Box for Monkeys CEO and Founder, Sarah Donges is a screen-free expert and has kindly shared her top five activities.
These days, the smartphone is a parent’s best friend and nemesis all at the same time. Yes, it keeps the kids occupied but we can’t deny the guilt we feel deep down inside that we should be engaging more with our kids. For time-poor parents (and trust me, we’re some of them too!) this feels impossible. Plus, coming up with new ideas of screen-free kids activities takes time too! So, we’ve decided to make it super easy. Here are 5 really easy activities to do with kids that are – you guessed it – totally tech free!
1. Reading
Reading is such an important activity to get kids into early. It teaches them the wonderful use of language while really engaging and stretching their imaginations. And it’s such an easy way to spend some real quality time with your kids. Show me a little one who doesn’t love snuggling up with mum or dad and a fun story! If you’re stuck for ideas, take a look at some of our favourite books – all tried and tested by our trusted monkey testing team!
2. Craft
The one word that strikes fear in so many parents! But it really doesn’t have to. Kids love getting creative and they really don’t need anything fancy. Painting is the one thing my monkeys absolutely love! And it’s actually really easy to do it with minimal mess. If you’d like to start with something simpler, these Leaf Collages only need paper, tape and a handful of leaves and flowers – so easy!
3. Gardening
Gardening is a great way for little monkeys to learn new skills while having a little bit of fun. You don’t need to have a great big garden for this – a backyard, balcony or even an indoor herb garden will do the trick! Learning how to garden will teach little monkeys responsibility in caring for plants, an understanding of nature and how things work as well as cultivate a love of all things green. And the look on their little faces when they see what they’ve grown is priceless!
4. Get outside and explore!
Which leads us to our next activity – simply walk out the front door and explore! If you are blessed to live in a gorgeous city like Sydney, it’s not a chore to get your kids outside and exploring whether it’s your local park or the beach. From picking flowers, leaves or any “treasures” you might find to spotting shapes in clouds, simply go for a walk through your local neighbourhood. You’ll be surprised at how much there really is to explore.
5. Cooking
Cooking teaches kids so many skills. Not only is it a basic life skill, but kids who cook are more likely to eat what they make therefore trying new things and becoming more adventurous with their food. It’s also a great way to start the conversation (with older kids) about different ingredients and healthy eating. Plus, at the end, you’re teaching your kids an invaluable life skill that will not only help you in the kitchen as they grow up (bonus!) but give them a skill they can take into adulthood. Again, it doesn’t have to be the most complicated recipes. We’ve got a range of recipes we love cooking with our monkeys here. The best part is sitting down together to enjoy whatever it is you’ve made. Once you’ve done it once, I’m pretty sure it will be hard not to do it again – just ignore the mess!!
For more ideas of things to do with your monkeys, keep an eye on our Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and blog.
About Box for Monkeys
Box for Monkeys are fun activity boxes for kids, delivered to your home. One-off boxes or subscribe to receive boxes monthly to keep monkeys of different ages happy, educated and screen free. Founder and CEO, Sarah Donges is a 2018 Woman2Watch in Business Disruption and her business is a Femeconomy Gold Member.
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Photo by Gabby Orcutt on Unsplash
