6 Ways To Keep Tweens Away From Screens!

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Tweens are at that difficult age between being seen as a younger child or a teen. They feel (and often think!) that they are grown up and not children. But they still definitely need cuddles and attention from us parents! However, one of the biggest difficulties the older they get is the increasing amount of time they spend on screens. As my eldest is approaching this age I’ve been looking at some of the ways to get him away from screens and into other things. With a little help from the Wicked Uncle gifting website I’ve come up with some great solutions to keep tweens away from screens!

Keeping Active

Getting outside is clearly good for kids health, but sometimes tweens need a little persuasion on this front. Suggest something a little different such as paddle boarding or rock climbing.

Another option is to challenge your tween, see if they can beat you at a race or contest? Who can do the highest jump or flip on the trampoline or who can win an egg spoon race?! Most kids will want to prove they can beat their parents!

IQ Puzzles

As well as keeping active, it’s also important to have a healthy mind. Why not try an IQ puzzle like this pyramid building brain teaser? Tweens can challenge themselves or even test parents to see who is quickest at solving the puzzles.

There are various options of IQ puzzles, so have a look around at what your child would enjoy most.

Board Games (especially when they can beat parents!)

My children have always enjoyed board games, although the eldest is getting more interested in complicated games. This makes it a lot more fun when they are playing you! Some of our favourite board games can be found in this blog post. However you can get some great games at Wicked Uncle, including the Horrible Histories board game which is popular with tweens.

For more complicated games look at Trekking The World or Ticket To Ride. If your tween is a bad loser then perhaps a cooperative game may be a good choice. Forbidden Island is a particularly fun cooperative game to play together. The main aim is to save the statues before the island sinks in the water and it involves working together to win.

More Responsibility

Sometimes tweens just need to be shown a little more trust. Trust that they can complete tasks without adult guidance (unless they ask for it). If your tween has an interest in cooking then perhaps get them to work out a meal to cook on a budget and let them go shopping for all the ingredients and cook the meal. They may just surprise you with something a bit different and even a better attitude with their extra responsibility.

Other responsibilities may include looking after the garden, helping out looking after younger siblings or washing the car. Ask your child is there anything they would like to do around the house. You might be surprised at what they suggest and see how confident they become with extra responsibilities.

Household Projects

Have you any household projects that you’ve been putting off? Maybe it’s making a piece of flat pack furniture, painting a wall or make planters for the garden? Ask your tween if they can help out and take responsibility for the project themselves.

They may surprise you with their creativity and knowledge. Although you may need to let them use a screen to check out how-to videos on YouTube. However, this is one type of screen time that may well be beneficial to you tween!

Days Out – Keep Tweens Away From Screens

Have a day out with your tween to ‘love bomb’ them. This can be used at any age and is just a way of spending quality time together doing something that they choose and enjoy, without other siblings if possible! Having a ‘yes’ day is fairly similar where they can choose whatever they want to do (providing it’s not dangerous/illegal) and perhaps having a budget would be useful!

You could do something simple like a trip to the cinema or spa, or even go to theme parks, try out a new activity together or just a walk together. As long as it’s something that your tween wants to do too! It’s going to be no fun if they get dragged along somewhere they don’t like!

Read More Posts About Tween Activities

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