Alternative activities to screen time for a 6 year old

[WitchLady]

We have messed up with my son due to a variety of difficult life events and he has been on his screen far too much. I can see that he is addicted and how badly it affects his behaviour. But the worst thing is that he is incapable to finding anything else to do when we take it away. We've ensured strict limits in order to reduce the time but we need to offer him new ways to fill it.

I'm asking for any amazing activity kits that your kids around this age love so that I can introduce him to these alternatives. We do Lego and Meccano and he's good with that, but I'm looking to mix it up as much as possible. Ideally he would be able to do it on his own. Thanks loads for any suggestions.

Mine loved Hama beads at that age. Or just any craft activity really.

Magnatiles/magna qubix are good. Also hot wheels plus track. Marble run. Etc

Does he like listening to stories? Mine love listening to audio books on the yoto player while they draw, colour, do lego, magnatiles, jigsaws, scratch art etc.

They also have a thing called Crazy Forts where they slot sticks into balls to make an igloo frame or whatever, then drape a blanket over the top to make a den...they'll then sit inside looking at books or listening to the yoto (or sometimes just pull it apart again and build something else!) Agree that marble run is a great toy as well!

Thank you I'll look into all of these! We do have a Yoto but he seems to go in and out of listening to it

Painting, or drawing with decent felts.

No, stumped. Oh, maybe I’m not…how about being outside, in nature and everything that can offer?

maybe not..

Galt toys. Paper aeroplane kits (different patterned paper and planes). Baking. Gardening together. Soft play. Cinema. Trampoline parks. Walks. Park. Hide and seek. Treasure hunts. Swimming. Crafts.

You're not alone OP, LOADS of kids have too much screen time. But if it helps, I had a lot of TV time as a kid and I've turned out ok!

Does he know how to ride a bike, roller skate, skateboard, pogo stick or something else like that?
Its a great activity to learn together. And a sense of achievement when accomplished
As a child we grew crews on cotton wool on boiled egg shells, made a tiny garden in a tin, grew a variety of easy to grow veg - if you have a garden. Carrots are great. Tomato plants too.
Geocaching is free - it does involve a screen but you are also walking around and solving puzzles

My just turned 7 year old son loves audio books and will follow along with a roald dahl whilst it’s being spoken to him on the Yoto player. He loves loom bands and hamma beads. Colouring, Lego, we got him a whiteboard and he’s obsessed with using it!

he doesn’t have screen time in the week and it’s made an ENORMOUS difference to his concentration and behaviour.

outside as much as possible. Playparks, but also wilder areas, streams, woods, etc.

I've seen parenting advice somewhere to start playing with them, get them going with it, then to do something else for a bit (washing up, jobs, whatever) then drop back in again to keep him interested but also encourage independent play and focus.

I'd try linking his screen time with other activities, works well for those obsessed with particular games. E.g. Minecraft- get him to plan/design worlds on squared paper, then build them using lego/hama beads or outside in the garden using blocks/sand/sticks etc.
Geocaching is great for getting out & about, still using a phone app but at least gets them out & thinking, can also get them to design own cache. Painting rocks to hide for others to find, lots of local FB groups for this.

Is he too young for origami. I used to love it as a kid and would spend hours doing it on rainy days then colouring it in but it was a long time ago so I am not sure how old I was.

Just checked there's kits from age 6.

Another one was Spirograph and I think it's more technical now than years ago so that might suit if he's good at Meccano.

I agree that too much screen time is so damaging. My 8 year old dd has quite a few hobbies that she enjoys which take her away from screens - football, golf, brownies and swimming. Also loves our trampoline in the garden or practising football and just generally playing eg making dens and made up games (with her sister). Nowadays will read a book independently and also loves art - worth getting a variety of different things but just some felt tips and paper are great. There are some fab YouTube drawing things for kids which he might like as a screen addict! As long as you turn it off after he’s done the drawings! Writing stories and other things eg diary stuff in notebooks. Scrap-books and collages with magazines etc.

quite likes science experiments and wants to bake sometimes. I can only bear the mess from these activities occasionally!

board games, cards, chess - though do need a friend here really.

generally I think they need to get our everyday and be active at least part of the day. So if they do have some screen time it’s not as bad. He should be good on his bike by age 8, how about a scooter as well, do you have a junior parkrun nearby? Mine have done it a few times. Refused to do it this weekend in the rain though!! I also find if we go to the woods she can play with sister, cousins, friends for ages, making dens etc. Tons to do if you have a beach nearby - bodyboarding is a new love of dd’s.

Thanks again for all these great suggestions. We do biking and scootering. It's just all the times around that. Haven't heard of geocatching before, I'll look into it. Also love the suggestion of starting with him and gradually backing away.

Jerrica Sannes on Instagram has a TV detox guide you could try