Screen Free Things To Do With Kids at Home
—
Excessive screen time can negatively impact children’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that children engage in activities that don’t involve screens, such as playing outside, reading books, doing arts and crafts, or playing board games. In addition, parents can set aside time for screen-free activities to help their children develop a healthy relationship with technology while promoting overall well-being and a balanced lifestyle.
Maintain a journal
The pandemic has caused anxiety in both adults and children, and journaling is a great way to alleviate these fears and gain clarity of thoughts. If you are doing it with your kid for the first time, you can start by maintaining a gratitude journal. Here, both you and your kid can write down the things you are grateful for. Encouraging journaling can be a simple yet effective way to promote mindfulness and creativity in children.
Practice cooking and baking.
Cooking is a crucial life skill that everyone, including children, should learn from an early age. It’s an excellent screen-free activity that engages children and encourages creativity, mindfulness, and independence. Even young children can help their mothers by doing simple tasks like fetching the ingredients, stirring ingredients, etc. So why don’t you two bake a cake and surprise others in the house? Sounds fun, ain’t it?
Sketching and coloring
This is another affordable and effective way to reduce stress and improve focus. These activities allow kids to express the innermost emotions they find difficult to express through speech or writing. All you need is a blank sheet of paper. If your kid initially feels hesitant, you can take the first step and sketch anything to motivate the kid. Then, to make your kid feel validated, you two can give scores on each other’s sketches and make it a fun activity!
Engage in Gardening
Gardening has been one of the favorite hobbies of people for ages. Gardening is not only a relaxing activity, but it also provides numerous benefits for children. The best part about gardening is that it allows one to connect with nature! In addition, it teaches important life skills such as patience, nurturing, and the value of small daily tasks. If you are new to gardening, start with a low-maintenance plant like a money plant or mint and progress to growing your own microgreens.
Solving puzzles
Puzzles are a great way to stimulate the mind and are loved by people of all ages, especially kids who enjoy a good challenge. With a variety of puzzle options available, from crossword and word search to jigsaw puzzles and Rubik’s cube, there’s something for everyone. Even intricate puzzles can be found that are appropriate for different skill levels.
Practice dancing
Dancing is an excellent screen-free activity that can keep children engaged while providing various benefits. It allows them to express themselves creatively and helps improve their coordination, balance, and rhythm. Unlike other forms of exercise, dancing can be done indoors, making it a great option for rainy days or winter when it’s too cold to go outside. Plus, it’s a fun activity that kids can do on their own and engage friends or family members.
Build DIY toys at home.
Cardboard boxes, old containers, and clothes can be transformed into imaginative playthings, while pipe cleaners and other simple items can be used for crafting. This is a great way to get creative and teaches children the value of recycling and repurposing items instead of buying new ones. You can order cubby houses online https://www.lifespankids.com.au/ and make a cubby house with your kid at home!
Organize your kid’s room together.
A lot of parents don’t make their kids do some basic household work only to pamper them. Well, this isn’t what responsible parents should follow. Instead, teaching kids how to stay organized from a young age can help them develop a sense of responsibility and pride in their living space.
It doesn’t have to be daunting, as simple changes such as rearranging furniture or adding new decor items can make a big difference. By involving them in the process of creating a room makeover plan, kids can have fun while also learning important life skills.
Thus, parents can do many fun and engaging screen-free activities with their children at home. These activities help children develop important life skills and encourage creativity, promote family bonding, and provide a break from excessive screen time. By incorporating these activities into their daily routine, parents can create a healthy and well-rounded environment for their children to learn and grow in.
—
This content is brought to you by Kavita Paliwal
iStockPhoto
The post Screen Free Things To Do With Kids at Home appeared first on The Good Men Project.