What are you 6-8 yr olds doing?

[Illbefinejustbloodyfine]

If they're not on screens? I am struggling a lit with dc2 aged 6. To put it bluntly, he can be really unpleasant, rude to people, lacking manners, argumentative, back chat etc. (There are also lots if good things, but obviously I'm not here for advice about that!)

Both DC had more free time with screen over the holidays, some of it because I had to work (from home, with them here)

Dc2 is more reliant and obsessed with tablet/watching shite on YouTube etc. So we ate having a screen detox and omg us he moaning. I've given many many options. So many toys to play with, colouring, drawing, reading, playing games.

What do yours do? If it was summer he'd be outside.

Lego is always a good on in our house.

At 6 I'd ban screens except for an hour or two max of telly, he'll very quickly find things to do.
My 9 year old has long been into these things and I have to limit screens otherwise he'd do nothing else:
Lego
Star Wars toys and light sabers
Cars
Dinosaurs
Playing in garden
Nerf guns
Basic board and card games
Top Trump cards and other collector cards and sticker albums
Occasionally making a train track - but at 6 this was a firm fave
Playing with and walking our dogs

Lego, drawing/colouring, playmobile, dolls, dress up.

Card games (my 8yo loves taco cat goat cheese pizza, monopoly deal, the mind, various uno versions)
Board games (ticket to ride, ludo, cluedo)

@Mayhemmumma I had very much scaled back before Christmas. I find it harder in the dc1 self regulates very well indeed!

Hes usually very good at playing, but is feeling hard done by so is being a bit awkward.

Craft, Lego, Playmobil, small world play with anything, reading, games, puzzles.

DD2 is 6. If no screen time and not nice weather for being outside she is drawing, reading, looking through her Pokémon card collection, playing with her toys etc. She really likes card games with Go Fish, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Top Trumps and Uno being her favourites.

Listening to audio books is a popular one here. If he complains of boredom I excitedly offer to give him housework to do. It usually solves the boredom 😂

Mine likes putting on shows, playing with her friends (absolutely endless games of Mummy and baby), drawing, colouring, crafts generally. She likes TV at start and end of the day only. We go swimming, soft play if it's wet and roller skating, park, and bike rides if it's dry. Pretty idyllic when I think about it.

My 7-yr old would play Minecraft or watch precocious American gymnasts on YouTube for hours if I allowed it, but otherwise it's drawing/doodling, crafting, cooking and baking (any "tasks" within the kitchen), playing schools, Lego challenge with sibling, playing pretend role play Minecraft (essentially just narrating a game they're making up as they go along), card games and board games but they prefer to do these with an adult involved.

Games like Genius Square are good for solo playing, also patience/solitaire.

@Hopingforno2in2024 hes currently hoovering 🤣 and finding it most entertaining.

Dc1 LOVES a game, uno, battleships, double, monopoly etc but dc2 not so keen sadly.

Swimming yesterday, cycling and art club tomorrow. It's just when we are at home.

@Belmondo ninja kids by any chance??

Weirdly, both of mine (almost 5 and just 8) are obsessed with laundry. They love stripping the beds and sorting the washing - we can get a good hour of teamwork out of them with that, particularly if DH and I follow up with making the beds and 'accidentally' trapping the children under the bottom sheet!

Oh I don't know, I try to avoid seeing any of it 😂 it's mainly a girl called Anna blathering about how flexible she is and faffing about with her leg in improbable positions. It's is awful 😱 tbh Ninja Kids sounds preferable, I might suggest it!

I dont actually mind ninja kids!

Lego, jigsaws, drawing/painting, Barbies, books, involving me in some kind of convoluted role play like setting up a library or a cinema. We don’t have many days where we’re not out doing something for at least part of the day though so I am fairly relaxed about tablet or TV time when we’re at home. She’s good at self regulating with it though and will put it away after a period of time.

We have banned YouTube from our family and prohibited screens in the mornings and set up a playroom (yes lucky to have the space).

DS 8 is currently solving a Rubik’s cube. Before that he was playing Gravitrax with DH. Before that straight after school he was on his desktop computer in our lounge doing chesskid.

DD 3 is just back from nursery covered in sequins and glue. She is watching Paw Patrol whilst DH tries to figure out what to do with her before we eat dinner

Playing with dolls, drawing, making things.

@Combusting dc1 spends most of the time cubing, or watching YouTube videos of speedcubers. Or chess!

9 year old here, she reads, plays with her dollies, we go swimming or to the climbing wall, shopping (at Poundland), the park, local small animal zoo, makes Lego (she's not as keen on massive models or designing her own as her older brother), craft, colouring, board games.

We do quite a lot of outdoors/active stuff, it's more ideas for "quite evenings in"
We were home by 4.15 today.

Currently 6 year old is rolling about on the floor making farting noises and laughing hysterically to himself. 8 year old is doing lego. Screens are banned during the week so they spend their time reading, drawing, playing with toys and Lego, fighting and complaining they're hurt from fighting.

DD is 6 1/2 and we just got in from a day out. She is currently drawing an alien (with a bit of artistic huffing when it doesn't match what's in her head) from a Draw with Rob book. Other evening activities: reading, playing her ukulele, Gravitrax, Consequences (the game where you draw monsters in sections), DH's efforts to teach her chess, occasional gymnastics displays. She does love coding apps and Minecraft but we limit time spent on these and she's pretty good at abiding by the limits. She isn't allowed YouTube.

DD is 10 now, she’s always loved
craft stuff (from age 7, paper crafts, bracelet making, slime making)
rock painting and hiding (and finding)
collecting and trading stickers
reading- books and we subscribe to the beano
gravitrax
she’s got into cubing over the past year or so
desiging (on paper) a minecraft world

All kids will be obsessed with screens if we let them. After all, us adults mostly are.

Keep turning the screens off and offering alternatives which he can do - or not. It's not your job to baby him and entertain. He has other toys and activities to do. Let him moan and winge all he wants, eventually if you are consistent with limiting screen time he will get used to it and adapt. And he will soon be a 'new' kid.

My 5 year old loves her films and telly. But sometimes I want to say no and I shouldn't be scared of her having a meltdown/winging because of this. I've started saying no more where I feel reasonable and after a while she has become more accepting of my screen 'rules'. Keep up what you're doing - if you feel you need him to cut back on screens, then that is what needs to happen. The push back should lessen soon. Don't be scared - you are the parent and you know this is for his own good.