they can refer to the list whenever they need a reminder.