Device-free activities families can enjoy at home

Family time is an umbrella term that can encompass a range of activities, but it generally involves parents and children spending quality time together away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Finding distraction-free family time has always been challenging, but it might be even more so in the modern world, where a device with internet access is seemingly always within reach.

A January 2024 report from Parks Associates indicated the average U.S. household with internet access had 17 connected devices in 2023. Though such devices have become integral parts of the daily lives of billions of people across the globe, tablets, smartphones, smart watches and other items can make it hard for families to enjoy distraction-free time together.

With that in mind, families can consider the following device-free ways to enjoy one another’s company:

• Designate a night each week for board games. Classic board games like Monopoly, Scrabble and many more don’t require an internet connection, making a family board game night an ideal way to disconnect and spend time together. Even if the competition gets heated, there’s still plenty of time for families to catch up and discuss what’s going on in their lives, an important benefit that’s not always so easy when devices are commanding everyone’s attention.

• Get out in nature. Routine afternoons spent in Mother Nature is another great way for families to disconnect and spend time together. Whether it’s an afternoon spent sunbathing at a local beach or a family hike through a nearby park, the great outdoors provides a wonderful excuse to put down the devices and reconnect in a beautiful, natural setting.

• Get in touch with your collective creative side. Families with a knack for producing their own creations can host periodic family craft nights as a fun and productive way to spend time together away from their devices. Tie seasonal celebrations like Halloween and the holiday season into craft-making sessions. Let a different person choose a craft before each session, or make it a contest to determine who can make the biggest, funniest or most complex decoration.

• Cook together as a family. Dinner can be an unenviable chore in busy families, but parents can designate one night each week when the family cooks together. Sunday night cooking sessions might make the best sense, as kids’ schedules are more likely to be free on Sunday than any other day during the week. That makes Sunday afternoon and early evening a great time to catch up on the previous week and spend time together without devices.

Families looking to spend time together away from their devices can do so in any number of ways.