The No-Screen Family Challenge: 25 Things to Do Instead

Phones, tablets, television, and video games make entertainment incredibly easy.

Sometimes a little too easy.

A screen-free afternoon can be a great way to get everyone doing something different.

The trick is having ideas ready before you turn the screens off.

Try:

1. Bake cookies

2. Play basketball

3. Build a fort

4. Go for a bike ride

5. Play a board game

6. Make paper airplanes

7. Have a scavenger hunt

8. Go swimming

9. Play hide-and-seek

10. Make homemade pizza

11. Draw comics

12. Go to the library

13. Visit a park

14. Play cards

15. Wash the car together

16. Build something with LEGO

17. Make smoothies

18. Have a family trivia contest

19. Go for a walk

20. Make friendship bracelets

21. Play charades

22. Plant something

23. Create an obstacle course

24. Look through old family photos

25. Let the kids invent their own activity

    
    

You don't have to eliminate screens entirely.

Sometimes just creating a few hours without them encourages everyone to rediscover activities they forgot they enjoyed.

And once the kids stop saying, "I'm bored," you may discover they can be surprisingly creative.