7 Family Activities to Celebrate Screen-Free Week
Does your family spend too much time with their noses glued to screens, like computers, TVs, smart phones, the latest iGadget? If so, then perhaps give Screen Free Week a try.
Screen free what?
From May 1-7, unplug from any and all digital entertainment, and rediscover positive family time through activities ranging from simple conversations to spending time outside. If you're stumped, here are seven ideas, one for each night of Screen-Free Week.
Game Night
Photo Source: Flickr/Colleen Kelly
What better way to ignite some good ol' fashioned family fun than game night? The options here are plentiful. You've got classic board game standbys with Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. Shuffle up and deal for Go Fish or War. Crank up the laughs with Charades or break out the cribbage board. Pop some popcorn, crack open a few sodas, and enjoy!
Exercise
Photo Source: Flickr/Tony Alter
No one's saying you have to run out and join a gym, but let's face it; there are really no valid excuses not to exercise. So why not do it as a family? Bike rides around the block or family walks after dinner are both great ways to enjoy each other's company while getting some exercise.
Cook a Meal
Photo Source: Flickr/Rene Schwietzke
Meals are fantastic ways for families to bond. Why not prepare dinner together? Everyone can have a job, such as setting the table, making the salad, or serving dessert. Of course, leave all the dirty dishes for mom and dad.
Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen
Photo Source: Flickr/Sam Beebe
Staying on the dinner theme, how about making sure those less fortunate enjoy a hot meal as well? Volunteer to serve dinner at your local soup kitchen. Folks who are down on their luck or less fortunate than you deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Volunteering is an excellent way to not only show that you care, but also to teach your children an important life lesson.
Scrap Booking/Photo Albums
Photo Source: Flickr/Ann Larie Valentine
Looking for an arts and crafts type of activity? How about scrapbooking, or compiling family photo albums? Pictures are easier than ever to snap nowadays, given that it seems like everyone has a smart phone. But how many of those pictures make it off the phone and into an album? Photo albums ensure life-long memories are right at the end of your fingertips.
Write Letters
Photo source: Flickr/Informedmag
Letter writing is a lost art thanks to email and texting. Typing "TTYL" at the end of a text just doesn't carry the same meaning as an actual hand-written letter. And who better than grandparents to be the recipients? This is another lesson for your children; their grandparents won't be around forever. Letting them know their grandchildren love and appreciate them is immeasurable.
Time Capsule
Photo Source: Flickr/Chuckcars
Want to take memory-making to the next level? Select items from around the home—nothing too sentimental—that you wouldn't mind sticking in a time capsule to be unearthed in 20 years. You'll have to choose a burial plot that will still be in the family when the time comes. Select an opening date and make each family member pledge to return, no matter where they might be living at the time, to dig it up. Then enjoy those blasts from your pasts.
Do you feel as though your family spends too much time in front of TV and computers screens? If so, and you're planning to partake in Screen Free Week, what activities have you devised?
