Disconnect from screens in summer: fun alternatives

When they want to be entertained

Screens often meet a need for stimulation and entertainment. Here are some alternatives that offer the same level of engagement, but without a screen:

• Board and card games: Uno, Dobble, Catan Junior, Blink, Jungle Speed: there are dozens of fast-paced, engaging games that capture attention as much as a tablet.
• Audiobooks: For children who resist reading but love stories, audiobooks are an interesting alternative that develops their imagination just as much.
• Home cinema with puppets: Make puppets out of socks and put on a show for the family.
• Challenges and scientific experiments: Baking soda volcano, homemade slime, experiments with water and light: YouTube can inspire, but the experience itself takes place far from the screen.

When they want to create

Creativity is the natural antidote to boredom, and it doesn't need a screen to express itself:

• A big summer art project: A collective canvas that the whole family gradually completes, an illustrated journal, a series of portraits.
• Building and DIY: Lego, magnetic tiles, recycled materials, cardboard boxes transformed into cities, robots, or houses.
• Cooking and baking: Choose a recipe, go shopping, cook, decorate, and share: a complete activity that easily occupies two hours of the day.
• Gardening: Planting, watering, observing growth, harvesting, a slow and satisfying project that develops patience.
• Comic book notebook: Create your own characters, invent a story, draw the panels.

When they want to move

The body needs to expend energy, and when children step outside, the screen often naturally loses its appeal:

• Backyard obstacle courses: Cones, ropes, hoops, stopwatch, with a challenge to beat each day.
• Pool or sprinkler: Simple, free, and keeps them occupied for hours.
• Biking, scootering, skating: Explore a new path, measure a distance, beat their record.
• Improvised sports: Badminton, pétanque, ball games, giant chalk hopscotch.
• Nature outings: Insect hunting, bird watching, rock collecting, forest walk.

When they want to socialize

Often, a good part of screen time is spent socializing with friends on social media or playing games. These alternatives meet the same need:

• Invite a friend over for the day: The presence of a peer makes the screen much less appealing.
• Organize a board game tournament with neighbors.
• Write letters or postcards to distant friends or cousins.
• Put on a show, a movie, or a radio show with neighborhood children.

Some principles for it to work

Disconnection doesn't work if you remove the screen without offering anything in its place. A few conditions facilitate the transition:

• Prepare the environment in advance: Having craft supplies readily available, a board game on the table, visible books make alternatives more accessible than the screen.
• Don't wait for extreme boredom: Offering an alternative before the boredom crisis is always more effective than after.
• Participate at least at the beginning: Five minutes to get the activity started with the child is often enough to give them momentum for an hour.
• Celebrate screen-free moments: Not in an exaggerated way, but vocalizing that the day was beautiful and lively without a tablet sends a positive message.

The goal is not a screen-free summer, but a summer where screens take their rightful place, without invading everything else. With enough appealing alternatives at hand, children often choose to disconnect themselves. And that's where the magic happens. 🌞