If devices are causing division, disconnection, overstimulation, and chaos in your household, consider trying a screen free summer. Whether you choose to do a week, a month, or a full June to August break from screens, this blog is full of ideas to help you successfully meet your digital detox goals.
Here’s how to give your children an incredible screen free summer they will remember for years to come.
How To Give Your Kid An Awesome Summer
(without excessive screen time)
None of us want our children vegging out on video games and mindless cartoons, but what can they do instead when they are home from school? Below I will show you how to fill your child’s days with positive screen free activities and how to get them excited about a low-tech summer.
Make your child a summer box
Detoxing from technology over the summer does not have to be a drag for children. Instead of making it seem like a punishment, make your screen free summer exciting for your kids. On the first day of their electronic detox, gift them a special box with items they can use and look forward to using this summer.
Here are some goodies you could fill your child’s summer box with:
- Bubbles
- Squirt guns
- Sidewalk chalk
- Play dough
- Jewelry making kit
- Glitter glue pens
- Sketch pads
- Drawing tutorial books
- Gift cards to fast food restaurants, ice cream shops, or snow cone stands
- Photos or printed out directions to free places you are going to take your kids such as bike parks, skate parks, hiking trails, new playgrounds, and nature centers
- A new water bottle and compass for future summer adventures
- Gift cards to fun places you want to take them (aquarium, trampoline park, zoo)
- Printed out admission tickets to amusement parks, concerts, and museums
- Their own paper planner or calendar to keep track of their summer schedule and look forward to specific events
- Quality time and other coupons for things like read aloud sessions, sleepovers in Mom’s room, a chore free day, an at home pedicure
- Two copies of a book you and your kid will read together for a summer book club
- Envelopes, stamps, and stationery so they can write lots of letters to friends and family
- Piano sheet music book to learn new songs
- Magazines for children or a note with a magazine subscription they will be receiving during the summer
- New books
Pro Tip For Moms
A screen free summer box is a great way to help your kids see that this challenge is something to look forward to, not something to dread, but be strategic! Don’t give your kids all the goodies from their digital detox box at once. Save something for the first rainy day when outdoor play is harder to come by.
We mostly fill our days with outside play, family time, independent play, creative projects, and playdates with friends, but when the weather is a mess or the first summer illness hits our home, I give the kids something special that I had tucked away in our closet. I like to dole out things like new books, fun costumes, craft kits, and simple activities. Doing this slowly over the course of the summer keeps our kids excited about the electronic detox challenge.
Structure Your Weeks
Kids love to know what to expect. If you are a planner, consider structuring your family’s weeks through the summer. Grab your child a Dollar Tree calendar and map out what your summer will look like.
Here are some ways to structure your family’s summer weeks:
- Vacation weeks in which your family plans to go somewhere for an extended period of time
- Home weeks with more structure, chores, and rest time
- Projects weeks to accomplish specific tasks you’ve been wanting to get to
- Day trip weeks to visit places within a short driving distance such as zoos and museums
- Relax weeks to refresh, rest, read, and take it easy
- Summer Camp / Vacation Bible School weeks
- Homeschool weeks if you plan to do school at home year round
Require the good stuff
Replace the hours your children used to be on technology with the good old fashioned stuff of a rich childhood. Put the following into their new screen free summer schedule:
- 3 or more hours of outdoor play on fair weather days
- Chunks of time in the morning, afternoon, and evening to read books
- Time to create with simple arts and craft supplies or natural materials
- Sibling bonding time to play board games and card games
- Plenty of hours for imaginative undirected play
Remove temptations
Get the screens out of sight and out of mind. If tech is an option, one way or another it will draw the kiddos in. But if the handheld devices were conveniently left at Grandma’s house, the TV was unplugged, and Wi-Fi router has been powered down, your kids will be set up for a truly screen free summer.
Grab the Free Printable Screen Free Summer Schedule Below!
Spend your money strategically
Has anyone else noticed how expensive electronic devices are? When you consider the cost of a smartphone or similar device for each child, the monthly payment, a flat screen TV, ear buds for screen use out in public, laptops, video game consoles, video games themselves, and streaming services, it all starts to add up really quick.
You can do a very low-tech life entirely on a budget, but personally I like to invest the money our family would have spent on screens (if each child was getting one) on memorable experiences, engaging play materials, and great books instead. Consider trading in some of your tech for cash or holding off on buying your children a device this summer. Here are some awesome uses for that money instead:
For less than the cost of an electronic device you can purchase your child
- A trampoline
- A nice bike, helmet, scooter, and pogo stick
- An old school CD player and some really great audiobooks on CD
- A zoo membership
- A few horse riding lessons
- A week of summer camp
- A simple weekend trip for the whole family
- Tickets to a day at an amusement park
- A membership to your local aquarium, museum, trampoline park, etc.
- A couple trips to paint pottery with a friend at your local art studio
- A supply of yarn, knitting/crochet needles, and several lessons at your local yarn shop
Not to mention all the fun screen free stuff you can do that is absolutely free such as
- Visits to your local nature centers
- Hikes in nearby scenic places such as the woods, mountains, beaches, and by babbling brooks
- Lots of swim time at a friend’s house or the local lake
- Unlimited trips to the many playgrounds in your area
- Nature walks
- Bird watching
- Bike rides
Cook your way through a cookbook together
Cooking is something we all have to do anyway, why not use it as an opportunity to connect with our children? Instead of making the same old thing or looking up recipes online, create a memorable bonding experience for your child by purchasing an actual cookbook and making the recipes together. This summer we will be working our way through a healthy cookbook together. Each of my kids will have a turn being the kitchen helper one evening a week. I look forward to menu planning, shopping, cooking, and tasting the nutritious meals with my sweet kiddos.
Bless elderly neighbors as a family
When our eyes are on ourselves and our own personal entertainment, we aren’t nearly as happy as when we look to how we can serve others.
Here are some simple ways to bless older people in your local community with your children this summer:
- Help with lawn care
- Simply visit and make time to chat with someone who might not get a lot of visitors
- Bring meals (prepare them with your child or let your kid bake a dessert)
- Visit nursing homes and read, sing, or just chat with the folks
- Ask your pastor or church leadership team which elderly people in your church body could particularly use a friend, visit, or helping hand
Trade skills with a friend
I recently asked a friend to come over and teach my daughter and I how to bake bread from scratch. It was so much fun.
Sure, we could’ve looked up a video online, referenced a website for a recipe, floated between devices and the process, typed our questions into a search engine, and did our best to juggle technology and the act of baking bread. But how much more enjoyable is it to learn from a friend in person?
My friend was there to show us step by step what to do, share her experience and mistakes, and answer our questions on the spot. I also felt like I truly connected with my daughter and made memories with her in a way that I wouldn’t have done quite as well if I used tech as our teacher. I love every lesson she learned that day, both in the breadmaking itself, and in seeing me seek out a mom friend to teach us something in person instead of making our laptop the end all be all for where we go to learn things.
I have another friend who is sporty and I am hoping that she will lead a game of soccer this summer for a bunch of our kids and their friends.
Think of what skills you have to offer and what you admire about the moms in your life. How can you trade skills, cultivate community, and get the children involved in the process this summer?
I am not a big fan of caveats and disclaimers. They seem so obvious and unnecessary most of the time. But I did just want to pop in here and say obviously it is okay to learn things online too. I have done that and will probably continue to do that over the years. The point is that just because we can learn most everything online, doesn’t mean that we should. Grab the mamas, grandmothers, neighbors, and older ladies in your church. Invite them into your space and learn from them.
Grab new books for your child
I am grabbing a mix of books for our screen free summer. I always like to include a few family read aloud novels that I will read a chapter from most days at breakfast. Also, a few new books for my older children to read independently midday and before bed. Plus, I like to have a special book that I am going through alone with each child for a one-on-one Mom & Kid weekly book club.
If you need some ideas, here are a few summer books you may enjoy reading to your 8 to 12 year old kids:
- Because of Winn Dixie
- Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting To Get Back On Board
- Summer With The Moody’s
- The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden
Educational Activities
Just because school is out for the summer, doesn’t mean the learning has to end. Resist the urge to fill your child’s empty school hours with TV and video games. Instead, consider what skills your child might enjoy learning or improving upon. Would they like an audio CD and book from the library on how to learn a foreign language? What about swimming lessons?
This summer, one of my kids will be sharpening their musical skills by working through a piano sheet music book. This particular child loves playing the piano and is a very self-directed learner. When given a how-to book, time, and the right tools, they absolutely run with it.
Gardening is an incredibly beneficial educational activity that kids can do in the summer. I intend to take full advantage of gardening opportunities in our own backyard and over at the grandparents’ house.
Finally, instead of committing to weekly extracurricular activities, we like to sign up for sporadic lessons to strengthen our kids’ skills and to move them onto the next level with lots of time for practice in between. We have found things like knitting, crochet, and horse riding lessons to be very easy to book every couple of months without a huge commitment. Most likely, we will be booking a few lessons to fill in our kid’s low-tech summer with fun opportunities.
Summer habit work
A lot of people set goals at the New Year, but I personally do not. The dead of winter is when I have the least of my energy. In January, the days are long and dark for most of us. It feels like a time to naturally pull back and live at a slower pace with cozy crockpot meals and wonderful winter literature.
Summer, on the other hand, is a great time to start fresh with habits and goals. We’ve got extra sunlight, longer days, and increased energy to work with. Many people have vacation time from work and kids home from school. What better time than summer to analyze what did and didn’t go well during the school year for your family and make positive changes going forward?
Here are some ideas for goals and habit work you might want to do this summer with your family, but these are only meant for inspiration. Take what works, leave what doesn’t and cultivate a plan that fits your unique family.
- Institute a morning exercise routine.
- Start taking evening walks as a family.
- Teach your preschooler their phonics sounds.
- Help your child memorize their math facts.
- Memorize a chapter of scripture together as a family.
- Facilitate the habit of after meal clean-up for every member of the family.
- Change up the school year chore routine. Give the younger kids a household task to do and move the older kids up to a new one.
- Work on teaching your toddler how to obey so that they can be safe in all situations such as coming to your voice right away or pausing on family walks when a dog approaches.
- Help emerging readers develop their own personal bible time routine.
- Start reading scripture together as a family after dinner.
- Work on sibling kindness and edifying speech in your home.
- Nix whining and complaining for the whole crew. Start a new habit of gratitude.
- Create a special time each day in which your child can practice a skill such as instrument practice, knitting, or sports practice.
See what your local Christian church is up to
In the summer, many bible believing churches offer opportunities like:
- Vacation bible school
- Cookouts
- Craft nights for kids
- AWANA programs
- Youth group
- Weekly bible study
I hope the ideas on this blog have been an encouragement to you as you head into summer with your children. Don’t forget to power down devices, stash away screens, and redeem the time you are given with your awesome kids. Take every opportunity for family connection and make simple memories you both will treasure for years to come.
You’re doing a great job, Mama!