Screen free/minimal screen families - what do your summer days look like?

[Tripideas]

If you are screen free or have minimal screen time, what do you do during the day? I'm trying to minimise screen time during the summer hold but am finding it tough as have a 9 month old, 5 year old and 7 year old. We go out in the morning then back home for lunch for baby's nap time and the older two spend 2-3hrs during nap time watching a couple of films while I tidy and make dinner. I do make them take breaks to play a game with me and draw but the screen lures them back.

I'm trying to break this habit and would welcome any and all suggestions. An hour by hour break down of your screen free days, especially when at home, would be most helpful 😂

Not all screen time is equal, them sitting together and watching a film is very different to sitting with their own tablets, headphones etc. I absolutely had iPad kids but no issue with watching tv together and purposefully.

I stay out of the house as long as possible… babies can nap anywhere!

I find once it’s on it’s hard to get off so no screens till as late as possible, reading etc. must be done, chores etc.

It’s hard to say what will work without knowing your kids. My 5yo would sit and draw and craft for hours alone or play with figures. My 8yo hates all that but is keen on helping with jobs around the house or practicing gymnastics or piano. We are not screen free but the only screen they have is the TV.

My DSs (6 and 8) love crosswords, Sudoku, and pretty much any activity magazine. I usually get the 100+ -page ones from Amazon, it keeps them busy. They also love comic books and regular books. Whenever we're on holiday, we always pop into the charity shops and let them pick out a few new books. Kids podcasts/ stories are also good ones

@LovelyBitOfSquirrrel this is true, I love watching films with them and have introduced them to some old classics which has been fun but this summer I've used it as a bit of quiet time to get stuff done when the baby is napping so I've not been as engaged but it's better than them on the iPad!

@Whenwillheatwaveend how do you get them to do chores? I keep telling them and try doing it with them to encourage but they just hang back and don't do the chores or just do half the task before saying they are bored and don't want to do the chores.

We do no telly in the day, and a half hour programme after bath some evenings. Through the summer holidays we’ve been picking one night a week to skip the bath and have a movie night together with popcorn. It’s nice to watch things together. I think iPads etc are the problem, not enjoying a movie together. Every day would be too much for us though.

We go out a lot. At home it’s baking, crafting, drawing, play doh and things like that. You have 3 young kids though, whereas I can leave mine to play on his own while I get things done. I wouldn’t be hard on yourself about some tv time during the baby’s nap.

@Trainup my 5yo would craft and paint for hours too and my 7yo would just play on the Nintendo all day if I let him but we only let him play that for an hour at the weekends. He doesn't like reading, only building and destroying things but gets bored of that fairly quickly. He does love riding his bike but the 5yo is not so keen. Kids has mismatched energy levels!

@DoorPurple sounds ideal! How did you get them into this??

I’d expect a lot of pushback initially too while they accept the new normal! Now my eldest (8) will play a long time happily but no longer asks me for telly … he says can I do my reading , my room is tidy etc. essentially tv is the last resort not the first. If it goes on earlier in the day I put the timer on the oven and turn it off when it goes off otherwise the timer can go by so fast and it’s been hours so it’s a good prompt for everyone!

@Yourethebeerthief you are right and we don't have an iPad. Perhaps I can get them to expand their film repertoire or get them to help me prep dinner 😂

Screen free family here.
Both teachers so off in the holidays. When we aren’t on our week’s holiday, we do crafts (a lot), bike rides, games in the garden, baking, junior park run (DH) some activities with our church (me), time with both grans, board games, chores.

Mine are older teens but they have very minimal screens because all 3 always doing sport. In the summer they are playing cricket and tennis. Cricket matches last for about 8 hours. Also they go to the gym 3 times a week. Meeting friends and gf tales up more time so not much time for screens. In the winter they do sometimes watch a film or do a bit of gaming but it is minimal.

They probably imitate me... I buy crosswords at the start of every holiday and do listen to a lot of podcasts.
We tried a few other things such as Lego but they couldn't care less.

I’ve managed it reasonably well up until now but my oldest is hitting the teenage years and it’s becoming more of a struggle now, so maybe I’m not the best person to give advice.

Basically I give my kids a set amount of screen time for the day but they have to use it first thing in the morning. Then once it hits around 10am I’ll tell them screens off for the day (and that includes telly). Then they have to amuse themselves - at the start of each holiday I tend to get a day or so of them telling me they’re bored but I just let them be bored and they figure it out. Then when I want to cook tea, I use the telly as a massive carrot on a stick and tell them the can have the telly on as soon as they’ve tidied up all of their shite from a day of making a mess because I won’t let them play on their screens.

It’s doable but you just have to power through the bit when they’re bored and throw it back to them as their problem to solve.

My 4 year old likes crosswords too. It’s from seeing me do them as I always have a crossword book on the go. I got him some kids crossword books and read the clues to him, so not yet an independent activity!

Kids who don’t like Lego is a new one to me! Have you tried just a box of mixed bricks and bobs? My kid isn’t interested in following the instructions to make sets but loves just making his own creations.

We also try to get out the house at some point each day. When home, my 6yo loves Lego and will play with that for ages. We only have a small garden but he likes exploring for bugs etc. He will sometimes draw/paint but not regularly, and he isn't that into board games despite my efforts. He likes building stuff out of cardboard boxes and tubes. And he likes his yoto player. In terms of screen time - he does occasionally watch TV but has never watched anything on a tablet or phone. I put on slow-paced programs (e.g. he likes nature and animal programs) rather than fast paced cartoons (he goes into a trance with those so I've stopped him watching them).

My son is like this! Loves the Lego figures and building his own stuff, but isn't as fussed with the ones where you follow the instructions to build a specific thing.

@Tripideas it's a bit different here as well only have DS, he's almost 7 and autistic so is still not really at the "independent play" stage and can't cope with clubs/classes yet either. So it's on us to keep him busy mostly!

We don't have iPads etc but we'll usually watch say half an hour of telly in the morning and again late afternoon. Sometimes we watch a film early evening or at lunchtime.

Most days we go out to a park/soft play/into town/to a national trust/English heritage type place. Garden centres are a good shout too. I'm trying to arrange for us to see some of his friends as well. Sometimes we do the park or a pub with a play area after tea, it helps burn off energy for the night!

When we're at home it's playing with Lego or his endless collection of figures (Playmobil etc) he does still need one of us with him for this, but we can trade off or I can say "I'm just popping to the kitchen for a couple of minutes" and have time to do a quick tidy or prep lunch with him popping up in between 🤣

We bake, he helps tidy up or wash the car, we play in the garden (recently had our garden done FINALLY and it's the best thing we've ever done) Daytime baths!

I get him comics/sticker books/workbooks based on his latest obsession - star wars ATM so super easy to find stuff! He's currently working through a star wars maths 7-8 workbook and loving it 🤓 Making dens or forts out of the furniture and having a picnic inside.

We have hens and my 13 year old is in charge of their upkeep. He enjoys it and loves his ladies (and his cockerel, Barry). If the weather is fine he will go out bike riding with friends.
It does get more difficult as they get older, though, I'm not going to lie. We have never had a TV or iPads, but he has a desktop PC as he enjoys some games. We have a screen limiter app and he tends to use his time in the morning.

It sounds like they’re either out or being entertained by you if they’re not watching TV. I’d start by telling them they can have TV in, eg, half an hour if they’re entertain themselves. Then build up. Sounds like 5 year old can do it easily but 7 year old is used to being entertained, so it might take him a bit longer

Ps you could try Hama beads? My two (boys) love them. They can get really messy though!

Same 😂 I was reading the OP, thinking, but when are they doing Lego?! My eldest spends 80% of his awake time doing that, I would say!

What's your garden situation, OP? Water pistols/balloons, obstacle courses, a basket swing, giant chess, kids archery etc were all very popular with mine when they were a similar age to yours, and didn't need much adult supervision.

On the chores thing, what kind of thing are they doing? My kids have taken up weeding after a day with grandma 😅 luckily our garden has lots of very persistent weeds 😂

I have them clean the hoe, trowel and brushes too with soapy water. That takes a good 30-60 minutes once the fun of weeding wears off (generally descends into water play).

I think if it’s avoiding screens they don’t necessarily have to be useful chores. We would have just left the weeds tbh if they hadn’t developed this new interest. Now I’m wondering what our garden could look like if they succeed!

I do them alongside them initally, then talk them through step by step. Then I just do pop ins with prompts eg don’t forget your bed! Start with ones they should have an idea of eg putting the cutlery away from the dishwasher. You also have to accept it won’t be done to perfection or the exact way you would do it!!!

Bit easier as I only have one child (5), if we are at home for the day, then it looks like:

Breakfast
Play lego/toys
Go out to see family, walk, park, shops, etc. wherever
Home for lunch
Play or nap
Go out in afternoon for another walk little trip out
Back home, they play, while dinner is being cooked.
Evening might be playing something together,
Bath, books, bed etc.