Off-screen
Screen-free learning activities that start on a website and end at the kitchen table
Updated
Several learning websites are written for the grown-up rather than the child. Bedtime Math posts short math stories to read aloud, Math for Love describes table games like Guess My Number, CS Unplugged covers computing with cards and puzzles, and Getty Drawing With Kids offers drawing prompts for pencil and paper.
The sites below share one pattern: an adult reads for a minute, then the device goes away and the activity happens on the table, the floor or the sofa. They are arranged by the part of the day they seem to fit.
At bedtime
Bedtime Math
Each post is a short story, often a silly one about squid, carrots or songs, followed by math questions at three levels. Siblings of different ages can answer questions about the same story. Answers sit below the questions, and children can work them out on fingers, with objects or in their heads.
See Bedtime Math on bored.kidsAt the kitchen table
Math for Love
A library of math games and conversations played with counters, dominoes and paper: Counting Collections, Domino Sorting, Dots and Boxes, Guess My Number and Fraction Talks. The publisher suggests beginning with the short openers and games.
See Math for Love on bored.kidsDREME Family Math
Math ideas woven into everyday routines: matching cups by quantity while setting the table, comparing amounts in the kitchen, folding paper into shapes, or spotting patterns in the day. There are picture-book guides too, and the ideas come in English and Spanish.
See DREME Family Math on bored.kidsCS Unplugged
Computer science with no computer involved. Children find hidden cards with search strategies, count in binary with cards and play “Kidbots” who follow one another’s instructions exactly. Many activities come with questions to ask along the way. The wide age range means some activities are pitched well above a five-year-old and others well below a teenager.
See CS Unplugged on bored.kidsOn a rainy afternoon
Getty Drawing With Kids
Five drawing ideas from the Getty museum, each tied to an artwork in its collection, such as inventing a wild hairstyle for a portrait. The prompts are written for adults and children to draw side by side.
See Getty Drawing With Kids on bored.kidsNew Victory Paper Puppetry
Children make a paper puppet of themselves, then send it through an adventure with different feelings and obstacles, which can turn into a small family show. The instructions invite changes to suit each child.
See New Victory Paper Puppetry on bored.kidsExploratorium Tinkering
Cardboard automata, balancing sculptures and chain reactions from the Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio. These are open-ended builds that revolve around changing one piece and seeing what happens, which may suit a child who likes to fiddle more than one who wants a finished result to follow.
See Exploratorium Tinkering on bored.kidsFor printable projects, DK’s activity packs cover growing flowers, a mini greenhouse and soil investigations, and Crayola Crafts lets families filter craft projects by the materials they have on hand.
Questions parents ask
What screen-free activities are there for a five-year-old?
Of the sites above, Bedtime Math stories, Guess My Number from Math for Love, a New Victory paper puppet and a Getty drawing prompt all list age ranges that take in five-year-olds, and none of them asks for much more than paper, small objects or a story.
How do screen-free activities compare with learning apps?
They work in a different way, and how they compare depends on the child. The activities here are built around talking with someone, whether that’s working through a math story or acting out instructions, and plenty of families mix them with apps. For hands-on science, see science experiments to try at home.