It’s time to teach our kids how to play again

Having a time for quiet and play are important life skills. It doesn’t matter if your children are 6 or 16, the answer is the same. It’s time to teach our kids how to play again. How else will their imagination start working on its own again? 

Start with the following ideas to help your kids in their unplugged play: 

• Play a game. 

Dig out your board games. Checkers, Chess, Monopoly and Sorry! are all great games. 

• Dig out the playing cards. 

Go Fish, Old Maid, War… There are even other specific card games such as Uno out there. You can also teach your children how to play solitaire. 

• Be a bookworm. 

Go to the library in your home or your community. Scour the thrift shops and yard sales. Be a part of a book exchange. There are also some great audio books available at the library. You can also purchase audio books at thrift stores, department stores and online. 

• Hands-on fun. 

Bring out the clay or play dough. Your teenagers may roll their eyes at this one too, but you would be surprised at how they will sit down and keep themselves entertained with this one. (And you don’t have to go out and buy your dough – have them help you make a batch. A recipe is included below.) 

• Build something. 

LEGO’s, Lincoln Logs and K’nex. How many of our kids still have these in the back of their closet? Don’t have these construction pieces? Try creating structures using toothpicks and connecting them together with green peas. Sounds funny, but it works! As the structures dry they become sturdier and you can keep them around for awhile. 

• Go outdoors. 

Outdoor games like marbles, jacks, hopscotch not only occupy your kids, they will also strengthen coordination skills. Too hot or cold out? The garage, basement and/or kitchen floors will work fine too. 

• Become an outdoor artist. 

Buy a tub of colored chalk from the local discount store and give your kids a theme to create their own masterpieces on your front or back sidewalks. Take pictures of them for your family album. 

Are these new ideas? 

Of course not. But when our kids are given a choice of any of these “offline” activities or the chance to plug in to their TV or games, what are they going to choose? When you unplug your kids, they will learn how to play again simply because they have nothing else to do. They will find other activities to keep themselves entertained. 

Be prepared for a little bit of whining or frustration on your kids’ part. It’s normal. It’s so much easier to sit in front of a screen with mindless entertainment. It won’t take long and your kids will be able to find other things to do instead of plugging in and tuning the world out.