How to occupy or entertain children without screens

[tortoise]

My parents took us kids out for a picnic outside the local airport fence. Sometimes we didn't see any airplanes, but when we saw one we thought it was a BIG deal!

 

[sumi]

Our childhoods were much different and I dare say better pre-technology take-over… I remember playing outside, cycling when I was old enough to be allowed to head out by myself, reading LOTS and watching little TV. If I wanted to know something, I was encouraged to find a book on the topic in the library, so I learned early on to read and read lots. I wish I could get DS into reading more. He's addicted to his phone and games..

 

[CrealCritter]

I recall the fun we had as kids. Playing bass guitar in rock bands and neighborhood kick the can was my fondest memories. Hunting in the winter was my other and then there's the CB raidio and school rifle class, the list goes on and on. Then around 12 or 13 hormones kicked in, I dicovered girls and I got real stupid... How many times can you get arrested for tresspasaing and skinny dipping at night in the local rock quarry before you spend 30 days in the country jail? Well the 5th time the judge told me if he saw me one more time for skinny dipping I would spend 30 days in jail. I never seen that judge again TV wasn't something I had interest in at all it was boring although I did kind of like Gilligan's island but not enough to get really interested. Thinking back at some of the absolutely stuipid things I did in my youth - it's a wonder I'm still alive.

I started working a real job when I was 12 years old. I recall waiting for my social security card so I could pay taxes. I've had a job every since then. Get out of school,walk miles to work. Work several hours the walk several miles home. Until I was old enough to drive. Over the years I've been unemployed 2 weeks total when the economy tanked in the early 80s. I've worked at so many different places doing so many different things. Back then if you didn't like your job you could quit in the morning go across the street and have another job starting the next day all you needed was a SSN. There was no such thing as background checks or tests or... I tell my kids about that and they think I'm crazy... But it's the truth 100%. They have never experienced a USA like that before, so they can only imagine.

 

[Myrth]

We did not have a TV for a couple of years when I was a kid. Dad called them idiot boxes and didn't want one, although everyone had them. Ultimately he caved to pressure from my brother. But for a time we were screenless in an era when everyone had screens. We did a lot of fun things and made many memories without having screens in our lives.

Books - we went to the library every 2 weeks
Art supplies
Hobbies
Knitting and crochet
Puzzles
Board games
Musical instruments

Conversation (?!?!?)

Outdoors - hiking, biking, camping, sports, horses, gardening, etc.

Museums

 

[NH Homesteader]

Most of the kids I know have chores ... but we do surround ourselves with abnormal folks like ourselves...

 

[Britesea]

4H is a wonderful organization, but sometimes some of the leaders can be, well... a problem. However, even that can be a good learning experience for children as they learn how to deal with difficult people

 

[samssimonsays]

I love The idea of this post! I may be one of the few left my age who will expect my children not to be entertained by screens.

I was a 1990's baby but just old enough to where I'm not a millennial who is heavily reliant on those screens.

I remember when i did get to watch "my show" it was a big deal. I wasn't forced to stay away from tv but it was usually just assumed i play. I was an only child and very early on my mom was a stay at home mom. We read, read and read some more, i had an active imagination of which i played with my toys, by myself on many, many occassions can ya believe it?! I also loved animals. So, in turn, my parents let me get them. I remember playing in the dirt or grass or heck, mud, all summer long. Piles of leaves on eh fall and blanket forts in the house all winter. I went frog catching. Dragon fly catching. We had chickens, cats and dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters and fish with the occasional turtle i found or catterpilar. Tad poles were amazing. I still got to watch shows with my parents as i got older but it wasn't a "here's my phone, I'm busy" type of thing or a means of entertainment. It was more of they were watching it so i got to as well. Meaning, lifetime movie network, daytime soaps (if i was lucky enough to be out of bed when home sick), the news or the occassional movie as a family.

We went camping a lot, my parents best friends had three boys similar ages to mine and we rotated custody of the kids all summer lol. One week my house, the next i was at theirs. We rode bikes, walked or rode a mile to the lakes landing where we swam. Gosh, you name it, we did it. Even down to flashlight tag! Hide and seek in the dark and board games. We rarely WANTED to watch tv! I had a video game console that was barely used for anything but watching dvds and i played sims stories simply to design the houses on it pre curser to my day job i guess! I drew a lot. Listened to music for hours on rainy days. Just enjoyed being a kid!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Love this. We went to the mall a while back (hardly ever do that!) and everyone had their kids in strollers playing on their phones. Seriously?

We grew up playing in the woods, swimming, reading books... My daughter loves to read, play pretend, hang out with the animals...

We also used to go sit at the airport and watch for planes! Go fishing, play ball, ride our bikes... We also loved baking with my mom. We watched some tv, but not much. Mostly Saturday morning cartoons!

 

[NH Homesteader]

My daughter will play for hours with the cut off ends of wood from a project of DH's. My SIL bought her a tablet, DH and I were NOT happy. She rarely uses it though, rarely even remembers that she has it.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Public Libraries. Yeah. that is one I was forgetting.