Best Tech-Free Games for Kids
I don’t know about you, but keeping your kids off of tech and interested in the land of reality can be tricky. “Just 5 more minutes, mom! I need to finish the round!!”. The struggle is real, my friends. I’m constantly bugging my friends for suggestions on the newest and most engaging games to play as a family or have on our game table when their friends come over.
My son has a couple of neighborhood friends who came over the other day and told me that their parents said they weren’t allowed to be on tech at my house – no Roblox, no Nintendo Switch, they were even hesitant about watching a movie. At first I thought, that’s crazy! Kids play Super Mario or Just Dance together – what’s wrong with that. And then I realized that yes, while they do play together, they are really just playing side-by-side staring at a big screen. No eye contact occurs, no meaningful or fun conversations, no shared physical play. Okay, I thought. I can get down with that. I’ve since stopped any sort of tech play for the most part with all of his friends. Yes – they can watch a movie in the winter months. But any sort of warm weather? They are outside or playing card or board games.
Research published in JAMA Network Open1 found that reducing children’s screen use for just two weeks led to improvements in mental health and social behavior. When I read that I decided to conduct a mini test of my own. I took all screens away from our son (except for television) for two weeks. He was becoming obsessed jumping from Roblox to VR to YouTube. The first few days he was pretty cranky. After about day 4 he was asking to color. Then he began digging through his toy bins. He ventured outside much more often to play on his skateboard. His disposition was happier, more even-keeled, and engaged. It was like night and day with his engagement in everyday life. I knew right then and there changes needed to be made. According to the American Psychological Association, more screen time is correlated with socio-emotional problems in children2. Well, I don’t think I would classify my son as having socio-emotion problems but a major decrease in his screen time made it very apparent that screens do indeed affect his emotional state of mind.
All that to be said, I started going to garage sales to find gently used board games. I frequented the stores to buy the latest and greatest to keep those little minds occupied and having fun. Below I’m sharing a few that have been big hits with my son and his friends. I hope you love and find these games as much fun as we do!
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Hues and Cues (Age 8+)
This has a 4.7 star rating and almost 6,000 reviews on Amazon for a reason. It’s a blast! It’s easy to learn, and while the age says 8+, I think kids as young as five could easily get the hang of it. Players have to use one word to describe a color (think: “Chocolate” for brown). It’s hilarious to see what cues people use to describe certain hues, as it definitely shows people’s differences in how they see things.
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The Uzzle (Ages 4+)
This was a Christmas gift for us, and we knew nothing about it. In order to keep our son from begging to stare at a phone when we went out to dinner we took this game with us. Holy cow, was this fun! It’s a perfect small game to take to restaurants or on trips. It’s a puzzle game where you get a pattern on a card, use your tiles to match the pattern, and whoever finishes first wins. A bonus is that it’s a great way to help kids grow their problem-solving abilities. (Sidenote: Our server was so intrigued by it that she went out and bought it the next day!)
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If you have any other fantastic game suggestions I would love to hear them! I am always looking for new recommendations.
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