Unplugged and Happy: 100 Hobbies Your Child Will Love More Than Screens
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End tech battles: give your child a choice they will want more than their digital devices
The use of digital devices is common. Children are using screens to engage with others, which takes the place of interpersonal communication, and they use digital distraction to end boredom. This can be detrimental to their health and addictive.
As a parent, you want to find a healthy balance for your child.
You also want to avoid the tech battles.
No one wants to be the enforcer of screen time or have their entertainment villainized.
The key is the misdirect.
It sounds simple and almost silly.
Remember when our kiddos were really young and they did not understand”why” they couldn’t play with an electrical outlet, for example?
Rather than shout over and over “no,” we would plug the outlet with a child safe cover and redirect our little one to another activity.
We are going to use the same tactic with screens. Is screen time WWIII?
In “Healthy Screen Time: What Can You Do?” we talked about the effects screens are having over kiddos’ brains and behaviors and ways you can limit screen time in your home. If you are looking for a Screen Time Chart, go here.
Do you struggle with tech and time your kids should be "doing something else?"
SCREEN TIME CHART!
Reeling off the latest statistics and “whys” is not going to have the desired “ah ha” moment with your child.
Knowledge of the possible damage of too much screen time will also not encourage them to reduce digital engagement.
They are using the screens for many purposes: social interaction, gaming, and digital distraction to name a few.
The result of the immediate results and high engagement from our screens is often addictive.
You need a bigger, better, and tastier “carrot.”
Engage your child in a hobby.
Engage your child in a hobby.There are so MANY hobbies, sports, interests, and crafts that require time and involvement.
If you can get your child interested in one of these, they will spend a lot of time and possibly find a group of others interested in the same.
This time, effort, and engagement spent on the hobby will be time NOT spent on a digital device (remember the misdirect ????).
My goal is to open up the world to your child by listing a lot of different kinds of hobbies and interests.
If your child is still young, start with a family hobby.
I also recommend family hobbies for some of the expensive or more challenging or time intensive interests.
When you are considering a family hobby, keep in mind the age and interests of your children.
For example, if you decide to volunteer as a family and your youngest is terrified of dogs, walking dogs at the shelter is probably a bad idea.
By developing meaningful family rituals and traditions you can help children establish positive relationships, which may help with sibling rivalry.
This will also help to strengthen family bonds and promote family dynamics.
I created a month of fabulous activities that your family can do together. Get that here. Get a daily activity or thought to bring your family compassion towards each other.
It can help you discover what you would like to do together.
Bring the family together!
Family Activity and Hobby Ideas:
Fairly easy:
*Have a weekly family game night
*A regular outside family game competition: bocce, lawn darts, corn hole, etc
*Put a dartboard on a wall, crank the music: darts and tunes night
*Family walking or hiking
*Reading together (never underestimate that goodnight story, even when they are 13)
*Family bike ride (one of my fondest memories, we went nightly, for just 20 minutes)
*Movie night, we added a pizza and ate on a blanket on the floor, like a picnic in the living room
*Karaoke night, we used to have a PS3 that had this and we had a ball!
*Baking
Requires Planning:
*Volunteer at the same place regularly
*Invite family friends over with kids and play games kids vs. adults
*Family projects: have everyone help out (ie. book nook, family homeschool room)
*Beekeeping
*Raise chickens or goats
*Soap making (from goat milk)
*Egg selling (from chickens)
*Make lotion or chapstick
*Make candles (from beeswax)
*For older kids, put together a car!
You will notice that many of these will enable you to teach financial awareness and business savvy to your children as well!
Sport Ideas:
You want your child to “get out there” and make friends, in real life, not online.
Fortunately, your child loves sports. There are so many to choose from.
Here is a list, although I am certain you will be able to come up with more.
I have divided them up into primarily team sports or individual sports.
Understand that many of your individual sports compete as a team, but the actual event is individual, like wrestling or gymnastics.
Team Sport Ideas:
*Baseball/Softball
*Basketball
*Cricket
*Football
*Hockey (Ice or Roller)
*Lacrosse
*Rowing
*Rugby
*Soccer
*Volleyball
Individual Sport Ideas:
*Archery
*Badminton
*Bowling
*Cross-Country
*Cycling
*Dance (Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Tap, etc)
*Dirt Bike Racing
*Fencing
*Frisbee (and Ultimate and Frisbee Golf)
*Golf
*Gymnastics
*Horseback Riding
*Martial Arts (Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, etc)
*Rowing
*(Ice and Roller)
*Skiing (Alpine or Cross-Country)
*Snowboarding
*Swimming
*Table Tennis
*Tennis
*Track and Field
*Wrestling
Hobbies for the active child that are not sports:
Does your child love activity, just not sports? I get it, me too!
Many of these can be added to your family list.
*Ant farm
*Build a tree house or fort
*Capture the Flag
*Create or go to Escape Rooms
*Dirt or Mountain Biking
*Drone Flying
*Four Square Tournaments
*Geocaching
*Ghost in the Graveyard
*Parkour
*Parks Passbook
*Photography
*Pilates
*Rock Climbing
*Rollerblading
*Sardines
*Skateboarding
*Create outdoor treasure/scavenger hunts
*Yoga
Hands on Activities:
Hands on. Your child is super creative and just needs the right nudge towards a hands on activity. Try one of these!
*Braided Rugs
*Build (ie. Bird or dog houses)
*Build (ie. With Legos)
*Candle Making
*Card Making
*Crochet
*Cross-stitch
*Diamond Painting
*Drawing
*Jewelry Making
*Knitting
*Life Skills
*Metal Working/Welding
*Model Building
*Origami
*Painting
*Paper Making
*Pottery
*Scrapbooking
*Sewing
*Upcycled Crafts
*Woodworking
Hobbies for the child who is quiet and thinks a lot
What if getting your child to play outside is a constant struggle?
Your child does not gravitate towards activities or sports.
Instead they like to learn or to think. Here is a list of cerebral activities for the child who is a “thinker.”
*Astrology (birthdate and time)
*Astronomy (science of space)
*Bird Watching
*Board Games (have you played Settlers of Catan? Major strategy!)
*Chess
*Coding
*Collection (stamps, rocks, coins, etc)
*Comic Books
*Crosswords
*Dungeons and Dragons (a game, true, but more of a cultural event)
*Flower Pressing
*Hamm Radio
*Herbology
*Musical Instrument
*New Language
*Puzzles
*Reading (many libraries have book clubs for kids)
*Speech or Debate
*Sudoku
*Writing (help your child if interested in poetry or chapter writing)
Many of these activities may seem like “one and done” type of things to do.
If these are the types of activities that interest your child, try to create events out of them.
For example, Ghost in the Graveyard, is a simple neighborhood game played by children “back in the day.”
Create a weekly Ghost in the Graveyard event, inviting your children’s friends and have pizza.
By engaging your child in hobbies that capture their interest, you can successfully reduce their dependency and desire to be on screens. Everyone has different preferences and interests, so it may take some exploration and time to discover your child’s unique passions. Through these efforts, you’ll not only help the discover a new interest and talent, but also empower them with valuable skills, creativity and a love for activities beyond screens.