Heather Foudy
Certified Elementary Teacher
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Children are increasingly spending more time in front of screens, while studies are telling us they need more time away from technology to develop their imaginations. The American Psychological Association recommends that children between the ages of four and five have less than one hour of screen time per day, while children six and older have consistent limits placed on their screen time.
In this digital age, it is important for children to learn how to screen out the distractions in their environment and critically analyze the world around them. Improving analytical and creative thinking develops the habits of imagining, experimenting, and questioning, and builds internal tools within our children to evaluate the world around them.
Help your child tap into their imagination and critical thinking skills with these easy and fun activities for home!
DIY Laser Maze
This is a fun activity that will get your child moving! It can be adapted for any age level with easy adjustments! All you need for this activity is painter’s tape and a hallway!
Using long pieces of painter’s tape, attach one end to the wall of your hallway or staircase and stretch it diagonally or laterally across to the other side. Repeat this process, leaving enough space between each tape piece for your child to fit through to make a laser-esque maze! Make some “laser beams” low, some high, some diagonal, some parallel to the floor, etc.
Challenge Tip: Make it more difficult to complete the maze by adding more tape and asking questions that have to be answered correctly before moving on to the next stage, such as:
- What’s 2+2?
- What color is a banana?
- Can you spell the word “cat”?
- What is your favorite color?
- Can you sing the alphabet song?
- What is your favorite reading book?
- What are three adjectives that describe you? (Advanced)
- What sound does “M” make?
Cardboard Construction
Using cardboard or other pliable building materials you have around, such as pool noodles, blocks, and paper, make a play space. The possibilities are endless, and it will keep your kids busy, thinking, and having fun! Here are some more ideas for what you can make with cardboard:
- restaurant
- school space
- playhouse
- airplane, bus, or car
- dollhouse
- soccer goal
- puppets
- DIY painting canvas
Use paint and markers to turn just a box into anything you want!
Activity books are a great way to incorporate quiet time and still keep young children engaged and busy. Quiet activities allow children to process and synthesize new information. Encouraging children to include 15 minutes of quiet activities is a great way to nourish creativity, focus, and critical thinking. Listen and Learn Animals is a fun activity book for 4–6-year-olds that includes foundational reading support while they learn about interesting animals. The read-aloud audio helps children follow along independently, and the interesting stories, matching activities, and art projects keep them learning.
Reading Nook
Encourage early reading readiness by creating a fun reading nook where children can explore picture books and read books on their own. This is a great space for them to have the freedom to investigate books independently. Reading nooks can be permanent or temporary areas around your home.
Some simple ideas for creating a reading nook are:
- Build a fort with sheets under a desk
- Pitch a tent in the backyard
- Use pillows to create a reading space in a bedroom
- Transform a large cardboard box into a cozy reading space
Hang a hammock chair from the ceiling
Family Reading Night: Designate a family reading night with fun treats and read-alouds. Stories provide opportunities for children to imagine the impossible and allow their creative minds to roam with possibilities. Create a festive mood with a fun treat like a popcorn, pretzel, and chocolate mix!
Some fun read-aloud books are:
- Wonder
- Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone
- Little House on the Prairie
- Stuart Little
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
About Heather Foudy
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ of experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike. Visit Evan-Moor at www.evan-moor.com and follow us at https://www.instagram.com/evanmoor_publisher/
View all posts by Heather Foudy here.
21 Comments on “Screen-Free Learning Activities for Young Children”
What wonderful suggestions. They will get the child physically active and mentally involved. It can be challenging to keep children entertained and occupied without them being online all the time. More parents need to use more activities like these.
These are great ideas! Reading has always been a fun family activity for us. I like the DIY Laser Maze idea! We use to put on little skits and plays too. We enjoy time away from the screens and it really gets us doing things as a family!
These are such great ideas! My favorite idea is the reading nook! I used to read so much as a kid so I am hoping my kids will love it as well.
WE have really restricted ‘screen’ time for the children. This article gives us so many ideas. Thankfully our grands love being outdoors no matter the weather
I love the laser beam activity! I’m going to buy the tape for my son’s second grade class to try.
I’ve done the laser maze before and it was a HUGE hit at a ninja-themed birthday party! The kids were crazy for it. I think I might try the making a reading nook this summer. I think your ideas about pillows and snacks will go a long way to our daughter wanting to actually use it.
I love these ideas! Limiting screen time is so important for us,but its not always easy to find other ways to keep the kids busy . We especially love a blanket fort ..filled with books!.
These ideas sound perfect to get the kids away from staring at a screen all day. Just in time for when school is out!
My grandson always on his phone or computer, when he use to come and spend the weekend we use to always try to find fun activities to do to get him away from screen time, back in my childhood there was no computers, cell phones or anything of that sort and we all had active imaginations, I spend most of my time outdoors playing
I love this. Any chance to get a kid from staring at a screen is good in my book!
These are great ideas! We love to have screen-free days, I think it is good for the whole family
Screen-free time is a time we take seriously in our family. We play board games, go outside, go to an attraction, etc. to spend our scree-free time.
Great ideas! Im trying to wean my grands from their electronics
Great ideas! Thanks
Many great suggestions. I am all for limiting tablet time. I think my favorite idea is making a variety of reading nooks. There is something about a cozy small space and a book.
Such great ideas and thank you for this information.
These are such great ideas to keep children reading and going outdoors. These tips will be helpful for our grandson who lives with us. Luckily for us, he loves to ride his bike and play with neighbor friends.
I love, love, LOVE the idea of a family reading night! Guess what we’ll be doing tonight?! :-) Friday night… perfect time for it!
Those are good ideas to keep your children away from those tablets
I love it and it’s really good for my family.
Screen-free activities are what I strive to provide for my grandchildren! Thank you!