Tag, Wiffle Ball, hide-and-seek — recounting how they spent free moments as children, people often mention these familiar, yet evergreen mainstays. Such beloved games acquire a deeper resonance in the digital age, with study after study highlighting the side effects of heavy technology use, including poor social skills and obesity, and the benefits of real-life interaction. So it’s no wonder families can find themselves looking for unplugged playtime activities.
Of course, the possibilities are endless. We reached out to local parents, librarians and other people who work with children, who generously shared their creative, fun ideas for kids of all ages.
Wilder resident Marcy Bartlett shared this story about the impromptu entertainment a delivery of topsoil inspired.
Recently, her husband had four tons of soil delivered to “fill in the holes” in their yard, Bartlett said in an email. Their grandchildren, ages 8 and 9, got out the hose and turned it into “One Tough Mudder.”
“There was zero skin showing,” said Bartlett, who told the kids she didn’t care what they did, “as long as they knew I would have to hose them off before they even went into the tub.”
The result? “Shrieks of delight and some great rocking chair memories!”
Some ideas on the list seem custom-made for large groups; others are suited for just a few children or solo play. But they all share one characteristic: they are centered on people, not screens.
The list has been lightly edited.
From Moriah “Mo” Churchill, youth librarian at Richards Free Library in Newport:
Children color with juicy washable markers onto a paper plate, the kind with a water-resistant top. Make large areas of bright colors, with complementary colors next to one another for best effect. Flatten a coffee filter on top and dampen with a spray bottle or slightly wet sponge until the colors bleed onto the filter and start to run. Once the colored filter is mostly dry, use a pipe cleaner to bunch it into a butterfly.
Get a bunch of puffy paint and stick cardboard inside some sandwich baggies until the plastic is taut. (If you can get them, pieces of laminate work really well, as they are both stiff enough not to wrinkle and flexible enough to peel the finished decal off.) You are going to draw your window decals with puffy paint onto the plastic bag, so it will peel right off the next day, after it dries. You can slip a pattern inside the plastic to trace, or draw freehand. Make snowflakes, moustaches, sunglasses, horses or even your name. Very thin lines will break when you peel off the decal, but large splotches will take forever to dry and may run or wiggle out of place.
Find enough large T-shirts for everyone who will be coming. A day or two ahead, get them soaking wet, then squeeze out enough water that the shirts only drip a little. Fold them, put them in freezer bags and place them in the freezer. When you are ready to play, take the shirts outside and pass them out. The rules are simple: no artificial heat sources. Kids can sit on their shirts, hit them against rocks or on the driveway, breathe on them, chew on them, stick them in their armpits, etc. The first one to open up his or her T-shirt and put it all the way on wins.
1. Everybody form one big circle and grab hands. Don’t let go. Can you pass a hula hoop all the way around the circle without ever letting go?
2. Get one juicy marker and tie enough strings around it for everyone in the group to hold onto one. Put down a big piece of paper. Can you write a word, all working together?
3. Everybody gets a piece of notebook paper and a pencil. Everyone writes a silly sentence on the first few lines, then folds back the paper so only the bottom line is showing. Pass the papers to the right. The next person has to read only that last visible line, guess at what is going on and write the next part of that story. Then, they fold back the paper so only the bottom line is showing, and pass it to the right. When someone runs out of space, open the stories and read aloud all the silliness.
From Katie Malik, parent education coordinator at Norwich Family Center:
I often make up a large pot of bubbles for our playgroups, and for less than $1, we have entertainment all morning.
Make an obstacle course out of whatever you have on hand. This can include hula hoops, chairs, etc., and can be made easier or more difficult, depending on the age of the children.
Have a lemonade stand and consider donating the money to your favorite local charity.
Take the Kindness Challenge. For a list of activities, go to Creative World at http://goo.gl/tpGTAO
Make sensory bins out of sand, rice or beans, and add some small shovels or toys. Plastic storage bins work great for this, and higher edges keep the sand from going everywhere.
Water beads are a lot of fun for all ages, although since the beads are small, very young children need supervision. For ideas about how to use the gel beads, go to tinkerlab.com/water-bead-exploration.
Make a list of 25 activities you’d like to do and places you’d like to go this summer. Check them off as you complete each one.
From Emily Zollo, children’s librarian at the Latham and Peabody libraries in Thetford. Zollo also does children’s programming at the Morrill Memorial and Harris Library in Strafford.
Get active. Check out the skateboard park at Riverside Park Pavilion and Skate Park in Lebanon, or try a gymnastics class or dance class at one of the Upper Valley’s many studios.
For teens: Learn how to play Magic: The Gathering; Pokemon; Dungeons & Dragons, or other interactive and role-playing board or card games. You can get together with others to play at local games stores or at the monthly Magic Card Night at Latham Library. Some more from Zollo:
1. Like to experiment, tinker, take things apart, build simple machines or robots? Try a makerspace or tinkering workshop at a local library. Or do it yourself with one of these books:
For younger kids: Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide For Little Inventors, by Rachelle Doorley.
For older kids and teens: Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun, by Elizabeth Foy Larsen and Joshua Glenn.
2. Plant a sun or moonflower house, or another themed garden. For ideas, see Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together With Children, by Sharon Lovejoy.
3. Enjoy reading comics or graphic novels? Learn how to create them yourself. A good resource: Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics, by Brian McLachlan.
4. Feeling theatrical? Put on a show for your parents or friends. It could be a play, a comedy show, a musical performance, juggling or clowning, etc. For ideas, see Showtime!: Over 75 Ways to Put On a Show, by Reg Bolton.
5. Learn to sew or knit and make cool things for yourself, your friends or family, or your dolls. To help you along, see Kids Knitting, by Melanie Falick, or Sew Fab: Sewing and Style for Young Fashionistas, by Lesley Ware.
6. Do you like nature and science? Become a citizen scientist by observing the natural world, collecting data and reporting your findings for actual ongoing scientific studies. Learn how with the book Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery From Your Own Backyard, by Loree Griffin Burns.
7. Thinking about getting your own flock of chickens or another farm animal, or just enjoy dreaming about it? Here’s a good book on the subject: Barnyard Kids: A Family Guide for Raising Animals, by Dina Rudick.
8. Learn to cook. For kids: Cooking Class: 57 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Make (and Eat!), by Deanna F. Cook. For teens: Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat, by Megan Carle.
Make Memories
Bartlett shared this list of homemade fun her family has enjoyed over the years.
“Childhood is a gift,” she said in an email. “You gotta enjoy it while it lasts, and you don’t have to break the bank to do it.”
1. Gave our daughter a formal ice cream social when she turned 4. Set a formal table for her and about 8 other kids: linen, crystal, fine china, silver service, real candles (lit) and fresh flowers. Formal attire was required, including jacket and tie for the boys. It was the cat’s pajamas.
2. Took a pirate vacation with our grandkids when they were 5 and 6. We rented a small island on a pond in New Hampshire that had a pirate flag on the porch of the cabin.
The tree fort was their crow’s nest, and a bucket and rope system hoisted up food, drink and games when they demanded our obedience.
We walked the plank (off the dock).
My husband and I orchestrated a daily sunken treasure hunt. (We buried a tiny treasure chest with “pieces of eight,” aka fake gold coins, with candy.)
We brought a lifetime supply of Pirate Booty for snacks. “Yoho, me hearties!”
3. Had a Build an Ugly Snowman day, using only the ugliest stuff from Listen and Goodwill: a ridiculous hat with the price tag still hanging off of it, a la Minnie Pearl, and a wreath with ugly plastic fruit with glitter around his neck.