It’s time to rediscover everything you’re missing when you’re connected to your screens. Screen Free Week (formerly known as TV-Turnoff Week) is an annual celebration where families and communities turn off screens (TV, video games, computers, hand-held electronics) and enjoy real life instead.
Preschoolers spend an average of 32 hours per week with screens – and older children spend even more time. That’s an astonishing amount, especially since excessive screen time has been linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity and attention problems. Even “educational” programming can be harmful to kids who spend too much time in front of a screen and not enough time playing outdoors or immersed in creative play.
Here are some ideas for how you can spend Screen Free Week (April 29-May 5) reconnecting with your family.
- Plant a garden – an herb or veggie garden allows kids to see how some of their food grows, and it can cut down on your grocery bill. A flower garden or butterfly garden can also enchant even the most die-hard screen addicts.
- Visit parks in your area that you may not have explored before. Whether you hit a different playground or explore a new hiking trail, the exercise and fresh air will be a welcome change from sitting in front of a screen.
- Learn some new recipes – get the kids involved in cooking or baking. They’ll learn a valuable life skill, and they’ll be proud to serve the spaghetti/cookies/bread that they made.
- Clean and Declutter. Screen-Free Week is the perfect opportunity to hit your spring cleaning. Purge some unused possessions, dust out all the cobwebs, and organize a few trouble spots.
- Explore the local library – pick up some new books or music, and take turns reading to each other. Kids love being read to, and having the kids read to you and younger siblings is a fantastic way to practice reading skills. Mix it up with silly voices or dramatic sound effects.
- Create art. You don’t have to get fancy. Grab a canvas or some big sheets of paper and some paint and get creative. You can use brushes if you want… or you can see how creative those kids are with fingers, toes, stamps and any other items you can think of.
- Break out the games. You can dust off those old board games, teach the kids some classics like chess or checkers, or grab a pencil and paper for tic-tac-toe, crosswords or hangman. A handful of dice or a deck of cards make great additions to your family game closet as well.
- Puzzle time! Clear off a table or a big stretch of floor and put together a jigsaw puzzle together. Puzzles are a terrific way for kids to practice visual, memory and problem solving skills.
- Visit with friends and family – when was the last time you got together with your closest friends and loved ones and spent time talking, eating, playing or reminiscing without a smart phone involved?
- Take in a ball game. If your kids are used to watching sports on TV with you, take them to see a game in person. It doesn’t have to be a pro game – taking kids to see high school athletics can be an inspiration for them to take up a sport of their own.
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