Screenless children activities - Summer recos #1

Because summer usually means long trips, bored kids and parents on edge.

‘Holidays, dear holidays… I know you are right around the corner. I can already feel the sand between my toes, smell sunscreen, feel the sun heating my skin and… hear my kid ask ‘Are we there yeeeet?’ every 5 minutes.’

I feel you, parents. And I care about your wellbeing.

So here are my recommendations to help you navigate through long waiting time in cars, airports, airplanes, boats (and spacecrafts maybe, apparently now it’s a thing!)

Photo by Evgenia Stergioula on Unsplash

Free downloadables and printables

If you speak a little French, you can find many activities on the Momes website: coloring, learning how to draw, games, and more. The website is not perfectly user-friendly, but if you spend about 20 minutes on it, you will probably end up with enough free printable activities to keep your child busy for a few hours.

Most activities are suitable for children up to 8-10 years old. Is your child older? Momes website is still worth a look - you may find inspiration there to look for similar activities at a more suitable level for your child or teenager.

Portable logic games by SmartGames

SmartGames offers a wide variety of pocket games suitable from 6 or 8 years old until… well, forever. If I’m being honest, I sometimes use it in my office between students when I have a 15-minute break.

These pocket games are wonderful to practice logical reasoning while having fun. I personally use them with my math students when we have 5 minutes left and don’t have the time for a last math question, or when they don’t have the energy for a last one anymore - such STEM games are wonderful to help children and teenagers see math and logic in a context.

SmartGames pocket games are usually between 7€ and 13€, making them an affordable activity for long roads. If they can buy you 1 hour of peace on each trip, you can probably see them as a good investment!

You can easily find them on Amazon of course, and if you prefer to support local shops and live in Luxembourg, Ernster shops usually have many available in stock.

An individual project, based on your child’s centres of interest

That one needs more preparation on your side, but may keep your child or teenager busy for a longer time.

The idea is simple: identifying your child’s centres of interest, and making them build something of their own around it.

Interested in comics? Why not write their own? You can use Dessineo if you want a paper version, or BDnF (free) if you want to do it on screens.

Interested in board games? Why not create their own? Choose their favorite game, take the time to understand the game dynamics involved, and make them redo a similar game about a subject they are interested in: a new version of Monopoly to fight climate change, a new version of Guess Who featuring animals… The possibilities are endless!

If your child is tutored with us at Nyki, we can also send you a project idea based on your child’s centres of interest and what your child’s tutor has worked on with you over the school year - feel free to reach out to us!

Need more inspiration?

You can have a look at previous articles about how to keep your kid busy with almost nothing or making screen time your ally.

Eager for more tested and approved recos? Summer recos #2, #3 and #4 are on the way. Themes coming up: Books, podcasts and social entrepreneurship.