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Having Fun Without A Screen

Tips from your Bucks County Student Assistance Program

Having FunWithout A ScreenTips from your Bucks County Student AssistanceProgram

Screen Time

By now it is well understood that reducing screen time has significant benefits for children such as better grades, more sleep, decreased aggression, decreased anxiety and increased physical activity. However, during this pandemic and virtual school year, the battle against screen time has been difficult, if not close to impossible. Many of the established tips about reducing screen time such as limiting devices and setting timers did not readily apply. As many schools are starting to return to a more traditional in-person instruction, there will be adjustments. The Student Assistance program is here to help with some tips and tricks as well as work with the students on readjusting routines and schedules.

Tips and Tricks

  • Discuss with your children why screen-free time is important
  • Commit as a family
  • Establish helpful routines
  • Set limits and stick to them; Use timers when necessary, give count down warnings and take devices away
  • Set tech-free family time
  • Help your kids find something to do
  • Reward good choices
  • Ask for help if needed



Below are a variety of activities to help spark the fun of screen-free time.


Scroll down to see ideas for all age groups

Preschoolers & Elementary School Aged Kids

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Bubble Foam

Make with just 3 ingredients!

-(Tear Free) Bubble bath or Dawn Dish Soap

-Water

-Food coloring

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Cloud Dough

3 Simple Ingredients:

-Corn starch

-Baby lotion

-Food coloring

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Rice & Beans Sensory Play


Put rice or beans in a bin. Add trucks, cars, cups, shovels, etc!

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Bathtub Snow Play

Fill your bathtub with buckets of snow

Use as much snow or as little snow as you want

Add cars, trucks, shovels, etc

(Option: Add food coloring)
When finished, turn on the water/shower and wash away

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Paint Rocks

-Collect rocks from outside

-Paint them

-Let them dry

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Musical Chairs

  1. Play the music and have the players walk around the perimeter of the chair circle.
  2. When the music stops, everyone must immediately sit in a chair.
  3. The one person left standing it out.
  4. Remove another chair and continue until only one person is left.
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Stay at home bingo

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Ball Toss

Label different bins or buckets with numbers/points
Use ping pong balls and shoot the balls into the buckets
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Outdoor Hopscotch

Create a hopscotch board outside using chalk
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Color

Use blank paper or coloring books
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Indoor Scavenger Hunt

Have a parent/guardian or older sibling create a list of things for you to find around the house
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Shape Hopscotch

Cut out different shapes and play hopscotch

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Sensory Walk- Footprint Handprint Activity


  • Trace one handprint and one footprint. Use that as a template to make several pairs of footprints and handprints. Tape down to colored paper. Make a gross motor game by placing your hands and feet on the paper.
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Walk The Line

Create different lines on the floor and have kids follow the lines for a fun gross motor game.
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Paper Plate Toss


  • Take a paper towel roll and tape to the floor. Cut out inner circles from various paper plate sizes. Do a paper plate toss.
  • How many can you get in in how many seconds/minutes? Make it more challenging by scooting further back!
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Fizzy Eggxperiment

-Fill a bowl or tray with baking soda

-Open each egg and put food a drop of food coloring inside

-Cover the food coloring drop with baking soda

-Pour vinegar into the eggs that you have filled with food coloring and baking soda and watch them burst!

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Dance Parties

Dance parties are a great way to have fun and get exercise at the same time
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Easy Baking Recipes For Kids – Basic Pantry Ingredients

https://mykidslickthebowl.com/easy-baking-recipes-kids/

Tweens and Teens

"Knitting" by Erin E Flynn is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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Learn to Knit, Crochet or Finger Weave

Get some yarn , find a needle and google the steps.


With Finger Weaving all you need is the yarn!


You can make beautiful and useful creations like a scarf.

"scavenger hunt flyer" by ryanrocketship is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Create a Scavenger Hunt

Get creative and design a neighborhood scavenger hunt for you, your friends, your parents or your siblings.


There are some good ideas here.

"Paper battle Oragami Andy Warhol style" by MarketMeSuite is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Do Oragami

Use construction paper or any paper your find in the house to make wonderful art.


Spruce Crafts has some beginner projects you could try out.

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Bake Something

baking can reduce stress. They are many simple recipes you can try, like cookies or muffins, that don't require many ingredients!
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Plant a garden

You can buy seeds from a garden center or online, save them from flowering plants, or even save them from food from the grocery store. Growing a garden and tending to it has many documented benefits for your health and is a great way to get back to nature.
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Do a Puzzle

Puzzling is a fun way to relax and strengthen your mind at the same time. Click here to check out some mental health benefits of jigsaw puzzles!
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Teach a Pet

You can think about teaching your dog or cat something new. Click here for dogs and Click here for cats!
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Practice a New Hair Style

Experiment with your hair! Learning and creating new styles are fun! Here are some great ideas!
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Mail a friend a letter

Before email the world wrote letters and placed in the mail. It is always fun to get mail. Talk to a friend about exchanging letters!
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Learn a card trick

Card tricks can be fun to watch and even more fun to show! Click here to learn some easy tricks and start amazing your friends!
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Make Clay and Craft Something

Check out this recipe using flour, salt, vegetable oil, and water to make clay. Then get creative with it!
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Make a Cardboard Box Robot

Create a Robot with old boxes and soup cans!


The idea can be found here.

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Look for a Job or Volunteer

Finding a job helps fill your time with something productive and even bring in money. If extra money isn't motivating, perhaps you want to give back to your community and volunteer your time. United Way of Bucks county is a great way to give back to you own community. Click here for more information.
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Learn to Adult

Think of one Adulting skill you do not know and learn it. Some examples are:


  • Yard Maintenance
  • Change a car's tire or oil
  • Cleaning a house properly
  • Budgeting and finances
  • Income taxes
  • Health appointments and navigating insurance
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Plan a Meal and Make it

While eating is important to survive (and counts as an adulting skill), It can also be really fun to do. Think about a meal you love to eat and learn how to make it.
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The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.

The Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program (SAP) is a systemic team process used to mobilize school resources to remove barriers to learning. The primary goal of SAP is to help students overcome these barriers so they may achieve, advance, and remain in school. As representatives of the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol and Mental Health systems, Behavioral Health liaisons will provide on-site consultation to SAP teams as well as provide support to families and students with substance use and/or mental health related concerns.

Website: councilsepa.org
Location: 4459 West Swamp Road, Doylestown, PA, USA
Phone: (215) 230-8218
Facebook: facebook.com/TheCouncilSEPA
Twitter: @TheCouncilSEPA

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