5 Tips To Get the Family Outdoors and Unplugged was written in partnership with Shopstyle
Studies show that time spent on entertainment media by today’s children averages more than 7 hours a day.* (*Kaiser Family Foundation Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-to 18-Year-Olds.) That’s pretty close to every minute a child isn’t in school or sleeping!
Are your kids starting to look like glassy eyed zombies? Are they constantly begging to watch TV or play with your phone? If this sounds familiar, your kids are in need of a screen detox.
Turn off screens and turn on the creativity this spring by giving your kids the tools they need to inspire Love of the great outdoors!
5 Tips To Get the Family Outdoors and Unplugged
5 Tips To Get the Family Outdoors and Unplugged
#1: Epic Water Balloon Fight
Have a daylong water balloon extravaganza with these fun Water Balloons.
- Fast and effficacious way to make water balloons
- For ages 3 years old and up
- Each pack makes 100 balloons
- Includes 3 packs of 100 water balloons
- Self sealing
Or Get your family outside with this Copernicus Balloon Baubles Cabinet of Curiosities. A fun science kit featuring 5 balloon toys.
Great variety of flying, zooming and noise. Contains a Balloon Jet Car, A Rocket Balloon, A Balloon Helicopter, a Super Bonker and a squeakier bomb Balloon.
#2: Picnic outside.
Pack your kite, Frisbee, picnic blanket and some yummy snacks and head to the park for a family picnic! Don’t forget a cute picnic basket and how fun is this kite!
Kids can Sail into the blue on a blustery day with this bright red kite made of lightweight yet durable nylon. And customize their flying machine by attaching the included ribbons to the tail. When the day is done, they can pack it neatly back into the carrying case until their next adventure.
#3: Visit a Farmer’s Market and Get Inventive in the Kitchen
Instead of just visiting the grocery store, hit the local farmer’s market for the day to browse for seasonal ingredients! Once your purchases are complete, have the kids help brainstorm on how to prepare your goods!
#4: Get Creative with Sidewalk Chalk
Bringing life to an old favorite is right up my alley! Everyone enjoys hopping thorough a chalk hopscotch board or playing life-size tic-tac-toe, but if you’re looking to get creative, give liquid sidewalk chalk a try or grab some stencils and start your sidewalk masterpiece!
#5: Backyard Campout
Create a campground in your backyard and enjoy the nature right outside your home!
Make it feel authentic with a scavenger hunt! Come rain or shine, the Outset Media Scavenger Hunt In A Box Kids Game will delight your little ones. Kids will search for specific items both in and outside the home, and the first team to collect all items wins. Helps promote team work. Suitable for ages 6 and up Suitable for indoor/outdoor use Basic rules: Actively seek objects based on the cards in their hand First team to collect all the clues is crowned the winner
And the inventor in me loves this DIY solar powered smores oven made from a pizza box!
- Cut a large flap into the top of the pizza box. …
- Tape aluminum foil to the bottom (inside) of the flap.
- You can put aluminum foil on the inside bottom of the pizza box. …
- Tape plastic wrap over the window of the pizza box lid.
- Get the rest of the INSTRUCTIONS here
And of course for us adults who want their very own S’mores check out this recipe for one that is Weight Watchers Approved!
Summer S’more Truffles -3 points on Weight Watchers Blue for 2 Truffles
When sun sets, be sure to grab a flashlight and tell ghost stories!!
Love these! I am always looking for more ways to get my girls outside and without a screen in front of them!
I love these ideas. My daughter loves to be outside, but my son is more stubborn. I try to get him out on walks. We’d have fun with the water balloons too.
We love ther Zuru bunch o balloons! Even my older kids still love a water balloon fight!
We have been struggling to get the girls outside since it’s so hot out. But we find we are much happier when we do.
Such cool ideas. We did the balloon thing for Father’s Day one year. Such a blast!
All such fun ideas! The water balloons are a bit hit here, especially since they are much easier to fill with the kit.
It’s really hard for parents to stop their kids from using gadgets nowadays, even for adults! haha , thanks for sharing you ideas.
My two little kids love being outside, it’s something that they look forward to each day. I hope they remain the same when they grow up.
I think my kids will stay out for hours a balloon fight. It’s not easy to try excuses to make them stay outdoors with the family when they grow up!
This is exactly what I need to do. Mine try to get away with far too much screen time. Mine really enjoy having water fights with guns and water balloons.
These are very creative outdoor events to reduce the screen time. Thanks for sharing. Sending this link to my friend . She is always looking for outdoor activity idea
We just started going for family walks and it’s been so nice to get outside and unplug together!
These are awesome tips. Getting the kids off a screen and doing something active is always a challenge.
These are such great ideas! Love it ❤️ I need to share this post with my elder sister as my niece is hooked to TV! 😞