100 Ways to. Ways to Unplug

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Melvyn Lloyd
5 years ago
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100 Ways to Kids need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous phsyical activity every day; and they shouldn t spend more than two hours a day using TV, computer

Below are a 100 ways for you and your family to unplug and play. Ways to Unplug 1. Making the decision to limit screen time can be a big change in many households.

It will help them socialise more with the family and let you keep an eye on what they are watching. 3. Try taking your reading or work outside.

Find out just how much time you and your kids spend on TV, computer and electronic games by using the electronic media tally on our website.

1 100 Ways to Kids need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous phsyical activity every day; and they shouldn t spend more than two hours a day using TV, computer and electronic games for entertainment. There are lots of ways for children and families to unplug from their screens and start playing. Below are a 100 ways for you and your family to unplug and play. Ways to Unplug 1. Making the decision to limit screen time can be a big change in many households. Hold a family meeting and discuss why you are doing this and let everyone have their say in setting the rules. 2. Remove any TVs or computers from kids bedrooms. It will help them socialise more with the family and let you keep an eye on what they are watching. 3. Try taking your reading or work outside. This will entice the kids to move outside too where they are bound to find an active activity. 4. Find out just how much time you and your kids spend on TV, computer and electronic games by using the electronic media tally on our website. Get everyone to note down how much time they spend on screen-based activities. Chances are you ll be surprised! 5. It s important to get the kids motivated about limiting their screen time. Set a weekly reward for following the rules such as a family trip out to dinner or a trip somewhere fun such as tenpin bowling or the beach.

2 6. Often kids can be very persistent when asking for new toys or games. Rather than being a stressful situation this can create a great opportunity to teach them the value of money. When they ask for something new sit down together and talk about how much it costs in relation to other toys (active equipment is often a lot cheaper than new computer or game console games). Make them set up a budget to save for the game. In the future it will show them how much work it takes to get that game and it may cut down on the number of games they ask for. 7. Make a checklist of things your children have to get done before they use electronic media (for example, homework and chores). 8. Lead by example and avoid doing any screen-based activities before 7pm. It can create great opportunities for family bonding. 9. Get the kids to identify what their favourite TV program is and make a plan of what they are allowed to watch. This means they ll be able to look forward to watching their favourite show and won t simply watch whatever is on the screen. 10. Talk to other parents about what they do to limit the amount of screen time their children have. Together you may be able to come up with ways to keep the kids active while still allowing you some spare time. 11. Organise a neighbourhood roster so that you can take turns to supervise the kids while they play at the local park. 12. When creating family rules for screen time think of ways to monitor these, such as using the electronic media tally on our website or getting an alarm clock or timer. An egg timer will let everybody know when somebody s time is up. 13. Explain to your children the risks associated with too much screen time and together form rules about how much they are allowed. Ideas for Play: In the Backyard: 14. Make a game of seeing how long you can all keep a balloon or volleyball from touching the ground. 15. Get your wheels on and give rollerblading a go. 16. Hold your own backyard mini Olympics or Commonwealth Games, complete with home made medals. It s a great way to get kids passionate about sport.

17. For great ideas for the great outdoors visit www.natureplaywa.org.au. 18. Invest in a hula hoop and skipping rope for some active fun that you can take anywhere. 19.

3 17. For great ideas for the great outdoors visit Invest in a hula hoop and skipping rope for some active fun that you can take anywhere. 19. Set up a treasure hunt in the back yard. 20. Get green - help the kids make their very own backyard vegetable patch. 21. Don t undervalue the simple things, such as having balls available for the kids to play with. Often they ll have so much fun they won t even realise they re being active. 22. Encourage the kids to go outside for a jump around on the trampoline. 23. Be a backyard handyman - help the kids build a bird feeder or scarecrow for the veggie patch. It s a great way to get them outdoors. 24. Encourage your kids and their friends to get outside for a game of ultimate Frisbee, tag or hopscotch. 25. Invest in a lawn bowls or skittles set, it will entice the kids to get outside and provide hours of competitive fun. 26. Teach the kids some outdoor skills by setting up a backyard orienteering course or camping overnight in a tent. 27. Have your family friends come around for a barbeque and bring their children too. When kids get together they always find ways to have active fun. 28. Simple things like a hacky sack can provide kids with hours of fun and teach them about the importance of practising skills. 29. Leave table tennis or totem tennis set up for the kids to play with whenever they want. Before and After School: 30. Walk or cycle to school with the kids. It s a great time to catch up and a good opportunity to get the dog out for a walk. You can even take turns with the neighbours. 31. Encourage your children to take up a musical instrument. Children have an amazing ability to learn and it s a great way to keep them busy with all the practice. 32. For older children, encourage them to take up a local paper-round. It s a great way to get them outside and active and teach them the value of money.

4 33. Give the kids a sense of responsibility by letting them take charge of walking and caring for the dog. Set up a roster to make sure the dog gets out every day. 34. Encourage your child to take up sports they take an interest in. It s a great time to pick up life-long passions. 35. Join a walking group and take the kids along too. Most groups would love to have kids tagging along on their bikes and scooters. Visit for more information. 36. Ask around at your child s school to see if there are any sporting teams they could join. 37. Encourage your children to join community and school sports teams. It will help them make new friends and teach them the importance of teamwork. Visit for more information. 38. Straight after school is a danger time for children to come home and sit on the couch. To avoid this, pack up some sandwiches and stop by a park on the way home. It s a good way for both you and the kids to unwind and have fun. 39. A pair of roller-skates or rollerblades can provide hours of entertainment and is an amazing form of physical activity. Boys not keen to put on their skates? Try enticing them with a scooter instead. 40. Check out if your child s school has a walking school bus. It s a safe way for your kids to get to and from school while increasing their steps and socialising with their friends. Find out more at Use chalk to set up a game of noughts and crosses on the ground. It will wash away and is a fun way to make the game more active. 42. Visit the local toy library to find some active play equipment. 43. Grab the bikes and try out a new route. 44. When the daisies come out, teach kids to make a daisy chain at the local park. 45. Make sure there are some water pistols or water balloons around for some summer fun. 46. Volunteer to coach one of your children s sports team. It s a great way to bond with your children and get to know their friends while also encouraging them into sports. 47. Swimming is a great Australian sport and kids of all ages can get involved and start training. It s also an important skill as children

5 are so often near the water. Contact your local pool to see what classes they have running. 48. Think outside the square with organised sport. Rock climbing, martial arts, baseball and dancing are all great options and are growing in popularity. 49. Encourage the kids to go outside straight after school while it s still light outside for a game of tag or hide and seek. 50. Joining a Cubs, Scouts or Brownies group is a great way for your children to keep active during the evening, spend time with their friends and learn some important skills. Inside activities: 51. Need some indoor entertainment? Have a game of hide and seek. 52. For inside fun have a family game of twister. 53. Try to introduce your children to new hobbies such as collecting stamps, coins or rocks. This will help them learn and be passionate about a new topic. 54. Have a game of celebrity head. Place a card with the name of a celebrity on each person s head. Everybody has to ask yes/no questions until they can guess which celebrity their card says they are. 55. Make dinner time family time. Sit down together at the table and switch off all other distractions. Research has shown children who eat dinner with their family are more likely to have higher self esteem, a sense of purpose and a positive view of the future (1) as well as reducing the likelihood they will take part in risky behaviours, including fighting and substance abuse (2). 56. Make one day a week a friends day where you encourage your children to bring their friends around to play. 57. Encourage the Masterchef in your children. Let them take charge of cooking for one night a week. It will pull them away from the screen and could create a new hobby. 58. For a cheap and cheerful version of tenpin bowling use your hallway, a collection of plastic water bottles and any type of ball you can find. 59. Make the mornings a screen-free affair. Focus on getting chores around the house done so that mornings become an active time rather than letting the kids get into the habit of watching TV to start the day. 60. Turn up the music and have a dance around the lounge together.

6 61. For older kids, have a dance competition at home and let them choreograph their own routine. 62. The weather not great outside? Have a game of balloon volleyball. The kids will get a real kick out of it and it s a safer form of ball to use inside. 63. Make time to help your kids out with their homework. It may stop them from getting on the computer and being sidetracked by games or websites. 64. Switch the radio on when the kids get home from school. It will help stop them from switching on the TV for entertainment. 65. Make sure the kids always have a stash of board games handy. This is a great activity for rainy days and can even be educational. 66. Encourage your kids to plan and make their own healthy afternoon tea after school. This will mean they don t go straight to the couch when they get home. 67. Encourage the artist in your child. For many people childhood is activities more often they ll develop their skills which may mean they stick with it as they get older. 68. Create a family trivia game! Put together some general knowledge questions for the whole family. It s a fun way to spend time together and develop your kids knowledge base (not to mention your own general knowledge!). 69. Get the kids into recycling. It will keep them busy while teaching them about the environment. As well as having recycling bins, a worm farm is a great draw card for the kids and an environmentally friendly way to get rid of food scraps. 70. For younger children, making puppets out of socks is a great form of entertainment and lets them get crafty. 71. On a rainy day build a family fort/castle indoors, using pillows, blankets and sheets. 72. Encourage your kids to get creative by setting up a table with pens, pencils and other craft bits and pieces. This will give them a non-screen based activity that is always there. 73. Get them building. Letting the kids get into a project where they can create something such as a cubby house or toy model is a great way of showing them what they can achieve when they aren t simply watching TV. 74. Turn up the music and do the limbo. A family game of limbo always gets kids excited.

7 75. Try making musical instruments out of household items. You could even record a demo. On the Weekends: 76. Plan ahead for the weekend - organise activities or equipment so when your child says I m bored you know exactly where to send them. 77. Take the cricket set or Frisbee down to the local park. 78. Make a kite and take it out for a test run at your local park or beach. 79. Go for a bush or nature walk. 80. Go and visit relatives or old school friends you ve been meaning to get in touch with. Kids love exploring other people s back yards. 81. Pack some fruit for snacks and head straight to the park. To find a park near you visit your local council s website. 82. Take the kids along to garage sales on the weekend and let them pick out some cheap play equipment. They ll love picking out their own gear and you never know what you ll find. 83. Keep some play equipment (and sunscreen) in the car for those spur-of-the-moment park visits - a cricket set or ball are cheap easy options. 84. Head down to the local park courts to shoot a few hoops or have a game of tennis. 85. Build a sandpit in the back yard. It s a cheap mini-playground for the kids. 86. Have the whole family build a boat out of bits and pieces from around the house and garden. Take them down to your local pond or river and see whose stays afloat the longest. 87. Head to the beach for a game of capture the flag, this involves having two teams and two flags located at opposite ends. The aim of the game is to grab the other team s flag before being tagged by a member of the opposite team. The more friends your kids bring along the better. 88. Head to the local pool for a swim or a game of marco polo. Taking the kids to the pool regularly is great way to build up their water confidence.

8 89. Find a good grassy hill and have a rolling competition with the kids. They ll love it! 90. If you re near a beach there are plenty of ways you can encourage the kids to get out and play. Invest in some boogie boards for hours of fun in the surf and get out in the water with them. 91. Need some down time? Have a family silent reading session. If the kids don t go for this idea try to take them down to the park instead, they can play or ride their bikes while you get to read your book. 92. Set up a mini-triathlon course for the kids. If you don t have a pool, take a bike and head down to the beach or lake for the swimming leg. Make it a short one so you can keep an eye on the kids. Special Events: 93. For a bit of family-friendly competition go tenpin bowling. 94. Have a family round of mini-golf as a reward for limiting screen time. 95. Try something new like indoor climbing to teach your children a new skill. 96. If in Perth, visit AQWA, the Zoo, the Maze, Adventure World, iceskating rink, the WA Museum or Scitech. 97. Head to the beach for a swim and a sandcastle building competition. 98. Sign up to a family friendly event such as a fun run or walk and get training. 99. Send the kids on a recreation camp (visit for details) If you re planning a birthday party make sure to incorporate some fun, active activities such as dancing, skipping or hula hooping competitions or a friendly soccer match Other fun ideas for birthday parties include playing crocodile, what s the time Mr Wolf or elastics. Holidays: 102. Organise a family fishing trip Have a playground tour - most neighbourhoods will have parks and playgrounds dotted around, so have a go at each one and squeeze some walking in in-between.

104. Get a group of families together and organise a camping trip. With nowhere to plug-in and lots of room to play it s a great opportunity to show the kids how fun the outdoors can be. 105.

In school holidays try to plan trips away that encourage active play such as a camping trip or exploring somewhere new. 107. Teach your children to play the games you enjoyed as a child.

9 104. Get a group of families together and organise a camping trip. With nowhere to plug-in and lots of room to play it s a great opportunity to show the kids how fun the outdoors can be Teach your children about the history of your local area by taking them on a walking tour around the historic sights and telling them how they came to be there In school holidays try to plan trips away that encourage active play such as a camping trip or exploring somewhere new Teach your children to play the games you enjoyed as a child. They ll love that you re spending time with them and it s a great excuse to be silly Organise a family fun day in the backyard - have three-legged races, egg and spoon relays and a pin the tail on the donkey game. The more the merrier so invite their friends over too Try out some water sports this summer- kayaking, snorkelling and water polo are all fun and exciting activities. The kids will love getting to do something new. 1. J Fulkerson, M Story, A Mellin, N Leffert, Neumark-Sztainer & SA French. Family Dinner Meal Frequency and Adolescent Development: Relationships with Developmental Assets and High-Risk Behaviors, Journal of Adolescent Health 39 (2006): Bisakha Sen, The Relationship between Frequency of Family Dinner and Adolescent Problem Behaviors after Adjusting for Other Family Characteristics, Journal of Adolescence (2009), doi: /j.adolescence

Make time for play time Budget time for a little nap and a snack, and make sure you ve got time to get all the kids home before dark.

Make time for play time Budget time for a little nap and a snack, and make sure you ve got time to get all the kids home before dark. Three Steps to the Perfect Playdate Planning the perfect playdate is more than just child s play but a little bit of advance planning can make your kids fun time even more, well, fun... Make time for play