Technology is thoroughly ingrained in all our lives and our children are no exception. From an early age, screens are a key source of entertainment for them and, like it or not, highly effective at keeping them occupied. At school, they’re used increasingly in the classroom. But sometimes it can all get too much. Sometimes wouldn’t you appreciate a little downtime from technology? Here Liat Hughes Joshi, parenting expert and author of How to Unplug Your Child* shares some of her top screen-free activities for a mix of ages.
Published
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY
Difficulty 2/5
Your child must come up with five to 10 random kind things to do in a day. How about: delivering homemade biscuits to those lonely elderly neighbours, letting someone else jump a queue, inviting the child who struggles to make friends round, picking litter up? But the activity here is about coming up with the ideas as well as the doing, so let the children think some up themselves.
What you’ll need
• A dose of generosity!
• Possibly some money if their acts involve you paying for things or ingredients for baking
This is sure to warm their hearts as well as hopefully those of the people on the receiving end
PREDICT THEIR OWN FUTURE
Difficulty 2/5
Thinking 15 or 20 years on fascinates most children: what will they be doing and what might have changed in daily life with new innovations? Come up with a template together or get them to create one, with categories such as: their job, where they’ll live and with whom, their holidays, car and pets. Add the date, and place their predictions in an envelope to keep until they’re adults – will they come true?
What you’ll need
• Paper
• Pens
For more fun: predict what the wider world will be like sometime in the future – try 20 years ahead. What might change and what could be invented?
30-DAY PHOTO CHALLENGE
Difficulty 3/5
Children must come up with a list of 30 interesting or unusual
categories to inspire a photo each day: my favourite thing, a view,
words, the season, food, inspired by a song or close-up, perhaps. The
ideas could be more arty and obscure for older children (adjectives and
emotions work well here). A little and often project, rather than one
that will last hours in one go.
What you’ll need
• A camera
• A way of printing the photos at the end to make an album or
photobook of the project, as well as potentially posting on social media
if they’re old enough. A lot of us no longer print photos, so they
could also choose their favourite shot of the 30 to frame and put on the
wall somewhere
DESERT ISLAND DISCS
Difficulty 1/5
Assuming your kids don’t listen to the famous BBC Radio 4 programme
and might not even get the reference to discs meaning music, this might
require some explaining. So, you’re a shipwrecked castaway and must name
eight pieces of music, one book and a luxury item that will help ease
life on that desert island. Adapt it if your kids aren’t into music –
they could
name toys, food or friends to take.
What you’ll need
• Nothing!
Pad things out by making players create fantastical stories about how
they ended up on the island and how they might escape as well. They
could perhaps pick three items to enable that escape and then describe
how they’d do it.
THE MEMORY GAME
Difficulty 1/5
You probably remember this old chestnut (if you don’t, your memory
might not be up to playing!). One person starts off saying ‘I went to
the shops and bought’ and adds the name of something, and then each of
the other players must add an item in turn and recall all the previous
ones too. First to mess up and forget is out.
What you’ll need
• A half-decent memory
• At least two people
Variations on this include: ‘I went on holiday and I packed…’ ‘I went
to school and did…’ and ‘I met a footballer/celebrity called…’,
depending on age and interests.
Thinking 15 or 20 years on fascinates most children: what will they be doing and what might have changed in daily life with new innovations?
FOREVER BLOWING (GIANT) BUBBLES
Difficulty 3/5
Most kids have had fun bubble blowing on a small scale, but supersize
the bubbles and you supersize the laughs. To make the bubble mix, stir
the ingredients together, then, if possible, leave it overnight in a
large tray/ bowl. To make your bubble wand, shape an old wire coat
hanger into a circle (as best you can) and cover the hook’s sharp end
with masking tape so no one loses an eye. Choose a still day as wind
will scupper efforts.
What you’ll need
For the bubble mix:
• 1 litre of water
• 70 ml of washing up liquid
• 25 ml glycerine (sold in chemists or supermarkets)
• a large tray/bowl
For the bubble wand:
• An old wire coat hanger
• Masking tape
CREEPY-CRAWLY CATCHER
Difficulty 2/5
Most children are enthralled by bugs and ants; this quick-to-make
creepy-crawly catcher creates a temporary habitat for your child to
observe them in. Take a clean, empty plastic berry container, remove any
label, then craft a door in the lid by cutting around three sides, so
it can be lifted up and down. Tape around all the edges of the box lid,
and job done – time to get out hunting for those bugs, although don’t
forget to set them free at the end (outside!).
What you’ll need
• A berry container
• Masking tape
• Scissors and a grown-up to do the cutting of the door (tape over any sharp edges on the cut plastic too)
GROW A GROSS MOULD GARDEN
Difficulty 1/5
Revolting and fascinating in equal measure: your kids will see how
the furry white and green stuff develops and which foods get grossest
quickest. Put different food scraps in clean jars that you won’t want to
reuse afterwards (throw them away/put them in the recycling at the end
and do not open them once the mould has arrived), and see how the mould
grows, checking daily over a couple of weeks.
What you’ll need
• Several clean jars
• Tape to seal the jars
• Sticky labels to mark the jars as ‘mould gardens – DO NOT OPEN… EVER’
• Chunks of several foods (such as orange peel, bread, but not meat or fish as these will get too stinky)
Kids could take daily photos to document the mould’s growth.
*How to Unplug Your Child by Liat Hughes Joshi is published by Vie Books, price £7.99
