How to keep children busy with (almost) nothing
And teenagers. And adults. Let's stop pretending we're grown-ups.
Hi! I’m Laure, a passionate tutor with 2500+ hours of experience helping students navigate through their learning journey.
Over the last 6+ years, I’ve had countless conversations with parents about how to keep children busy without using screens. And without losing our nerves either. So here are my top tips for fun and educational moments together.
Now I know, my last article was about letting your children be bored. No, I haven’t changed my mind. But…
Bored children can happen anywhere, and most of the time when you have nothing at all with you. (Otherwise, it’s just too easy to keep them busy.) And sometimes they get so bored that they keep themselves busy doing things you’d prefer them not to do.
So before the situation gets out of control, here’s how you can entertain your children, when all you have with you is…
A piece of paper
Origami: it really is simple, but you can teach your child how to do a plane, a star, a swan… Either you know it yourself already and that’s great, or you can quickly check on YouTube. Yes, that’s using a screen, I know. But you can also see it as an opportunity to show your child that the problem is not the screen itself, but what we do with them. And that there are connections between the screen world and the real world.
A piece of paper and a pen
The race game: draw a circuit, and use the pen one after the other to go from the starting point to the end, without ever getting out of the circuit. Start from a point, hold your pen with one finger only, all at the top of the pen, and make it fall so that it draws a line on the paper. Went out of the circuit? You have to go back to the starting point! Entertaining, and making everyone work on their motor skills.
A piece of paper and scissors
Garlands: Fold the piece of paper as an accordion, draw a shape on the top layer, and cut the shape with the scissors, while keeping the whole paper folded together. Unwrap: here is your beautiful garland! Great fun for your kids, who learned about symmetry and patterns without even noticing.
Decorations: Cut the paper in the shape of a square, then fold it along its diagonals, and to make it even rectangles (on both sides). Then fold all the pages, and draw a pattern on the top layer. Cut the shape with the scissors while keeping the whole paper folded together. Unwrap: here is your great decoration! This time, your child learned about patterns and central symmetry, still without noticing.
Nothing at all
Because yes, I know, sometimes they didn’t give you a second before their boredom made them explode.
The song game: one person chooses a word at random, other players have to find a song which has this word in its lyrics. Can’t find any? Making up a song is allowed: if other players do not notice it’s a fake, you win!
The traditional Guess Who: I’m thinking of an object, a person, a place… and others have to find it asking questions which can only be answered by yes or no. Want to twist the game a bit? Do it in a foreign language you are all learning!
the treasure hunt: name to all players something they have to find. First one to find it wins. Examples if you are in the car: a car plate ending in 5, a dog at the window of a car, a red truck, a city or name of shop with two “a”s,…
The first letter game: give a letter at random, other players have to be the first one to find something around them which name starts with that letter. Fun and encouraging your children to develop their observation skills.
Don’t say yes or no: a classic where you try to have the longest conversation possible without saying yes or no. The first player using ‘yes’ or ‘no’ loses. Tricky questions allowed.
Blind test: a classic too, that never ages. Make sure you choose songs from a playlist that mixes the music styles of all the players. A great way to get to know each other better through each player’s personal tastes.
Conclusion
Always have a piece of paper with you. And a pen.
Enjoy your holidays!