8 Engaging Screen-Free Activities To Keep You And Your Child Happily Occupied

When eight-year-old Tushar comes back from school, he turns on his tablet to check if there are any assignments from school. After that, it is a series of YouTube videos and cartoons on the gadget and television, before he can be coaxed to finish his homework. He hardly plays, and his mother worries that physical inactivity might be harmful to him.

With smartphones and social networks taking over our lives, we can't imagine a day without our gadgets. The Internet is a useful source of learning for children, but like Tushar, many of them get overwhelmed by gadgets. A study on the prevalence of Internet addiction and its association with psychopathology in Indian adolescents, published by the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, found that 74.5 percent of children were moderate internet users while 0.7 percent were addicts. Those who used the internet excessively had high scores on anxiety and depression.

That's why your child must spend some time away from technology. A day without gadgets gives them time to explore and discover their interests, and bond with the family.

Observe a screen-free day every week for everyone at home. Since keeping children engaged is often a challenge, we give you some interesting activities for kids to do on their own or with their parents.

1. Build Forts

Not with bricks and soil, but using pillows and bedsheets. Encourage your child to make a fort and spend time inside it playing games, and you can join in the fun. There might be a mess, but the time spent would be precious.

2. Play old-school games

We don't see many children playing games such as Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, UNO, marbles, hopscotch or hide and seek anymore. Why not take out your old games and play with your child? It will keep them engaged for hours, together you will build memories, and regardless of age, winning is fun.

3. Start a DIY project

A new craft or decor project will keep your child occupied on a screen-free day. Together, create decor items like a lantern, a memory book, a photo frame, or an activity chart for their room. Once the project is complete, appreciate your child for their effort. This will encourage them to pursue other creative activities.

Here's a simple DIY project you can try.

Colorful stationery holder

What you will need

• 1 disposable thermacol plate
• 4 disposable thermacol juice cups
• Glue
• Labels
• Patterned paper

Method

1. Wrap each cup with a sheet of patterned paper and secure it with glue.
2. Once dry, glue the bottom of each cup to the plate.
3. Label each cup with what you are going to keep in it.

Sort the different stationery items and place them inside the labeled cups.

4. Work in the garden

Gardening can teach children patience and hard work, and is a great tool for calming down a restless child. Of course, children love to play with water and mud, so that's a bonus. Plant some flowers or vegetables, and teach them to nurture the plants and carefully remove weeds. Give them the responsibility of caring for the plants. Just imagine the happiness on their faces when the first flower blooms or when you use the vegetables from their little garden.

5. Try some puzzles

Puzzles are a great way to keep your child engaged. Puzzles improve thinking skills, visual-perceptual skills, and hand-eye coordination. You could also challenge them to complete the puzzle in a specified time.

6. Create works of art

Painting is soothing and brings out your child's imagination.    Bring out those colors and ask them to run riot on the canvas or a big sheet of chart paper, or even sheets of newspaper. Let them get messy if they are going to learn something important and new from it. Join in the fun. Either way, you will create happy memories, maybe even a masterpiece to adorn your wall.

7. Read books

Books are the best escape from all distractions and provide some quiet time. Inculcate in your child the love of reading from an early age. If they are hooked on reading, getting them off the gadgets will not be difficult. You could also get your child to sort the books at home into different sections according to the genre, and then tell him to pick a few (age-appropriate ones) from each section to read. Let them read on their own, and sometimes you read together. Have fun enacting the stories from the books. Enrolling in a library will ensure there's always something new to read.

8. Picnic in the backyard

Remember how excited we used to be when we packed a basket full of freshly made goodies and set out on picnics? There would be outdoor games, lazy banter, and lots of running around. You cannot go on an actual picnic every week, so create a similar ambiance on your balcony or in the backyard. Fill a basket with eatables, some playing cards, board games, and so on. A backyard picnic is a good way for your child to interact with nature and observe the environment.

These and many such activities keep the children busy and distracted from the TV and tablet. And their dependence on technology will visibly reduce. Every time you take a break from gadgets, you get more time to bond with your child.

Last updated on: July 25, 2025