My kids are screen-free Monday to Thursday. It’s not always been that way and it may not always be this way, but for this stage, this works best for us. I honestly feel my kids are happier when the TV is off most of the time and we’ve not yet entered the world of iPads or phone games (they are 4 and nearly-2). I do need to add in a small caveat here… we watch a yoga instruction video (from Cosmic Kids Yoga) every evening as part of the bedtime routine.
The kids are also definitely better behaved when the TV is mostly off. A 20 minutes episode can result in an hour of grumpiness when turned off, and that’s not a good enough trade off for me! Friday afternoon the girls watch a movie after they get home from daycare because they are always EXHAUSTED and they also get a couple of episodes on Saturday morning (usually while I have a ‘lie in’… until 8am) and a couple of episodes on a Sunday evening after we’ve finished church and lunch with Gran.
“How do you get anything done??” I hear you ask. Well. Here are 10 free screen free winter-friendly activities that work for my pre-schoolers. 9/10 are indoors and at least some of them can be done unsupervised.
1. Craft box. A well stocked selection of crafts that can be used with minimal supervision is a great go-to screen free activity. Ours currently has crayons, watercolour paint, paper, age appropriate scissors and stamps.
2. Bath+. This is quite a fun one to use what you have to hand. Baths are always a good calm down tool but have you ever considered adding some building blocks? (probably not wooden ones!) we have a box of megabloks that work well for little hands. Another bath+ idea is giving them a snack in the bath – blows their tiny minds! An ice lolly or an apple work well. Any other water-friendly additions you can think of?
3. Tea Party. See my post on Le Goûter, a break to make a snack fancy uses up a good chunk of time, and is a great place for conversation and connection. Even plain crackers can be a tea party if you put them on a plate and all sit together to eat them.
4. Stack of books. This is one of my favourites because I feel like a super-mum when I read a bunch of books to the kids! This is especially easy if you use toy rotation and you can say bring ALL the books (and it’s still a manageable pile).
5. Playdough. This is one of the most effective activities in our house for when I need to get something done like cooking dinner. I usually make my own playdough (try this recipe) and I give them a few tools like rolling pins, silicone cupcake cakes, cookie cutters and pompoms to make up games with. This can be done totally unsupervised and keeps them quiet for ages.
6. Clean the windows. This is actually semi-helpful even if they do leave it a little streaky. Both of my girls enjoy this chore, though in fairness it doesn’t hold their attention for ages. Just give them a cloth wetted with water/vinegar mix or if they can be trusted, a dry cloth and a spray bottle with water/vinegar mix.
7. Yoga. OK, this isn’t technically screen-free as most people will need an instruction video to follow BUT it’s active and can be done together or unsupervised. As mentioned above, we like Cosmic Kids Yoga and if we do one during the day we go for a longer one than the 10-15 min bedtime ones.
8. Puzzle party. Most kids love puzzles, so grab out a big one to do together or one each per kid at different stages and enjoy!
9. Make cornflake cakes. Or ricecrispy cakes or basically any easy, store cupboard baking that you can do with the kids without going insane! Make them and then make a big deal about presenting and eating them together.
10. Play outside. This is the outlier and obviously isn’t always an option but if the weather is nice or you have good waterproofs a short play outside or a little walk can be a huge mood booster and an oppourtunity for lots of creative play.
Here’s a handy kid-friendly printable of these ideas. Stick it up and point to it when your kids say “I’m bored!”.
Share your favourite screen-free activities in the comments!
SLOW MOTHERHOOD 