A guide to Helping your children with active play and less screen time
As a parent, we need to act smart and discover how to reduce excessive screen time by participating with our little ones in tech-free activities that are creative and fun. We understand that technology is a quick and easy option to entertain children, but it can also be quite addictive if not used in moderation.
With readily available items found around your home kids can have the potential to create something unique that is worth keeping. There are many other activities that you can use to engage children, such as reading books, trying obstacle courses, or playing board games at home. In this article, I will share screen-free games and activities that inspire more learning, interaction and imagination without using technology.
7 Tips on How to Manage Screen Time for Our Kids
- Please set up a painting and colouring activity for the tigers with their favourite paint colours and let their imagination flourish. An excellent way to introduce activities such as this to babies and toddlers is by mixing paint colours in a zip-lock bag and allowing them to explore textures and colour transformation.
- Encourage the cherished ones to craft a masterpiece by setting up some play dough, paper rolls, tissue paper, glue, pom-pom, chalk and more. Just wait and see what they can build. If your kids are at primary level, you can also provide them with paintbrushes and watercolours to uncover their inner Picasso.
- Another fun indoor/outdoor activity for our kids is challenging them to create an obstacle course from the resources available at your home. Let their imagination take over and watch their inner passion develop.
- In addition to traditional sports like soccer and basketball, provide them with pools of water or bubbles to play with. Whatever approach you take, kids love the opportunity to explore and have fun.
- What are your thoughts about some puzzles? Aren’t they both educational and fun? They teach children some problem-solving and analytical skills. Including wooden puzzles for toddlers and complex puzzles for kids, they are life savers when looking for tech-free ways to entertain a child. They are challenging enough to keep them busy on their own, giving you some quiet time.
- Do you remember when you’d spend your childhood playing board games like chess and checkers? Well, you can always have your young family play these too, as board games are ideal for cozy rainy day indoor time and suitable for mental development. Board games allow our children to learn strategy while enjoying a fun, screen-free activity.
- Did you know Reading a book is the favoured choice amongst experts to enhance your kids’ imagination and encourage them to create the images inside their minds? Books are ideal for all children if you’re looking for an activity to support cognitive development. Babies and toddlers often enjoy books with rhyme, rhythm or repetition. Older children can learn new vocabulary and absorb an endless amount of information from these type of activities. It is also one of the screen-free activities that also enables quiet time for parents.
Kids naturally have a pool of energy that can sometimes be endless. Encouraging them to be active through kids’ indoor or outdoor activities will provide the cognitive development and physical exertion they need to release all that energy. Device-free activities can also be a great learning tool. Introduce games and opportunities for your child to develop and tap into their brain power. Overall, artistic activities are timeless and perfect tech-free ways to entertain kids and encourage innovation and self-expression for a range of ages.
We all understand technology plays a vital role in our lives. If used correctly, it can provide parents and children access to helpful information and entertainment. Practising balance and ensuring our kids are not consumed by technology is always important. Not only will reducing screen time increase development for your family, but encouraging them to enjoy screen-free activities will bring new and exciting fun into their lives, and ours too.
