Screen-Free Fun: 80 amazing activities from sock sliding to raindrop racing

by The School of Life

Whether we’re big or small, it can be hard to get away from our screens. Most children spend between five and seven hours a day looking at some form of screen – and most grown-ups spend twice as much time. Screens promise endless entertainment, but the more time we spend with them, the more we lose sight of all that is strange, fascinating and delightful in the world around us. Even when we’re stuck indoors, there are infinite possibilities for banishing boredom and having fun so long as we use our imagination. All we need are a few helpful suggestions...Screen-Free Fun contains 80 of the weirdest and most wonderful activities children can do at home, all without using a screen. Rather than scrolling or tapping, you’ll be invited to draw, make, write, invent, dress up, hide, seek and discover. You can paint like Picasso or meditate like Buddha; become an indoor entomologist or a home Olympian; make up a new language or a mythical creature; and even find the fun in some household chores. Inventive and irreverent, Screen-Free Fun is the perfect companion for humdrum days and wet weekends. It is a compendium of the world’s strangest, silliest and most stimulating activities.

Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2021

About the author

The School of Life is a global organisation helping people lead more fulfilled lives.

We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.

Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.

That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just about anyone alive today can attest to the abundance of time spent staring at screens, whether they be television, computer or cellphone screens. And while there is nothing wrong with using technology, it shouldn't be the only way out of feeling bored. This small book offers 80 activities that just might stave off boredom and keep youngsters from gravitating to those screens so often. While some of them are quite simple--drawing mustaches on newspaper headshots or sliding on floors while wearing socks--others are more complicated and intellectual--interviewing an elder member of the family through a letter or pondering deep, philosophical questions about life or setting up conversational topics for a meal, for instance. Even adults could benefit from reading this book, and just maybe they could contribute some ideas of their own. There are also some possible story starters and map exercises that prompt a more extensive worldbuilding activity, and even some pastimes that nurture budding scientists in observing and recording data. This little book lives up to its title and promise.