It is no surprise that these last few months have resulted in a lot more screen time for the entire family. From work, to online school, to extra curricular activities, it seems like we are constantly plugged into a device! Here are a few screen free activities to enjoy together as a family:
1. Get Crafty:
Get messy and be creative with some crafts. Kids from around the world get crafty as a way to stay busy, learn and be inspired. Crafts can also be healing, like the kids in Lebanon and Syria who participated in crafting activities as way to express their emotions and share their dreams.
2. How to make Playdough:
Making Playdough is super easy, and creates hours of screen free fun for the whole family!
Follow this quick and easy recipe:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/4 cup of salt
- 3/4 cup of water
- 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- Food colouring
- Any scents you would like
Add water, oil and lemon juice to a medium non-stick pot and heat on medium heat on the stove. Add food coloring and liquid scents
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt. After the water is hot, but not boiling, slowly add the dry ingredients to the pot and while mixing to combine.
Use a wooden or plastic cooking spoon and stir until the ingredients combine, dry out and begin to form a ball. If there are parts that seem a bit sticky still, just flatten the dough out and put the sticky side down on the bottom of the pot very briefly.
Flip back and forth frequently until it doesn’t seem sticky anymore. Don’t cook it too long. It is better to be a bit undercooked as it will firm up as it cools down.
Place on a sheet of wax paper until it cools down a bit. Then knead the dough for a minute or two to bring it all together.
Have fun!
3. How to play Marbles:
The game of marble is one that has been played for many years and within many countries! For example kids in Yemen and Afghanistan will play this game together pretty much anywhere. It is such a simple game but can strengthen skills, hand-eye coordination and patience.
Rules:
Draw a circle on the ground with chalk or make one with a string if indoors.
Marbles are placed inside the circle, usually near the center and often arranged in an X pattern.
To determine who goes first usually you draw a line around 10 feet away. Players shoot or roll their marble to see who can get the closest. The closest player goes first.
Taking a Turn.
The player uses their shooter marble to take a turn. To shoot the marble a player will use their thumb to flick the marble from their hand into the centre.
The goal of each shot is to hit one of the marbles in the centre and knock it out of the circle. If the player knocks a marble out, then they get to keep the marble for the rest of the game, they also get to take another turn. If no marble is knocked out of the circle, the other player then gets a turn.
The first shot must be taken from the edge of the circle. If the shooter stays inside the circle, then next shot can be taken from the spot where the shooter landed.
The shooter marble is removed from the circle at the end of each turn.
Whoever has the most marbles at the end of the game is the winner!
Enjoy!