In today’s digital age, it’s easy for kids to get hooked on screens, especially during the school break. But with some creativity and discipline, parents can make this time a perfect opportunity to help their kids rediscover the joy of screen-free fun.

Here are at least 31 simple, engaging and budget-friendly activities that will keep kids of all ages entertained, learning, and bonding with their siblings (and parents), indoor or outdoor, rain or shine. These could be 2 months worth of activities that your kids can do during the school break.

Outdoor Activities

1. Bike Rides: Let the kids ride around your neighborhood or if you are with them, let them ride their bikes in other nearby safe neighborhoods or biking areas. They may even explore bike trails. Biking is not only fun. It is also a good skill to master to help kids travel without being dependent on car rides.
2. Picnic: Have a picnic in your own yard or in a park. Spread a blanket or picnic mat. Make and bring some sandwiches for your picnic. Put juices and water in bottles and bring them to your picnic. Bring some fruits also like banana, apples or grapes. Bring some books and read outside while having a picnic. Fly kites or play frisbee.
3. Playground Day: Let the kids enjoy playing in the playground when it isn’t raining. Let them enjoy the slides, monkey bars, seesaw, etc.
4. Carwash Day: Kids love to play with water and have lots of energy. Help them put their energy to good use by letting them wash your vehicle and vacuum it inside.
5. Gardening Project: Teach kids to plant herbs like basil or mint in small pots or old mugs. They can also plant vegetables like lettuce, pechay and tomatoes. Kids can learn to care for them and use them in cooking.
6. Nature Scavenger Hunt: Create a list of items that the kids will look for and can find in your backyard or a nearby park. Examples could be twigs, dry leaves, feathers, different kinds of stones or different kinds of flowers. The kids can be asked to gather them or to simply take photos of them.
7. Nature Walk with Outdoor Art: Provide your kids with a sketchbook and encourage them to capture the natural wonders (plants, trees, flowers, bugs, animals, clouds, etc.) that catch their eye through sketches and drawings.
8. Outdoor Art: Let the kids’ imagination run wild using sidewalk chalk for colorful drawings or to create nature-inspired art using the twigs, rocks, leaves and flowers that they picked up in their nature walk.
9. Backyard/Frontyard Camping: Pitch a tent, roast marshmallows, and tell stories inside your tent or under the stars.
10. Stargazing Night: Lay out blankets and identify constellations.
11. Make a Bird Feeder or a Birdhouse: Teach the kids to make a bird feeder or birdhouse. Ask them to hang it outside and observe visiting birds.
12. Sports/Fun Games Day: If your yard is big enough to let the kids play badminton, basketball, football, or freesbee let them play outside. You can also go to a nearby park if you don’t have an outdoor area that is big enough at home. If you want to veer away from the usual sports, you can set up fun games for the kids like water balloon fights, sack race, hula hoop or other fun games.
13. Outdoor Movie Night: Set up a backyard/frontyard movie screening with a sheet and projector. Cook popcorn. Buy mixed nuts. Invite neighbors for added fun if you want.
14. Community Farmers’ Market Visit: Explore stalls with fresh produce and handmade goods. Try new foods together.
15. Go to a library: Visit a library and let the kids read to their heart’s content. If you can, borrow books. Let kids discover the fun of reading for pleasure. Let them discover new people and places through books.
16. Visit to a Museum: Explore local museums with exhibits on history, science, or art. Look for interactive displays.
17. Go fishing: Fishing can be a very helpful skill to learn. You can also cook what your kids catch.
18. Swim: Bring the kids to the pool, lake, river, or beach. Let the kids go swimming. Let them join a swim team or enroll them in swimming lessons. Swimming is a life-saving skill.
19. Birdwatching: Give the kids binoculars and let them go birdwatching in your neighborhood or join organized birdwatching events.
20. Community Service: Volunteer together or let the kids choose where and how they wnat to volunteer. It can be at a local charity, food bank, animal shelter or in your church.

Indoor Activities

1. Make Music: Let the kids explore and make music using DIY or real music instruments. They can use this time to learn how to play an instrument or to get better in playing one. They can even join a band or form a band with their siblings or friends.
2. Music Jam Session: Host a family karaoke night or create a band with homemade or real instruments for a backyard or home concert. Invite relatives or close friends to be your audience if your like.
3. Game Day/s: Schedule game day or days when the kids or the whole family will play board games, card games or games like charades. You can even play games daily. Some of our family’s favorite games are chess, Scrabble, Monopoly, Monopoly Deal, Uno, Uno Flip, Letter Dice, Game of Life, Quirkle, Go Fish and dominoes. When our kids were young, we played Snakes/Slides and Ladders and Trip to Jerusalem (board game).
4. Movie Day/Night: We love watching movies. Have some popcorn and mixed nuts. If you have an air conditioned room, watch a movie there to simulate being in a movie house. Your kids can even make tickets and set up seating arrangements.
5. Indoor Treasure Hunt: Hide clues around the house leading to a hidden treasure or surprise.
6. Pizza Day: Teach the kids how to make their own pizza. You can buy a pizza dough and just let the kids spread a pizza sauce and put their chosen toppings. Or you can make your own pizza dough. Then, eat the pizza that the kids made during your movie day/night or just enjoy your DIY pizza.
7. Artists for a Day: Do you know that doing art is therapeutic? It is calming and relaxing. So, let your kids be artists for at least one day a week. Unleash your child/children’s inner Picasso and let them paint. Let them try different mediums. Set up easels and art supplies. One day, let them use watercolor. On another day, let them use acrylic paint. Another day, let them use oil pastel. Schedule a day for them to use crayong or colored pencils. Then, another day when they will just use charcoal pencil to sketch and draw. To encourage them further, assign a wall in your house where they can display their artworks.
8. Cooking Challenge: If your kids are still young, let each kid partner with a parent. Or pair an older kid and a smaller kid. Challenge kids to prepare meals from scratch. Start with easy-to-prepare dishes if they do not have any experience yet. Then, let them progress to more complicated dishes. I have trained my kids to cook simple meals. Now, we can assign them as cooks for a day and I can use that day to rest or to work on some important tasks.
9. Bake Day: Kids love to bake because they love eating what is baked after. Bake cookies, muffins, cupcakes, or bread. Let them decorate the cookies or cupcakes. They can even sell what they bake if they want to earn extra money during the school break.
10. DIY Ice Cream Party: Teach the kids how to make their own ice cream. Then, let them bring or choose their own ice cream toppings.
11. Journaling: Journaling has many benefits for both kids and adults. Encourage kids to journal daily even for 5 minutes. Give them a nice notebook and pen to keep them started. They can write about the things they are thankful for, about their goals or dreams or about their experiences every day, what made them happy, sad, disappointed or excited. Journaling is a good way to be in touch with one’s emotions and to get to know and understand ourselves better.
12. Do Science Experiments: Perform kitchen experiments like making slime, erupting volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar, or creating a lemon battery. Search the intenet for fun and easy experiments that your kids would like to try. Or you can also buy experiments in boxes to make it easier to implement.
13. Crafting with Recycled Materials: Challenge your kids to upcycle or use household items like cardboard tubes, old magazines, or bottle caps to create art or useful items for the home.
14. Reading Challenge: Set reading goals and give a reward if the child is able to achieve the reading goal set. For example, you can challenge your child to read 1 book a day or 5 books a week. To make sure that the child is really reading and understanding the story, you can ask the child to tell you a summary of the story or you can ask the child to write book reports.
15. Storytelling and Drama: Let the kids act out stories or create their original stories or skits. Use costumes, props, and imaginative play for creative expression.
16. Puzzle: Let your kids play with puzzles. If you have more than one child at home, you can make it a collaborative effort for them to finish a big puzzle together.
17. Life Skills Training: Equip your kids by teaching them life skills during the school break. teaching how to clean using different cleaning tools (broom, mop, vacuum), use the washing machine, wash the dishes, iron clothes, etc. Then, to help them master these life skills, make these part of their routine even during the school year.
18. Family Talent Show: Organize a talent show where each family member can perform something special, like singing, dancing, or magic tricks.
19. Puppet Show: Make puppets from socks or paper bags and put on a puppet show. Kids can write their own scripts or act out favorite stories.
20. Learn a New Language: Use language learning apps or books to start learning a new language. Practice simple phrases and words daily. My kids learned Spanish one summer and the following summer, they learned Latin.
21. Learn a New Skill: Let the kids pick a new skill they want to learn like crocheting, knitting, sewing, woodworking, photography, calligraphy, etc. There are plenty of online tutorials to guide you.
22. Dance Party: Have a dance party in your living room. Create a playlist of fun, upbeat songs and let loose.
23. Scrapbooking: Collect photos, drawings, and mementos from your summer activities or previous travels or field trips to create a scrapbook. It’s a wonderful way to preserve memories.
24. Upcycle old clothes: Teach kids to upcycle their old clothes. They can embellish them, create-tie-dye shirts, cut old pants and turn them into shorts. They can convert old clothes into bags, wallets or purses.
25. Room Makeover: Your kids can makeover their room by rearranging the furniture, painting the walls with their chosen color, sticking decals or crafting decor. Remind them to take a before and after photo.

Keeping kids busy and away from screens during the school break doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With a little creativity and planning, you can create memorable experiences not only for the kids but for the whole family.

Try out these activities! I hope these lists would be a big help to your family. These activities not only keep kids entertained without screens, but also help them develop new skills, explore their creativity, and strengthen family bonds. Enjoy a memorable and screen-free school break!