Are they driving you crazy? Fighting, boredom, irrational meltdowns over nonsense? Are video games turning your precious people into grumpy zombies? What can be done?

Here are five screen-free boredom busters for your kids this Christmas break. Forget YouTube, these free and simple ideas will bolster creativity, independent play and help kids negotiate their boredom. Studies show there are few things better for their development than that! Also, restoring your sanity is a nice benefit. 🙂

1. Start a Sibling or cousin Secret Santa. I had each child draw a name from a hat. They must keep the name a secret, and that is the person they will be making a Christmas gift for. If you’d rather have them buy a gift for their sibling, that is great, too. But not necessary. Dollar Tree is a great, inexpensive option for kids, if that sounds fun to you. If you have a giant tribe of children like me, you might prefer the hand-made, homemade route: cards, drawn pictures, crafts–these are gifts from the heart. Let the kids brainstorm, create, wrap and take as much initiative as they can. Get ready for your heart to burst.
2. Build a Couch Fort Empire. Give the kids a stack of blankets and tell them to build a city. They will need to name the city, elect a mayor and create shops to sustain the city. (You may want to give them a heads up that they will be responsible for deconstructing the city so there aren’t tears when clean up time rolls around.) This activity was initiated by my kids this year, ages 6, 8 & 10. They included the two four year olds, so this is a winner in my book!
3. Print very specific coloring pages. Google image search (images.google.com) whatever characters your kids are into and coloring pages. Ex: “Free Elsa coloring pages.” Once the search results come up, click “TOOLS” on the far right of the search bar. Click Size –> Large. Left-click the image you want to print and a thumbnail will appear on the right. Right-click that image and click “Open Image in New Tab” (NOT “Open LINK in New Tab”) Then print! Grab some binders and a three hole punch, and your kids can create a beautiful portfolio of their favorite pictures. Or use scotch tape to devote a bedroom wall to their creations. Our kids love Frozen, Lord of the Rings, Pokemon, Mario and Luigi images. The possibilities are endless. Thank you, internet!
4. Write a letter to a cousin or Grandma. Don’t let those writing skills rust over break. Let the kids take free reign here. If they are able, have them address the envelope and drop the letter at the post office. My kids LOVE putting stamped letters in the post office slots. Not sure why this is so thrilling, but if they have ownership of the entire process from writing to mailing, you might just create a correspondence lover.
5. Hit the library. Ask your kids what topic they are curious to learn more about: Toucans? Bolivia? Earthquakes? Susan B. Anthony? Ask them to become the family expert on the topic of their choice, and then teach the family about it. Can they remember three facts about what they are into? Present it to the family at dinner! They may need some help finding the books, but once they’ve done it once, the free accessibility of information is so exciting.

What are your favorite screen-free kids activities?

If you liked this post, you might love my free guide to helping your kids quit screens!