Entertain Your Kids Without a Screen

These days, it can feel hard to entertain your kids without a screen. Yvonne Chavez-Lombardi, director of education at Kidspace Children's Museum, joins Easy Does It Host Ereka Vetrini with fun activities you can do with items found the house.

Related: Don't touch that dial: Tips for limiting screen time

Chavez-Lombardi notes that screentime often undermines children's play. "It really affects their healthy development. It makes it harder for children to build relationships with people, with nature. And it really affects them academically in the long run," she says.

Related: 10 ways to add exercise to your kids' routine

First, Chavez-Lombardi offers an activity that is particularly fun and uses items easily found in your bathroom and your kitchen.

Supplies: Shaving cream, food coloring, plastic knife, paper, foil tray.

Put food coloring into the foil tray. Then place a layer of shaving cream in the tray over the food coloring. Use the plastic knife to swirl the two together. Next, take a piece of paper and smash it into the foam. Scrape the foam residue from the paper and enjoy your new artwork.

Next is an activity making a pinecone bird feeder.

Supplies: Pinecone, peanut butter, birdseed, string.

String your pinecone by the top. Take some peanut butter and smear it on the ends of the pinecone and then sprinkle birdseed on top so that it will stick.

This activity is fun because you can discuss the birds that visit. Chavez-Lombardi adds, "One of the important things with this activity is that kids really start to develop a sense of a appreciation and a stewardship for nature."

A more-challenging activity for older children is the "Toilet Paper Roll-ercoaster."

Supplies: Toilet paper rolls, tape, scissors, cars or marbles.


Cut the toilet paper rolls in half and tape them together to create a track. Roll marbles or cars down the track. "At different heights you're going to get different kinds of speed. It's what we call potential and kinetic energy," says Chavez-Lombardi. "It's fun and exciting, and it can change with every single experience that they have with it."

For more of Yvonne's ideas on how to get your kids offline, check out the Kidspace Museum at KidspaceMuseum.org.

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