to look for toys that beat screens

[matchaleaf]

I have a 10 year old niece who I look after regularly. When she's not with me, I know she gets a LOT of screen time on her tablet, usually on YouTube where she just scrolls through the "shorts", and she is very attached to it. Luckily she does not have her own phone yet as I can see her becoming fully addicted to that in a few years time. I'm so worried about what it's all doing to her attention span and imagination; she can barely sit through a 20 minute tv programme and has barely any tolerance for being bored or frustrated in any way.

She has about 2 hours a week with me at my house. I'm determined not to give in to her requests for screen time as I want to show her that there are so many fun things she could be doing.

She's definitely not the kind of child who would sit and read/draw for hours (like me!); she needs highly engaging and stimulating activities. I work with young people with SEN and I'm fairly sure that this is a result of her day to day reliance on screen time rather than an underlying need.

I have the luxury of being able to give her my undivided attention and am willing to spend money on new toys etc...but what should I get?? Has anyone found any really engaging screen free toys?

Previous successes have been a bubble machine that makes giant bubbles, a science experiment kit and sylvanian families (but she's a little old for that now).

What about jewellery or bead making kits etc, then she can be focussing on creating something for herself

A couple of board games that you can play together and hopefully increase her attention span.

Ask her parents for ideas but be careful not to come across all judgy about it.

Diamond painting. B&M have some good kits in with Stitch, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift etc depending on what she's into.

Things you can engage with her, so board games, but not the monopoly/risk type ones that take whole days. Thinking ones like “stupid deaths” (linked into the segment on “horrible histories”), exploding kittens, perhaps “kids vs grownups” version of trivial pursuit? You can get escape room in a box kits that are lots of puzzles to solve, but you will have to do these with her.

one thing to say as well if you can’t stop screen time, can you push away from you tube shorts to any sort of puzzle or longer concentration games, something where she has to think and do, not just mindlessly watch short videos.

There are few toys which can compete with screens in terms of holding children’s attention regularly or for longer periods which is why screens have become so popular I suppose! Adults included - look at all of us right now!

Teach her how to knit, sew, crochet? Air dry clay? Playing cards? Something that needs her hands plus her attention might help her engage. And seeing the results of her efforts. Can she cook? You could get her a recipe book. If she’s used to sound while doing other things you could get into audiobooks, there are some on Spotify, that also has podcasts, BorrowBox which is free and accessible if you have a library card has thousands of free audiobooks.

What TV and films is she into. Some of the big lego sets are really quite engaging and highly detailed. They are quite good at teaching some mechanical skills as well. So I am thinking if she likes Harry Potter look at some of those maybe? They seem expensive, but can take hours. Start with some of the smaller ones to build up conentration and so they dont seem too daunting.

Depending on your budget, what about a zoo membership, swimming pass, or something similar? You can make that two hours a time that you go out and do something and all devices stay at home.

Alternatively, how about those Minecraft style magnetic blocks? Linked to screentime whilst actually being offline.

Thank you for all your suggestions! I should have said, we see her after school so trips out are tricky at that time. Jewellery making and fiddly/long things like Lego are probably a bit "too long" (sadly) but I like the sound of some of those shorter games.

Keep the suggestions coming ☺️

Old school:

Dominos
Card games
Scrabble
Jigsaws (start one yourself , you'll find she slowly drifts over and helps)
Word searches
Crosswords
Suduko

I have a 10 yo DD and the only things that beat screens are 1) sports and 2) friends. Ideally sports with friends.

I cannot think of any toy that would compete. Possibly a netball hoop or trampoline or gymnastics kit.

Her older dsis is different and art and books would compete. So it depends on the child.

Actually DD does like NYT games on her tablet. Which is still screens but 100X better than YouTube (which I have blocked).

IME nothing really beats screens unless an adult is prepared to put effort into engaging the child into the activity. So I'd look at things you can do together - maybe cooking or baking, or some kind of construction project which you can add bits to over a longer period of time. Sewing or crochet, so she can learn to make things for herself and friends, start with something fun like little cute toys or characters from something she likes, or a scarf because it's easy (but if it's too repetitive it may be boring for her). Anything with a sensory aspect as well is good as you can't get that from a screen - anything to touch, squish, smell, taste - so the baking/cooking would work here, also some kind of kit to make bath bombs or lip gloss or perfume or candles, things like that? Maybe a kit to make slime - slime vv popular at this age (though I despise it and would be a bit narked if you sent my child home with some!!) Something physical to use outside like rollerskates or a pogo stick or hula hoop? Karaoke or learning dance routines?

BTW while it could be the case that the excessive screen use has caused a lowered attention span, the combo of short attention span, difficulty with boredom/frustration, needing high stimulation activities, it being difficult to do activities after school and being interested in screens to the detriment of all else are all related to ADHD - so it's possible that the causation goes that way around. I know it can be hard to tell though and even if you could, I assume you aren't in a position to do anything about it anyway.

Children's Baking book. 2 hours to make something and take it home every week is doable?
I did two of these as stocking presents last year and they were a huge hit. Cheaper ways to do it, but nice inspiration and a way to get started without buying tons of stuff if you are not a baker?
https://honeywellbakes.com/product/snowman-cinnamon-roll-baking-kit/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23089868319&gbraid=0AAAAADJr4a2G3Z2iN3yPk-CYz1-4jY4Pp&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjJTKBhCjARIsAIMC449oSLYBtcSxqdpGVD_klcjF8l1oRp3jqdTTOqZk8MXkeYaDmtQSKPQaAtI1EALw_wcB

You'll need to wean her off and build up her stamina/concentration. Why not ask her what she might like to do? Go and choose a cookery/baking book from the library and book something together to enjoy to eat afterwards?

How lovely that she has such a wonderful auntie!

I have DD11 who loves skin care, make up, clothes etc, likes YouTube, but has strict limits. Hates Lego & most board games (weirdly loves Trivial Pursuit).

Activities / toys she has enjoyed are soap making kits, candle making kits, wax seal kits, Klutz craft sets (there are some really cool ones).

Gravitrax is the one toy that beats screen time for her and DS10. Loads of add ons to make it more fun.

Aw you sound lovely!! How about some card games? I love phase 10 to play with adults and kids tbf. Rummikub is really fun!

Perhaps something like rollerblades - something you can do outside together?

How about proper games to play together such as Dobble or there are bingo games like cats/ dogs. Teach her simple card games, ludo, snakes and ladders, Othello. So many games out there.

Get her a massive box with marble run!
my son absolutely loves to play with it.