SCREEN-FREE Week Activities (and literacy suggestions from my Usborne bookstore!)
Here are some fun things to suggest this week when your littles are tempted to turn on the screened devices in your home!
- library (The Children Who Loved Books, Bears Don’t Read, My First Reading Library)
- write and illustrate a book (My First Story Writing Book, Creative Writing Book, Scribble & Author, Write Your Own Adventure Stories, Write Your Own Storybook, Write and Draw Your Own Comics)
- nature center (Pocket Books: Birds, Pocket Books: InsectsBaby’s Very First Stroller Book Animals, Bugs, Caterpillars and Butterflies, How Flowers Grow, The Usborne Outdoor Book, Book of Growing Food, Big Book of Big Bugs)
- act out your favorite storybook (Slot-Together Theater)
- conduct science experiments or activities (Usborne Science Activity Books)
- set up a “grocery store” using canned and boxed food from the kitchen (Look Inside Food, Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers About Food, Create your own Boutique, Create your own Pizzeria
- have a lemonade stand (Create your own Boutique, Create your own Pizzeria)
- Sidewalk chalk fun – make a hopscotch board, draw a road to ride bikes on, draw a turtle, trace children’s body’s, make a Welcome Home sign for dad/mom/grandma/sister, etc. (I Can Draw People, Do Nice. Be Kind. Spread Happy.)
- draw a train the length of the driveway – just a bunch of rectangles and an engine – then draw animals or bugs or coal etc on each car- pretend to ride in the cars and sing a goofy song or count and switch cars (Great way to practice numbers or shapes for the littles or even put math problems on them for the bigger kids!) (Baby’s Very First Noisy Book Trains, See Inside Trains, See Inside Exploration and Discovery, I Can Draw Animals, Step-by-Step Drawing Animals, Count to 100, Big Book of Colors)
- read a Book is a DIFFERENT place that usual (bathtub, tree, porch, playset, under the kitchen table, in the garden, on the stairs, under a tree, in your blanket fort, etc.
- fire and smores (The Usborne Outdoor Book, Bushfire Rescue [Extreme Adventures], Secrets of Our Earth, Firefighters, Volcanoes Kid Kit)
- play in the rain (Usborne Weather books)
- bake together (Usborne Cupcake Kit, Usborne Start to Cook, Billie’s Yummy Bakery Adventure!)
- nature walk with binoculars (real or homemade with toilet paper tubes) or scavenger hunt for bugs or flowers/plants and make a nature journal (Pocket Books: Birds, Pocket Books: Insects, Baby’s Very First Stroller Book Animals, Bugs, Caterpillars and Butterflies, How Flowers Grow, The Usborne Outdoor Book, Book of Growing Food, Big Book of Big Bugs, How Do I See?)
- Lego’s – check Pinterest for many lists of Lego build challenges (Architect Academy, Engineer Academy, First Sticker Book Building Sites, Make Buildings, A Year in My Life, Over 50 Brain Games)
- volunteer or litter clean-up (Be the Change, Make it Happen, Do Nice. Be Kind. Spread Happy.)
- bike ride (CyclingFirst Sticker Book Cycling, , Extreme Sports, Sticker Dressing Extreme Sports, Sticker Dressing Sports, Muddle and Match: Sports, Winter Sports Sticker Book)
- basketball or catch (Football Story series, Extreme Sports, Sticker Dressing Extreme Sports, Sticker Dressing Sports, Muddle and Match: Sports, Winter Sports Sticker Book)
- plant a garden (Book of Growing Food, Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers About Food, Pocket Books: Insects, Bugs, Caterpillars and Butterflies, How Flowers Grow)
- sew together (Children’s Sewing Kit)
- build a blanket fort or obstacle course (First Sticker Book Building Sites, Make Buildings, A Year in My Life)
- make a board game (Over 50 Brain Games)
- bubbles (How to Bathe Your Little Dinosaur)
We watch TV almost daily in our home. We do, however, try to set clear and consistent boundaries about how MUCH television is on during the day/week.
One thing I find super helpful is this website: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. This helps us keep our screens safe. It isn’t a fail-proof method, but it HELPS!
I am excited to try some of these things out when my kids want to turn to the screen!
rachaeldevorah 