Screen-free activities for under 5's during isolation

Updated: May 22

It can be very tempting to use a screen as a baby sitter during isolation, especially if you are working from home like so many of us are. It's recommended that children under the age of 2 don't have any screen time, although I would argue that there are exceptions. I am guilty of giving my son a screen under 2 as a desperate last attempt to silence him on long car journeys, etc. Children aged between 2-5 are advised to be limited to less than an hour a day. However, given the current circumstances, I wouldn't blame anyone for exceeding the guidelines in order to catch up on work. With that in mind, I decided to list some fun alternatives for your little ones.

Screen-free activities in the house:

Drawing/painting (doing badly drawn portraits of each other can be funny)
Have an indoor teddy-bears picnic
Make pizzas
Build a fort
Create an obstacle course
Play hide and seek
Go on a colour scavenger hunt
Play flash-card games
Play the story game
Bake cupcakes
Make toilet roll bugs
Catalog cut and stick activity
Make a rainbow for the window
Build a house/car/etc from boxes/cardboard
Hang up/ display items in the corner of a room and play 'shops'
Pretend to go to a restaurant (dress up too!)
Create a 'dolly spa' at the sink
Play 'guess the word/letter' by tracing your finger on your childrens back
Play with stickers
Create masks and crowns out of recycling

If you are lucky enough to have a garden:

Play football
Pick flowers and foliage to press
Plant a flower bed
Go on a bug hunt
Draw with chalk on the floor
Pop up a play tent
Scoop water from one bucket to another
Have a water fight (if the weather is warm enough)
Make sandcastles
Blow bubbles