After school activities- trying to keep screens at a minimum

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I’m trying to really cut down on my kids screen time this year. I don’t mind them using them some of the time but I’m trying to be mindful with it and just mix things up a bit as they’d happily sit for hours and watch YouTube if I let them.

They do after school clubs some days and will have homework and bits and bobs to do but I wondered if anyone had any good suggestions for some after school activities we can do at home.

We made some cakes one day last week and I set them a project another day which they loved- I said pick a place and find out some facts about it and then we can share what we’ve learnt. (They used laptops for this but it wasn’t sitting there watching YouTube.) Sharing the ideas I’ve had in case anyone else finds them useful.

I want them to relax when they come in and have down time from school/ learning so just looking for some ideas.

How old are they? I’m following with interest for tips. Our go to activities are Lego or air dry clay ……:but DS is only 6

They’re 5 and 7. Obviously they play with toys and I encourage them to use their imagination and find things to do themselves but it is helpful sometimes to have a few suggestions to hand!

Oh totally agree - I’ll be following for any brilliant ideas I can use myself ❤️

Let them find their own way. Having been in a structured environment all day they will benefit from doing some self-directed play after school, particularly if they are kids who always pick a screen over entertaining themselves.

If you want to inspire some free play you could set stuff up for when they come in. Get out toys/puzzles/games that they hardly ever look at and leave them out/set them up (but then leave them to play as they see fit). You could set up a dolls tea party or a teddy bears picnic or a dinosaur land and let them discover it when they get home.

You could leave out a big roll of paper and some pens. Or a selection of cardboard boxes and sellotape. Or some dressing up things/accessories.

But let them play independently, it sounds like that's where they need to be focussed.

Yes good idea to lay some things out, that’s sort of what I was thinking. I’ve had a clear out recently and found some games that we haven’t even opened yet so can definitely get those out.

They’re both learning times tables at the minute and wanted to do a quiz so we did that and then some TV.

We got some new canvases and paints for Xmas so I might put them out one day this week and put an object on the table and get them to paint it.

I wouldn’t do too much for them. I might set toys out for them but they should be able to play on their own.
I might set some crafts out for them. Or set some water stuff for them outside in the summer. As PP said they’ve been to school, they don’t need more structured activities.
When the weather is good I would try and stay out if you can in the park etc.

Id also set a tablet time - like 6-7pm, so if they ask then that’s your reply. DD struggled with school and used to be shattered on a Friday. So we often watched a film together and had a cuddle when she got in with some snacks.

3 and 5yo here and they mostly have free play. It is great in summer as they happily play in the garden for an hour or so or we head to a playground near school but in winter it can feel like cabin fever after weeks on end of rain.
Love some of the ideas on here!

We do similar, I leave out play dough or magnitic sand, the dress up box, they help me cut up bits for dinner like mushrooms, blow up a couple of balloons for keepy uppy, make a ramp out of cardboard for the cars, my son loves making junk model inventions out of recycling and tape, hide and seek.

What about some activity books? DS is 12 now but was home a lot over Covid and we got some Minecraft and Pokémon themed activity books, some choose your own adventure reading books.

If they read the treehouse series books, there’s also an activity book.

The draw with Rob books are good as well.

Also, I know it’s screen based but if you think they might like coding, scratch jr is good.

We also got some of the thinkfun puzzles like rush hour jr which he enjoyed.

4 & 6 here. We have a few open plan toys such as magnatiles and den building. They'll usually just head for those to make something or we'll give them suggestions. The oldest will often head for our craft box or do some colouring in her bedroom.

I know you said home activities, but I have membership to a soft play and go there often after school.

Honestly just let them be. Take away the screens, let them whinge for a bit / day they’re bored and they will find they’re own way.

Play is intrinsically motivated and self led. Kids need unstructured time at a loose end to potter, play and create mischief.

You can leave some lego on a table and make sure they have independent access to pens and paper. They’d be a good age for makedo cardboard crafting tools but I’d really try and stop organising and leading activities for them. It’s healthy to be bored and their imaginations are limitless. ❤️

That said 😂 makedo / lego/ small world/ getting them to help prepare the evening meal chopping veg etc/ kids logic puzzle books - mine loved kids sudoku by 7/ jigsaws/ making puppets, puppet shows/ we loved small world toys and creating landscapes and worlds / face painting/ mud kitchen/ kinetic sand an science kits / we also love board games and that pokemon card game/ lots of fancy dress and role playing and karaoke too.

I have a 7yo, 4yo and 1yo. Our weekdays vary a lot as to who has the kids, if the younger two are in nursery etc but generally...screen time for 7yo is capped at 30 minutes and only after getting changed into PJs and doing some homework. The homework will usually last about 15 minutes for context so nothing difficult. It will be like read a chapter of school book, practice spellings or whatever. Screen time is just TV so choice of live TV, Netflix or Disney. The 4yo will generally sit with the 7yo during this but they had their 'turn' earlier in the day.

The 4yo and 7yo mostly just play together a lot, mostly role play/imaginative play. Sometimes they will play with the 1yo whilst I cook dinner. They will sometimes play card or board games together and often sit and do colouring/drawing together.

I have 7yo once a week just me and her until after 6. During this time apart from her homework and screen time, we will often bake together and she will often help cook dinner with me, sometimes also little chores like helping empty the dishwasher or I will help her sort things in her room. She will also tidy her bedroom and put any clean laundry away. She also does a lot of drawing, writing, and crafting. Sometimes we play board or card games together. Sometimes she has a friend or two over for a playdate and then they just play role play or arty things together. Once a week she goes to a swimming lesson after her dinner.

We got some new canvases and paints for Xmas so I might put them out one day this week and put an object on the table and get them to paint it

Or what if they just painted something from their imagination? Or were just left to do what they wanted with the canvases.

Honestly, you're not doing them any favours by over planning their free time. The ability to invent and create is crucially important to their development, skills like critical thinking and problem solving depend on it.

I find to easier to just restrict screen time i.e Two hours a day.

Apart from that we play boardgames, jigsaws, park, etc etc . I have to say I'm looking forward to the lighter nights so we can get outside more

@NuffSaidSamthey do draw and paint all the time using their own imaginations, but I find it doesn’t last long enough so I’m just thinking if I give them a bit of a nudge and almost like a challenge or task to complete, they’ll do it for longer.

DD had a 5 hour play date yesterday just playing with her friend so they do know how to entertain themselves, I just feel she often says she’s bored and she’s bored of her toys. My son plays happily for ages with his figures and army ships etc, she’s not into dolls or role play anymore, she’s more interested in make up and skin care and I’m just trying to protect their childhood and stop her for growing up too fast!

I find it helps to rotate different stuff, so some days I’ll get the air clay out for them, or the Playdoh, or set up some painting or the Hama beads. I find that when it’s packed away it’s sometimes out of sight, out of mind. I think giving prompts is fine too, I remember my mum used to set me projects, like on tornados or something and I would go away and research and produce a little booklet with illustrations! Sometimes DD1 likes to do her own things but other times she likes to be given a ‘purpose’.

There are some really nice co-op board games to play together at that age too, look at Peaceable Games stuff. Feed the Woozle
is a favourite in our house!

Lots of kids say they’re bored. That’s perfectly normal and fine. It doesn’t mean you need to provide an activity or a solution. Childhood boredom is healthy and they’ll be better off for finding their own mischief rather than expecting you to be / provide the entertainment.

Having a play date is definitely not entertaining yourself.

That said, good on you for searching out alternatives and keeping the crafting and fun alive! I’m coming from an ethos where we try and minimise adult intervention in play and exploration.

@ClefableHama beads is a good one, she’d love those thanks for the recommendation. She’s very arts and crafty and will make outfits for dolls out of fabrics, even though she doesn’t play with the dolls.

@GeronimodeI know children need to be comfortable with being bored and that it sparks their imagination. They are both good at this some of the time, as I said she’ll make a whole outfit for a doll out of old packaging and can be very creative but sometimes they need a prompt or a nudge from me.

It’s just something I’m conscious of at the moment. A lot of their classmates go home and sit on Roblox or are attached to their iPads and while I’ve definitely been guilty of being lazy in the past and letting them have too much screen time, I want to do better by them!

Loom bands might be fun too (although I am shit at them but I have the dexterity of a 6mo baby). And we always have beads and cords for making bracelets and necklaces. Diamond art if she’s good at fiddly stuff (banned in our house as 3yo gets into it and we are picking diamonds out of the dog’s fur for weeks). I use Christmas and birthdays to stock up on craft kits and then they are used up all through the year after school and at weekends.

Give them a chore a day to do too! E.g. sort the recycling, pair up clean socks, set the table, help to change bed sheets.

Maybe the older one would like a more grown up sketch book and fancier pencils etc. If they want to watch a film, make it into an event with tickets they have made and a little menu of snacks/ drinks.

Mine are older but did watch a fair bit of tv after school. However, it was cbeebies or cbbc so they had to watch whatever was available instead of streaming whatever they wanted. That meant they watched a wider variety and gave things a chance that they might not have if they were choosing. I would be wary of roblox personally. Apart from anything else it is often the cause of arguments between primary aged kids as they use the messaging to communicate.

@fruitpastilleyep the 5 year old got addicted to Roblox after going to a friends older siblings birthday party which was a gaming party. I thought it was ok to start with so let him download it but we had to go cold turkey pretty quickly as he was chucking his tablet about and just losing his s**t because of a bloody game!

I used to watch telly after school and I don’t mind them watching tv by any means but I hate the way YouTube is just constant shorts. Absolutely terrible for their concentration and it just makes them sit there like zombies. My daughter likes the Inbestigators Club which is a good series but son prefers to watch films. I have to keep an eye though because he’ll switch it over to YouTube if I’m not careful!

@MiddleAgedDreadthat's a great idea thank you. They do chores ad hoc but I think it would be good for them to have something small to do each day. We tend to do it at weekends when there’s more time but no reason they can’t do something quickly before dinner etc