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Top Ways to Entertain Your Child at Home Without Screen Time

low-cost summer family fun ideas a bunch of kids dumping buckets of water on their dad in a park Middle Class Dad

Remember what we did when we were kids? We had our video game consoles, but didn’t we spend more time outdoors with our siblings, cousins, neighbors, and friends? How our parents ever managed to subdue our boundless energy is beyond our wildest imagination. Today, parents are finding it extra hard to cut screen time from their children’s lives.

But several studies show how screen time affects children’s development, so that needs to stop right now.

Provide Writing Activities

You can download free second-grade writing activities that your kid will enjoy.

Even younger children will appreciate these activities because they can try out something they haven’t done before. Older kids will enjoy the challenge of learning to write letters and numbers. The activities don’t have to be similar for all kids.

You can find activities that suit their age better.

Let Them Play Outside

Do you have a backyard where kids can play safely? Allow your child to take some of their toys outside and play with them. You can build a sandbox for them or a treehouse.

You can also invest in a slide, see-saw, and swing. Playing will keep them preoccupied for a long time. That’s enough time for you to do household chores such as preparing dinner, washing the dishes, and doing the laundry.

Just make sure to check on them every now and then.

Create an Art Zone

Dedicate a corner of the living room to art. This is the space where they can paint and color.

If they paint on your walls, let them be. They are too young. They don’t think that coloring your pale-yellow walls is going to ruin your house’s interior. Give them an art activity such as creating a robot out of paper.

Set up a Restaurant

You can set up a restaurant or diner in their room.

Older kids love to play roles. They’ll act as chefs, cashiers, and waiters. They’ll give you burgers made of plastic and soda made of slime. Your only role would be to pretend that the food is delicious. They’ll try and make you more.

If your kid is old enough, you can buy molding clay so that they can mold it into burgers, fries, chicken, and spaghetti.

Let Them Help You

Sometimes, all your kid wants is to spend time with you.

Let them help you with your chores. If you’re baking, let them mix the cookie dough. The kitchen may be a lot messier than you intend for it to be, but your kid is going to have a grand time.

Build a Library

Invest in books or borrow from the local library.

You will help develop your kid’s imagination and memory by teaching them the love for reading. Take the time to read aloud the stories to them. You never know; you may even get your child to take an afternoon nap. That will give you enough time to rest or finish some errands in the house.

It is okay to be bored.

Kids will always get bored because they are filled with this energy that they have no way of controlling. They need activities, but they don’t need screen time. You survived without watching the TV or playing a game console when you were their age.

Why should kids today be any different?

Jeff Campbell