Need some creative alternatives to screen time for adults? I’ve got you covered in this post with unique ideas to get you and your family offline!
Make a Nature Bucket List
Getting outdoors is the easiest way to get offline. There is no reason to stare at a phone when you can gaze at a sunset, admire a mountain, or stand in awe of the ocean. Way too often we settle for scrolling through photos online that appeal to our visual senses instead of looking at the incredible world around us.
Make a nature bucket list of things you and each of your family members would like to experience. Start with the outdoor attractions that are closest to your home and branch out over time. Take day trips to see beautiful sights in the areas surrounding you. Eventually, do overnight weekend trips and save up for week-long excursions. Leave your smartphone at home or put it on silent. Resist the urge to capture every moment in a photo for social media.
Instead of scrolling, try these simple outdoor alternatives to screen time…
- Visit a public garden.
- Find a field of sunflowers when they are in season.
- Visit the closest animal farm. Ask if you are allowed to feed the goats and horses.
- Go to a Pick-Your-Own event at your local orchard through the seasons. Pick apples, peaches, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
- Drive to the nearest beach regardless of the time of year and enjoy the magnificent view of waves rolling in the distance.
- Rent a cabin or go camping in a tent.
- In the summer, go boogie-boarding, paddle boarding, jet skiing, and canoeing.
- In the autumn, rake leaves, pick pumpkins, and go apple picking.
- In the winter, shovel snow, build snowmen, make snow angels, and have a snow ball fight. Try skiing, snowboarding, snowtubing, and sledding too.
- In the spring, sit on your porch and watch a storm. Put on a jacket, bring an umbrella, and take an afternoon stroll even if it’s drizzling.
- Plant a garden. Weed, maintain, water, and harvest your crops.
- Go on a walk around a local track, path, or through your neighborhood streets.
- Go on a hike in the woods.
- Climb a hill or mountain.
- Take a bike ride.
- Go on a nature hunt with your littles. Collect pinecones, acorns, rocks, seashells and flowers.
- Drive to the nearest mountain.
- Take your kids to a playground.
- Find a babbling brook.
- Swim in a creek.
- Visit a waterfall.
- Find a turtle pond.
- Feed the ducks.
- Go to the zoo.
- Go kayaking.
- Go fishing.
Imagine if each of our families unplugged, packed a picnic lunch, and spent our Saturdays mainly outdoors, rain or shine, exploring all sorts of terrain.
Nature is teeming with endless visual treasures for humanity to enjoy. As far as I am concerned, time in nature is akin to free therapy. It is healing to breathe the fresh air, feel the various sensations under your bare feet, and take in the breathtaking views of God’s marvelous creation.
One of our family’s favorite memories are of the weekends we spent at our friend’s cabin in the woods. It was near a small body of water and just a short drive from a gorgeous waterfall. Those attractions were extra special but mostly, we just hung out on the vast property of the cabin. We played in the woods, swung on swings, relaxed in hammocks, propelled down a backyard zip-line, took rides on the tractor, and cooked s’mores over an open fire.
We had no cell service at the cabin so those weekends were completely screen free. My phone typically died in the car on a Friday and I didn’t remember to even look for it until we got back home on a Sunday night.
Rainy Day Activities for Adults
Sick of vegging out in front of a screen for way longer than you meant to? Here are some indoor screen time alternatives for when you don’t want to go outside…
- Bake a dessert
- Build a model airplane, car, or ship
- Call your grandmother and catch up the old fashion way
- Clean your house (down to the baseboards)
- Cook a new recipe
- Color in an adult coloring book
- Copy scripture, poetry, and beautiful quotes into a notebook
- Declutter your house
- Decorate your home through the seasons
- Do crafts
- Do a house project
- Do a word search
- Doodle
- Exercise
- Fix the thing you’ve been putting off fixing for 6 months
- Get some boxing gloves and a punching bag and let out your frustrations
- Host friends for a game night
- Journal
- Make jewelry
- Organize your closet
- Organize your drawers
- Organize your garage
- Organize your pantry
- Paint a birdhouse
- Paint a design on an empty glass bottle
- Paint by number
- Play with your pets
- Practice an instrument
- Put together a 500 piece puzzle
- Put together something from IKEA (that’ll take days)
- Read a book
- Rearrange your furniture
- Sew, knit, crochet, or cross stitch
- Sketch and learn how to draw from tutorial books
- Whittle or do some woodworking
- Work on a Rubik’s cube
- Work on mind games, brain busters, logic games, or riddles
- Write letters and cards to people you care about
- Work through a Sudoku book
Check out my previous post for the best Rainy Day Activities for Kids here:
Board Games & Card Games Adults Enjoy
Play some games with your family and friends to pass time without electronic devices. Here are some adult favorites…
- Bangladesh
- Checkers
- Chess
- Clue
- Crazy Eights
- Dominoes
- Monopoly
- Pictionary
- Scrabble
- Spoons
- Spades
- Ticket To Ride
- Trivia
- Uno
Free Screen Free Family Bingo Printable Below
Volunteer Your Time
Recently we volunteered at a nonprofit farm that donates all of their produce to people in need. We spent several hours under cover of a partial barn roof bagging vegetables. It was a cold and rainy day but we had an amazing time.
Alongside a group of nearly a hundred friends and strangers, we worked together for the mission while enjoying the most beautiful view of rolling green hills, cattle, and chickens in the distance. There were married couples, singles, teens, elderly folks, and children of all ages including our 11 month old who sat in the large crate and handed us potatoes.
Sick of scrolling on your smartphone? I’ve been there too! Time on tech goes by fast. Before you know it, you’ve wasted hours on a sparkly little device that dings an awful lot like a slot machine in a casino. None of us intend to throw our lives away online but these computers in our pockets do an excellent job at what they were created to do—they keep us “engaged” online and disengaged from reality.
The best alternatives to screen time are activities that involve other humans. Instead of allowing social media to suck away your time, sign up for some volunteer opportunities with your family and friends. Mark them on the calendar, commit, and show up. You will be so glad you did.
Here are some ideas for places you can call and inquire about volunteering needs…
- Animal Shelter
- Big Brother/Big Sister After School Programs
- Church
- Food Bank
- Homeless Shelter
- Hospital
- Local Farm
- Local Park
- Nursing home
- Soup kitchen
You could also go about offering support in a different way. If there is a specific place or ministry you are passionate about that needs physical goods, you could organize a group at your home to make care packages. Call ahead to see what is specifically needed and then gather the supplies.
Here are some ideas…
- Bless your local elderly neighbor once a month. Mow their lawn, clean their home, help them with simple house repairs, and bring over a meal to eat with them.
- Put together newborn supplies for single mothers in need such as diapers, wipes, onesies, and swaddle blankets.
- Create a meal train for a family who recently welcomed a new child through birth or adoption.
- Crochet baby hats and blankets for littles ones in need.
- Collect school supplies for schools that help support low income families.
- Help a working mother in your neighborhood with after school care for her kids once a week. Play backyard sports and board games and include them in your family dinner.
- Gather a list of items or gift card needs and support local foster families.
- Put together doggy care packages for your local animal shelter.
- Put together boxes for Operation Christmas Child .
- Support a struggling family in your area with a holiday meal.
- Teach a teen life skills such as how to change a tire, do simple home repairs, and make a budget.
- Tutor a child in one of your areas of strength such as math, musical instruments, reading, or writing.
Grab my free printable Screen Free Family Bingo here:
Pursue a New Hobby
Instead of scrolling, get out of the house and get out of your comfort zone with a hobby you’ve never tried before. You are never too old to learn something new!
Here are some great activities to reduce screen time for adults…
Fun Classes for Adults
- Cake decorating mini course
- Continuing education art class
- Exotic cooking course
- Foreign language class
- Salsa, tango, or ballroom dancing class
Adult Sports Leagues
- Basketball
- Baseball
- Golf
- Karate
- Pickleball
- Soccer
- Softball
- Volleyball
More Adult Hobby Ideas
- Baking from scratch
- Boating
- Camping
- Canning garden fruits and veg
- Crafting
- Crochet
- Cross Fit
- Exercise groups
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Indoor swimming
- Instrument practice
- Gardening
- Glassblowing
- Knitting
- Making pottery
- Playing paintball
- Racing
- Running
- Sailing
- Sewing
- Shooting at a local range
Need ideas for kids? Check out my post below:
5 Tips For Reducing Screen Time
Here are 5 simply ways you can reduce screen time as an adult starting today…
- Go places without technology.
- Let your smartphone die and don’t charge it.
- Stay offline every other day. This will give you half a week entirely screen free.
- Replace screen time with positive activities such as exercise, reading, and the ideas listed above. Give yourself a Before Screen Time Checklist of things you desire to accomplish before checking any virtual notifications.
- Downgrade your smartphone’s internet availability or switch to a dumbphone.
Let me know in the comments below which screen time alternative from this post resonated with you most. What is your current favorite thing to do without tech?
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