Activities to Help Your Kids Unplug

In the modern age, it seems like everywhere you turn there’s another screen. From smartphones to tablets, laptops to TVs, our kids are constantly bombarded with digital distractions. How do you find activities to help your kids to unplug?

Let’s look at a few healthy and engaging activities that will help pry the devices from their hands. And hopefully, keep them interested and engaged for hours.

Choosing an Activity

The best activities to replace a digital addiction are those which have the same basic attractions as being plugged in, just without the drawbacks.

An activity that meets most or all of the following criteria will work:

1) It is self-paced, and not driven by a strong social pressure to achieve.

2) It is goal-oriented and has many opportunities to see progress.

3) It has a social component.

4) It’s fun.

Activities That Work

Since every child is different, we are unlikely to find an option that suits everyone, every time.

Don’t be afraid to experiment.

And of course, involve your child in the decision. This process will go a lot smoother, and work more reliably if you have their buy-in.

A few activities to consider:

1) Rock Climbing

We can’t say enough about how incredible this activity is. It builds strength, confidence, balance, and responsibility. What’s more, it ticks all the boxes for an activity to draw kids away from their screens. It’s an activity that will challenge both mind and body.

Climbing is inherently self-paced, and focused on individual problem-solving, rather than competitive performance.

It is naturally goal-oriented. Get to the top, and you have achieved your goal!

It can be highly social, requiring teamwork and encouraging climbers to share information on how best to get to the top.

And, of course, it’s really fun!

Climbing uniquely blends mental and physical puzzles. It combines them with a natural social environment, to create one of the most engaging activities you could ask for.

Climbing also allows kids to solve problems in their own way and on their own time. It also provides a motivational boost and builds self-confidence.

As a result, I have found that I can get kids to put down their phones, and forget they are there, for hours or longer just by pointing them at a climb and saying, have at it!

However, that doesn’t mean climbing is your only option (though, in my opinion, it is one of the best!)

Here are a few more options that I have found work well for getting your kids to disconnect.

2) Outdoor Games

Certainly, going out and playing a game of one-on-one basketball or two-on-two soccer is a great option for many kids. But games of Tag or Assassin, Capture the Flag, or Kick the Can tick all the boxes on our list, as well.

You can organized such games that last for hours without one kid picking up their phone.

3) Indoor Games

We live in a video game era. Kids have shifted from board games like Monopoly and Life to sitting around the latest console from Xbox and Playstation.

Board games are making a big comeback and for obvious reasons. While they may lack the physical benefits of running around outside, climbing, or playing sports, they tick all the boxes for replacing the habit of staying plugged in.

Good games involve problem-solving, achieving goals, strategy, and rewards. And they are social.

Card games work too. We find kids love playing anything from Go Fish to Apples to Apples to pass the time.

4) Artistic Projects

Music can give the very same intrinsic satisfaction as gaming by learning new patterns and playing along to songs. Additionally, playing with others offers social value through teamwork, similar to the cooperative experience in gaming.

And, of course, music isn’t the only artistic activity that has these traits.

Painting, photography, drawing, writing, and even modern art forms like 3-D modeling or programming all have tremendous benefits for young people. Both in terms of keeping their interest and providing meaningful satisfaction. And they also develop extremely useful skills. And, of course, creating is fun!

5) Build Something

Along the same lines as artistic projects, building projects also are a great substitute for online activities. They help to develop useful skills and provide that healthy dopamine burst that comes with pursuing a goal-oriented project.

And, “building things” is relatively easy to make age-appropriate:

1) Kids in elementary school have lots of options like Legos, erector sets, and miniature science kits, among other things;

2) As they get into their tweens, there are older versions of the same products, not to mention building forts, or even putting together more complicated toys like building their own skateboards or bikes;

3) And, teenagers can get into even larger projects (with proper supervision, of course).

As a bonus, these building projects also provide a great way for families to work together. It provides valuable bonding time and helps to satisfy the social needs which can drive kids too deep into social media.

6) A Walk in the Woods

Our final suggestion is one of the simplest, and cheapest, of the lot.

But, it’s one that should not be ignored. For many kids, being outside in the natural environment is not just a great substitute for screen time, it is a welcome relief from the background stress that, particularly, social media can cause.

In the woods, kids could be their own boss; deciding what they want to investigate, what they want to make (building forts, etc), and what games they want to play. It is fun, engrossing, active—and never boring.

And kids love the outdoors.

Try to get your kid outside nearly every day, even if it is just to walk by the stream and look at rocks.

The added benefit to this pattern is that, when your kid tries to throw a tantrum, if you take away their tablet (depriving them of Peppa Pig or Elmo), all you need to do is let them outside. Kick around their favorite ball or play in their favorite muddy puddle, and…tantrum over.

Of course, not every kid will react so dramatically to this change of scenery. However, most kids of all ages will find outdoor activities and the mysteries of exploring the forest far from boring.