Are you unplugging this week? (Besides, of course, your momentary glance at this screen to get some great ideas — we’ll give you a pass, just this once.) Here are 20 screen-free activities to keep the kids engaged and having fun.
1. Go stargazing! On a clear night, go outside and see if you can identify any of the spring constellations. Here are just a few that should be visible because they are highest in the sky this time of year: Leo, Virgo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Cassiopeia. The star Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, is also known as the “little king” or “lion’s hear” (Cor Leonis). –from Camp Out by Lynn Brunelle (page 188)
2. Write with sunlight! Use a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto a soft piece of wood, like pine (don’t forget to wear sunglasses), and gradually move the beam of light over the wood to burn a message or a picture. –from Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun by Michael J. Caduto (page 88)
3. Free associate. Play this noncompetitive word game in which one person says a word, then next person calls out a word associated with that first word, the third person calls out a words associated with the second, and so on (example: love, tennis, court, supreme, Diana Ross…). At the end, see if you can recall it in reverse! –from The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson (page 105)
4. Make a “Life-Size Me”! Cut a piece of butcher paper about 12 inches longer than your child’s height. Place it on the floor, have your child lie on top of it, and trace your child’s outline. Your child can use crayons and markers to fill in the details — clothes, expressions, and any other add-ons! –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 142)
5. Make utensil-free fruit salad and take it on a picnic. Cut up approximately 1-inch chunks of fruits like cantaloupe, pineapple, pear, apple, banana, add some whole fruits like strawberries, grapes, and pitted cherries and slide them onto bamboo skewers. Yum! –from The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman (page 295)
6. Play the ABCs of groceries! Write the letters A through Z on index cards. Shuffle them up, and place the deck face down on the floor. Your children can take turns rolling a pair of dice and selecting a card. If you roll a 4, and turn over the B card, you call out 4 grocery items that start with the letter B: beans, bananas, bread, and beets! –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 295)
7. Make a simple rock sculpture. Collect some fist-sized flat rocks at the beach or park or in your backyard. Sort them by color or size or shape. Arrange them in a spiral or pile ’em high! Make a stone fairy house or construct a miniature Stonehenge. –from Camp Out by Lynn Brunelle (page 264)
8. Have a cookbook scavenger hunt! Select a cookbook that includes the categories “Main Dishes” and “Desserts” (use rubber bands to close off the other portions of the book). Have your child pick a recipe, announce the category, and reveal the ingredients to you one by one. You get to take a guess after each ingredient. –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 274)
9. Plant a tree. Did you know that one billion pounds of carbon dioxide would be taken out of the atmosphere if every family planted just one tree? Keep a pair of binoculars handy — as the tree grows over the next months and years, you might spy some visitors: birds, squirrels, tree frogs. –from Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun by Michael J. Caduto (page 68)
10. Take a hike! Lace up an old pair of shoes (don’t break in those brand new boots now, or it’s blister city!) and a fresh pair of socks. Pack a layer (it often gets colder in the shade of trees and at higher altitudes when there’s more wind and less to block it), some snacks and water, a compass and map, sunscreen (and hat, and sunglasses) and insect repellent, and a basic first aid kit. And don’t forget to pack your camera, so you can show off the sights when you get back! –from Summer: A User’s Guide by Suzanne Brown (page 86)
11. Make chocolate covered pretzels. (You can’t say that this isn’t better than TV!) Melt a 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips, open a 10-ounce bag of pretzel rods, and put any number of the following toppings on small plates: chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, sweetened flaked coconut, crushed cookies, miniature M&Ms or other tiny chocolate candies. Dip the pretzel rod about two-thirds of the way in the chocolate, then roll the pretzel rod in a topping and place them on a baking sheet until the chocolate hardens. (Variation: Dip strawberries instead!) –from The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman (page 293)
12. Build a clubhouse. This one’s obviously a bit more involved, but start with the plans — let your children brainstorm and draw the sorts of features they’d like. Write up a shopping list together, then take a trip to the local lumber yard and pick out the materials. Go ahead and build your dream house — square the foundation, set the cornerstones, and construct walls and windows. When it’s finished, draft rules, keep an activity log, and throw a clubhouse warming party! –from Keep Out by Lee Mothes
13. Run in a back-to-back race. Here’s another game to get people moving (and not too fast…). Have kids pair off back to back and link their arms at the elbows. Then it’s a race to the finish line! –from The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson (page 321)
14. Play toddler basketball. If your kids aren’t quite 7 feet tall yet, just grab a laundry basket or other small tub and a soft, medium-sized ball. Hold the basket at toddler height — and don’t forget that part of your job as basket tender is moving the basket to help catch the ball! –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 54)
15. Play red light, green light. A perennial favorite, and one to really stop people in their tracks (ha!): One person is “it” and turns his/her back on the rest, who line up about 25 paces behind. “It” calls out “green light!” signaling the other players to advance, then whirls around and yells “red light!” to indicate a stop. If “It” catches anyone still moving, he or she is sent back to the starting line. First one to reach “It” wins! –from The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson (page 321)
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What do you plan to do to unplug? And if you haven’t taken the screen-free pledge this week, head over to the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood to sign up! Let us know in the comments what you’re doing to unplug, and you could win a copy of one of the books mentioned above.
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