50 Screen-Free Activities For Kids That Actually Support Cognitive Growth

“I’m bored!” is a complaint all too familiar to parents of younger children. But what if instead of hearing it as a complaint, we saw it as an opportunity?

Boredom is good for kids. When their brains aren’t immediately stimulated and entertained by screens, their brains are invited to create, imagine, and problem-solve.

That’s where we came up with the idea of The “I’m Bored” Jar.

What Is an "I'm Bored" Jar?

Simply fill a jar with 50 folded slips of paper, each suggesting a creative, engaging, or physically active task that promotes brain health and, most importantly, is screen-free.

Every time you hear that dreaded phrase, get them to pull one out for inspiration. It keeps things exciting and spontaneous, without putting you on the spot when you might not be feeling creative.

Tips for Making Your Jar

• Involve your child in writing the ideas
  
  
• Include a mix of active, quiet, solo, and group options
  
  
• Refresh the jar with new ideas regularly. You could have a ‘one out, one in’ policy to make sure it's always full to the brim with ideas, but that you don’t have to think of them all at once.

50 Ideas to Get You Started

Creative & Imaginative Play

• Build a den or fort with blankets and cushions
  
  
• Create a comic strip
  
  
• Invent your own board game
  
  
• Make puppets and put on a puppet show
  
  
• Design your dream house on paper
  
  
• Pretend you’re on a cooking show and make a recipe
  
  
• Make a costume out of recycling
  
  
• Create a treasure map and hide something for someone to find
  
  
• Write a story and illustrate it
  
  
• Make a magic potion using garden herbs and water
  

Movement & Physical Activity

• Set up an indoor or garden obstacle course
  
  
• Play “The Floor Is Lava”
  
  
• Do 10 yoga poses and name them yourself
  
  
• Make up a dance to your favourite song
  
  
• Go on a mini scavenger hunt outside
  
  
• Do a nature walk and collect 5 different leaves
  
  
• Learn how to hula hoop or jump rope
  
  
• Try balancing a book on your head and walk across the room
  
  
• Play hide and seek
  
  
• Create a mini sports day for the family
  

Sensory & Hands-On Activities

• Make homemade playdough or slime
  
  
• Freeze small toys in water and chip them out
  
  
• Set up a rice or sand sensory bin
  
  
• Make mud pies or nature soup outside
  
  
• Press flowers in a book
  
  
• Do a sink-or-float experiment with kitchen objects
  
  
• Make a potion using things from the kitchen (with permission!)
  
  
• Use a magnifying glass to inspect things around the house
  
  
• Try “blindfold tasting” with different fruits
  
  
• Make a tactile collage with textured materials
  

Calming & Mindfulness Ideas

• Do a guided breathing exercise
  
  
• Draw a mandala or colouring pattern
  
  
• Make a gratitude list of 5 things you love
  
  
• Do a puzzle or word search
  
  
• Try sitting quietly and listening for all the sounds you can hear
  
  
• Write a letter to someone you care about
  
  
• Water the plants or tend to a small garden
  
  
• Sort toys/books by colour or size
  
  
• Learn a simple origami shape
  
  
• Make a DIY calming jar (glitter + water + glue in a bottle)
  

Brain Boosting & Learning-Based Fun

• Learn 5 words in another language
  
  
• Try a science experiment (like baking soda + vinegar volcano)
  
  
• Make up a quiz for your family
  
  
• Build a bridge out of paper and test its strength
  
  
• Set up a “shop” and play with coins
  
  
• Practice telling the time on a clock
  
  
• Estimate how many steps it takes to walk around the house
  
  
• Interview someone in your family and write down their answers
  
  
• Learn a new card or memory game
  
  
• Sort a collection (rocks, buttons, LEGO) into categories