No Screen Time Activities

We live in a small town and I don’t drive so we can walk to the park or the library but there’s nothing else within walking distance

Pull out some paper and crayons and get to drawing; Also get a coloring book and color with him; I found a few ideas online: Get a cardboard box, punch holes into it, and stick straws through it. He'll be pushing/pulling them out for a while; Also get a cupcake pan, colored balls, and a large spoon. Cut out some matching colored circles to place into each cup so he can match the balls their color.

Finger painting, a chalkboard

Playdoh, threading, building like legos, make a big car track or ramp and play cars, water play with pots & pans, kinetic sand, painting, role play set ups like doctors with dolls or animals. Have a look on Pinterest for good tuff tray ideas for his age x

Sensory table( Pinterest has lots of ideas), outdoor play area, water tower, arts and crafts (painting, coloring, play dough, etc.). Specific toys are hard because they grow out of them but my son loves cars. So we build ramps and will play for a while with a bunch of cars.

Yoto player is amazing- audio stories, audio games and music. I think it’s got story cards until around 10 years so should last a long time. Instead of buying colouring books I google specific things my kid likes with “colouring pages” and print them off. Much easier to tailor to their interests and easier for them to manage than a whole book! Puzzles and duplo are also great for that age group and should last well. My five year old still plays with their duplo!

We do sensory bins! All the time! My daughter is 2 on the 14th. We do rice, pasta, foam, sand, water, Pom poms, cotton balls in the sensory bin. She loves her water table and bubble machine, chalk on the sidewalk.

https://store.leapfrog.com/en-us/store/p/leapstart/_/A-prod80-21600E my daughter loves this. Also stickers.

At that age my son was obsessed with construction equipment. He had a couple of cheap excavators, front loaders and dump trucks. We would spend hours outside making construction sites. Digging and moving sand/dirt rocks. We would go on walks to find rocks or pinecones if we didn’t have some in our yard. Anything to scoop up basically. He also loved the water table. Now he is into monster jam trucks so we do a lot of monster jam competitions (inside and out). He is now almost 5 and will still go play with his construction toys in the dirt outside about once a week.

we get a ton of use from the Yoto Mini but got it when my daughter was 3

we literally go outside in the yard. my son climbs trees, plays with the hose, helps me plant things in our garden, etc. he LOVES mowing the lawn lol like we literally just do homemaker things all day long

Sensory play and outside. I’m outside 95% of my day lol

Know that it’s okay and not harmful for your child to be bored! I had to learn and accept this. But also, get that baby a bike or scooter! Contact your local community center for children’s story time and gatherings. I would get a frequent pass for the aquarium or children’s museum (they do switch things up so it’s not the same interaction every time). It’s nearly summer, google splash pad near you. We go to a free one and another one cost us $3 to enter. Go to a sand pit. My local playground has a volleyball court and my kids will play in the sand for hours. Live near a creek or pound or lake, take advantage of that. Live near trails? Go for walks and have your child scooter/ bike it. Baking goodies and let your child take lead and learn. Do some STEM projects (like making slime or a lava lamp) Go climb tress and collect different rocks/ flowers. You can then make that into an art project if you kids is into that. Invest in a bounce house (I’ll link below). Have a dance party.

https://www.target.com/p/little-tikes-jump-39-n-slide-dry-bouncer/-/A-53541152?sid=&TCID=PDS-209745169&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1246978&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD-5dfY_vNhLIgkQgK2mlUuBWFjMT&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_JzABhC2ARIsAPe3ynq5Z9hU52PMu0pf6puVvyvZrEkeDgd0LTNNLmqvQLO-bR2HEdwGp_oaAvZSEALw_wcB

But some chalk and bubbles! Go to local festive—save money by bringing snacks and drinks for the kids. I take my boys to the mall before operating house and we run around and use the elevator and escalators. (The mall opens at 10am but stores don’t open/ operate until 11am). Make friends with folks in the neighborhood. Have a picnic in the park—books, toys, bubbles and music. Create a fun backyard obstacle. Buy a water table. Go campaigning in your backyard (it’s actually fun). Build a fort. Google local farms and go see some animals. It’s strawberry season, go find some “u pick” farms! Make frozen treats (health and delicious). Ice cube sensory play. Play a sponge toss game. Water painting outside. Start a garden and let him get dirty. Does your kids like sports? Go to a baseball game for the day. Hide toys and let him find them. Car wash! And if he has his own push car, use that!

I have an endless less because I personally like to keep my kids busy and outside. So let me know if you need more idea. It does help to also do some googling on your town and neighboring towns because there’s always family friendly events going on and you don’t want to miss out. I have a “busy calendar” where each month I fill up with local activities and events happening. So if I’m not up for doing my own planed activities we just go to those. Generally they’re free to attend but food and certain activities might cost you. But we also got a pool membership which will be my saving grace this summer.

Thank you everyone so much for the advice, and not being judgmental 🥹 I’m going to be looking into all of these! And what a perfect day to start, I totally spaced today is Earth Day so as soon as both kids are awake we’re going outside ☺️

Sensory bin with plastic animals and scoops/spoons. We use dried chickpeas for ours. I usually do 1 craft/playdoh activity a day where we review colours or counting.

Oh and sometimes I take her puzzles pieces and mix in the sensory bin and we do puzzles that way

Unfortunately the trick is just to rip off the bandaid and fight through the tantrums for a bit. He’ll eventually learn how to keep himself busy & play by himself. Kids literally go through withdrawal when you take the tv away so it’s going to suck for a while but you got this!♥️

@Kourtney thank you! We’ve had no tv for almost 9 hours now and he got a bit fussy when he couldn’t watch while he ate lunch but other than that he’s been doing really well 🤞🏻

He spends time outside he has a scooter bike climbing frame and trampoline and water and sand tubs. He scoots up and down our quiet street. Or he plays hopscotch or chalks the pavement. We also spend a lot of time at skate parks because he likes to scoot

I also partake in the #1000hrsoutside challenge on IG which gets me out of the house. An average of 3hrs a day. Because 1000hrs divided by 365 days is 2.7hrs a day. Some days it’s 2 some days it’s 6. Depending. On weekends we are always out somewhere

A lot of hands on activities for his age! Shaving cream with food coloring Water play get two tubs and fill one with water and toys get him a soon and have him fish out the toys Pasta stringing can even paint the pasta There’s lots of things out there that will attract his attention you can look on Pinterest for ideas I would look for my little ones when I worked at a center

Library or park daily. Idk how some of you guys live without driving to be honest

@Cassie I could drive in an emergency but it gives me so much anxiety that it’s not worth it just for an indoor play place or the pool 🤷🏼‍♀️ My husband can bring us on the weekends. Anything I need during the week is within a mile walking distance.

I agree with all the outside suggestions! I'm not sure if someone's mentioned already, but if the weather is crap or you're in the crazy pre/post dinner period, I love having dance parties with her. We turn up the music and just be silly and she loves it! Then there's the typical animal games (be animals), or chasing round the house hiding from/finding them What I'm trying to get better at is just letting her be bored. I'm always surprised how she's just able to explore by herself when I'm not trying to find something her her to "do"

@Kassidi I actually depend on my boyfriend a lot for driving as well. Is it a driving in general thing or just driving with the kids thing? Honest question

@Cassie just driving in general. I didn’t get behind the wheel until 19 and then I had a couple bad experiences related to a car around the same time. I’m trying to get over it for my kids’ sake, but I’m trying to find an anti-anxiety med first

My son is obsessed with the tv being on. I have it on most the day; Mainly just background noise, very few things hold his attention anyways. I usually just put a calming music playlist on YouTube on tv and he will continue to play and not actually watch the tv. But he will alert me the second the music stops and the tv is asking if I am still watching. He just seems so fascinated by a tv being on lol.

My daughter is 2 and I’ve just started to make a learning journal for her which helps a lot. I’m currently hella pregnant with my second baby and it’s something that we can do together while I sit and relax. She spends a lot of time with coloring books too. We also have unlimited screen time but her favorite toys: Doctor set Large legos Stacking animal figures Puzzles Magnet fishing game Train track set Indoor climb & slide *The TV is used more for background noise, singing together, and when we’re eating breakfast/ lunch. Super Simple Songs and PBS Kids are our go-tos.