According to research summarised on the , children who spend more than two hours a day on recreational screen use show worse working memory, processing speed, attention, language skills and executive function than those who don’t – and screen time can also disrupt sleep. In other words, the effects are real.
None of this is especially surprising. But while changing habits isn’t easy, it also isn’t hopeless. As the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign has argued, just because a behaviour is widespread doesn’t mean it’s irreversible: plenty of things once considered normal – from smoking in public places to corporal punishment – have quietly disappeared from everyday life.
The answer? To replace the screentime with fun, simple, absorbing activities. We’re not talking about things that require huge amounts of thought or set-up. But activities that foster hobbies that children can take with them as they grow up, and which also help with spending quality time together. Even if screentime creeps in later, they will feel sustained by these fun times spent together – and these, inevitably, will be the moments that they remember.
Cook Together
Most children love to bake together. It’s the perfect way to learn how to measure ingredients, have fun with a mixing bowl (to be licked clean at the end, inevitably), and even begin to understand how to use an oven — with the added bonus of cake at the end. Allegra McEvedy’s Jolly Good Food, from £3.03, is divided into sections inspired by Enid Blyton: snacks for the Secret Seven shed, midnight feasts at Malory Towers, and so on. It also includes plenty of savoury recipes, so once you’ve lured them in with teatime treats (the rock buns are nostalgic heaven), you can move on to the likes of quiche and Scotch eggs. Perfect for Blyton fans – and for those yet to discover her prolific oeuvre, it might just inspire some reading too.
Plants Some Seeds
It may feel like it’s early in the year for green-fingered endeavours, but as all good gardeners know, now is the time to start growing indoors. With children, it’s best to choose plants that shoot up quickly. Sweet peas are ideal: you’ll just need some seeds (from your local garden centre, or from English Sweet Peas for as little as £4), a seed tray (or even old loo rolls), and some multipurpose compost. Leave them on a cool, bright windowsill until they reach about 10 cm, then plant them out in spring. If you’d prefer something edible, try tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, broccoli, cauliflower or kale, which can all be grown from seed indoors in February.
Make Some Jewellery
There are few more meditative ways to spend an after-school afternoon than making jewellery with your little ones. It’s perfect for developing fine motor skills, and for chatting about the day while your hands are busy – which, in our experience, is when worries, challenges or triumphs tend to surface. There are many options out there, but this Unicorn-and-Heart-themed one (£16.95) from Cotton Twist is especially sweet.
Write A Story Together
Do you have a budding Katherine Rundell on your hands? Or perhaps your child is a reluctant reader and writer. Either way, writing a story together – away from the expectations and red-pen markings of school – can nurture a talent or coax out a latent one. After all, storytelling is how we make sense of the world. And while good writing does involve spelling and grammar, at first the more important skill is learning to invent characters, situations and plots. Whether the tale is serious or silly, you’ll gain a window into your children’s imaginations – and you can offer them glimpses of yours too. We like these free learning resources from the BBC to get you going. All you’ll need otherwise is a pen or pencil, some paper, and a freely wandering imagination. Top tip: why not take it in turns to write a sentence – even if you start by encouraging them to say theirs out loud while you act as scribe and write it down.
Play A Proper Board Game Together
If screens have trained children to expect constant stimulation, board games quietly retrain something even more useful: patience, turn-taking and the ability to lose without collapsing. The key is choosing games that are genuinely fun for adults too. Ticket to Ride: First Journey, Labyrinth, Dobble or Uno are all easy to learn, quick to play and don’t require a two-hour commitment. For slightly older children, Carcassonne or Kingdomino are brilliant. Make it part of the after-school rhythm: a snack, a game, then homework or dinner. Or why not channel your own childhood and bring out the old classics like Connect 4, Guess Who – and if you’re really committed, chess.
Build A Den
Nothing beats den-building when you’re a child. Chairs become fortresses, blankets become roofs, and suddenly the living room is a secret world. It’s collaborative, physical, imaginative – and once it’s built, it often leads to a sustained period of absorbed play or reading inside. Add a torch, a pile of books, or some snacks and you’ve created a space that feels more exciting than any screen. It doesn’t have to be tidy. Dens are meant to be temporary, after all. You really don’t need to spend anything on this, but if you did want a pack-away den, The Big Set (£319) is very nifty indeed.
Do A Puzzle
Jigsaws are one of the most absorbing things a family can do together. They teach persistence, visual reasoning and the underrated pleasure of slowly finishing something. Keep one set up on a table and let everyone add to it for ten minutes here and there over the week. For younger children, go for 100–200 pieces; for older ones, 500 – 1000 will be a good challenge. It becomes a background ritual – something to do while talking, or not talking. We love this cosy Brambly Hedge one, £14.99, though, in fairness, we love anything Brambly Hedge.
Learn One Small Skill
Not everything has to be ‘educational’, at least not in a school sense. Teach them to shuffle cards properly. Learn a simple magic trick. Whittle a stick. Learn to tie knots. Practice juggling with oranges. These are the sorts of small, slightly pointless skills that children remember for years – and that build confidence and patience. YouTube is often the enemy of parents who want to swerve screen-time. But harnessed this way, it can be used once to learn the thing – after which the screen goes away and the practice begins.
Put On A Play
There’s a reason children instinctively turn stories into performances. Putting on a play uses everything at once: imagination, collaboration, problem-solving and, crucially, a bit of confidence. It doesn’t need to be elaborate. A familiar story, a few lines written on scraps of paper, some dressing-up clothes or improvised costumes. One child can act, another can direct, another can make tickets or a poster. You can even film the final performance – not for social media, but for them to watch in years to come. You don’t need anything but imagination for this, but if you’re child really gets into it, you could invest in a puppet theatre, like this one, £126.99.
Make Peg Dolls
Peg dolls are wonderfully simple: small wooden figures that can become anything once painted or dressed. They’re perfect for after-school crafting because they don’t require much setup and they invite both concentration and creativity. All you need are some plain wooden dolly pegs, paints or felt-tip pens, scraps of fabric or wool, and a bit of glue. One evening can be spent making them, and many more can be spent playing with them – inventing families, adventurers, animals or entire miniature worlds. Unlike many crafts, they don’t just get made and forgotten: they become toys.
