Hello, I need help. My 8 yr old boy only wants to be on the computer (Minecraft, youtube) and my girl wants to watch tv. They have board games and LEGO’s, but they find them boring. How can I get them off the computer and tv? Before COVID 19, everything was fine with extracurricular activities. Now I don’t know how to entertain them. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks
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Make a schedule. Have them do chores to earn video game time. Mine are only allowed an hour a day of xbox/computer. They hate it but it keeps them from doing nothing all day.
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I struggle with this with my eight year old as well. She has to earn tablet time through chores and good behavior, and I try to limit the time on top of that as well. She has to spend a certain amount of time playing outside or reading or playing with toys that are not electronic. It is always a fight but it is for the best.
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Press the power button. 
It tends to work with both of my kids.
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Lots of outside time. Bike ride
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I unplugged the router and said the internet is down for maintenance they will find something else to do that is fun
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Park, walks , crafts, limit there time my daughters device i limit time she is on a day i have parental control app
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Take them out of the house… all electronics stay home. Go on a hike…make it a scavenger hunt.
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Crafts,science experiments,board/card games. Read a book,play with toys.
find things they like do that with them and incorporate somethings into your daily life and at least 1-2 hours of they the day they do something that you like to do
Mine don’t have a choice. They only get their phone and games on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
they do the chores to earn their game and phone time.
We go outside to ride bikes, swim, explor the nature and creek. Maybe an obstacle course or scavenger hunt. Pintrest has tons of crafts, activities and recipes. My girls love learning in the kitchen.
We also do All kinds of DIY home repair, car repair, gardning and canning together.
We teach by hands on.
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Take them outside to explore
I take my kids outside to the park or public pools or lakes. They hardly get electronics because they get so addicted to them. We also have a membership to the zoo. The kids love it and its educational
I told my daughter the TVs were broken once 
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Bikes, skateboards, skates, water play… anything outside…
They need to get their butts outside. Plan a family bike ride every day go for a nature hike, put out a slip and slide, sidewalk chalk, badminton, grab a basketball and go shoot some hoops, take them to the golf driving range, get some kites on windy days, give them chores to do. If my kids come and tell me they are bored, I give them chores to do. They have learned to get themselves busy for the most part.
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I have a list for me of if they get bored. They as well get one hr of tablet time. Then if they want more they can earn 30 more minutes max for the afternoon by completing 3 pgs of workbook pages. They play outside on and off all day long… we play two board games every night. And go for a walk or a twomile bike ride nightly. We also read stories every night. They also do puzzles and chores. They also match socks for a penny a pair ( I hate matching socks lol) once they reach 25 pairs they double their money.
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We do puzzles, play catch phrases and cards. I even taught them cribbage. We also color and those paint by numbers might have something your son would want to paint.
Try going outdoors take them for a little hike so they can learn about nature!
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We have been struggling with this also and have to limit the electronic time. Puzzles, art, Nike rides, roller blades, basketball, trampoline, pool, baking with an adult…
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Take them fishing, playing in lake or creeks, climbing trees, hiking. Anything outside. I ground mine for any little thing to keep him off of them 
Oh good grief just let them be 
make them go outside for a couple hours.
Take the computer away that’s what I did I want them do learning on it they know it and they won’t they get on u tube I find it there off. And watch to much tv I turn off.and they go outside for little while.i kicked them off computer for a wss while after 3 months home schooling giving computer rest… make read books I’ve had to supervise tv and computer because also try and order. Stuff that’s all look at
I sprayed my kid with the hose shes been begging to go out and di it again for a week now not sure if that helps
My 8 year stays on his iphone a good bit. He doesn’t have a gaming system bc I refuse to buy one that will make him want to sit down even more. He has full access to his phone and to his laptop but he also knows when I say to turn it off, don’t argue and he turns it right off. He has a few games on his phone but I check his phone and laptop frequently. He’s only 8 but he’s a very good kid who listens and knows he will be in a LOT of trouble if he does something on his iPhone or laptop he isn’t suppose to. His phone stays home when it’s time for school but I do allow him to take his Apple Watch to school. Thankfully he gets bored easily messing with them so he puts them down and rides his hoverboard or finds a toy to play with.
Make them clean the house
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We have been doing geocaching. My kids love it because to them it’s like a treasure hunt
Take them outside to play!
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We can have tv on in the living room, but we do a lot of things. My oldest does his 50 states floor puzzle the little kids love pointing out the animals and trying to figure out where the pieces go, and then we have competitions to who know the most capitals or who can name the states and try and get all of them. And then my little ones are working a lot on sight words ( they challenge each other on them) and my oldest will help with that. And then after we clean up dinner take showers we usually play a game and then my oldest will go on his xbox for an hour or 2 and my littles will watch a movie
Old fashion thing called tell them kids to go outdoors.
Have tv and computer time Timed Only get 2 hours a day … only have to make them do something else!
Make them entertain themselves or clean I bet if you say that they’ll find something to do real quick when the kids say there’s nothing to do but watch tv I remind them there was a time when tv didn’t exist and kids had to find other things to do they’ll get over it if you make it normal. I let them watch it for a while sometimes but then I turn it off and tell them to go find something else to do and go move.
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Arts and crafts? I just threw hundreds of stuff animals on the floor and they rolled around for hrs.
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Bikes, park, splash pad, lake, board games, coloring (my kids like this one better when i color too), give a 5 gallon bucket tell em to pull weeds and fill the bucket 1st to fill it gets to pick the treat. And god ol fashioned chores. Chalk, bubbles, glowstick dance party when dark.
At 8, I knew better to get outside and not come back in until dinner time. Exploring, bike rides, scavenger hunts, forts, etc. I understand the addiction (as well as the quick fix) that technology has on us all. But all of us need to reconnect with the outdoors… we weren’t meant to sit inside all day starting at walls! 
Rainy days are for baking, chores, moving furniture around, board games, puzzles, journaling, reading, science projects, etc.
Get a board game ! A family bored game you all can play together like the game Life or monopoly. Make snacks shut off all electronics and have some fun
Unplug TV and computer !!
Make designated screen time allowances
All other time can be split between outside play time, chores, reading, arts and crafts, or home ec activities like learning to sew and cook (depending on age)
We go on hikes and if it’s bad out we find crafts to do or family board games.
Go for walks in parks
Teach them how to cook
Go for drive to get coffee and take funny pictures… Or not just the drive whatever suits you
Do backyard camping, make a tent in the living room and read a book, do movie night with popcorn and candy, make them help you do chores around the house so you can finish fast and do something fun, dance, sign, make ticktock silly videos …
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Implement a no tech rule until a certain time of day. They have to do chores, play outside, etc for tech time. Make them work for it. I know it’s easier to give in but you have to be the bad guy occasionally.
Take them for walks , bushwalks play outside with them instead of sending them outside to play by themselves
Go insect hunting
Paint rocks and other things outside so many options for outside play
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Water balloon fights. Outside scavenger hunt. Make stepping stones. Crafts. Tie dye. There is a ton of things that don’t require any tech
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Go for a bike ride. Hit the beach
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Honestly, I found taking tech away for a few days helped force the kiddos to be bored, which made them figure out how to un-bore themselves. Also a routine. And TONS of craft supplies and playdoh!!!
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“Lose” the remote to the T.V and stand firm on no tablets or phones… Do crafts. Finger painting or paint by numbers. Home Depot sells bird houses and other “do it yourself” type of small things to build and paint. Make a scavenger hunt list for a day outside. Go to flea markets, or walk around the block/ outdoor trails, go to the park. Buy some puzzles, and coloring books.
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I got my oldest a set of chores …
- Feed the dogs
- Make her bed/room
- Clean toys
She also helps me cook (she’s 5 ) I also have her color & do printable worksheets. Ive been teaching her how to tend to our garden…
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Crafts? There’s lots of ideas on Pinterest.
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Geo caching. My kids have enjoyed doing this over the summer
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I have five kids. I limit screentime to an hour every other day and I hide the TV remotes. So far this week my older kids have been painting rocks and sorting their room out and my younger kids have gone back to their lego and rebuilt kits and built new ones. In my opinion, it is good for kids to not have everything handed to them on a plate, boredom breeds creativity. We also get out for a walk/ cycle every day. We have put together a boredom jar and if they can’t think of anything to do they pick an activity out of the jar.
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Here are some ideas, things I do with my daughter:
Limit TV screen time to 30 minutes a day. that makes movie night special (you can make popcorn and fruit platters to make it more special) get them a bunch of books from the library talk about what they read, play with them, cook something together, build LEGO things together, make up dances and make a tick tok with them, go on nature walks, collect cool rocks; bring it home and turn it into jewelry, do yoga together, go outside and paint what you see together, give each other make overs, clean the house 
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Idk where you live but most places have Geocaching. You get coordinates I believe to go get clues that lead you to a prize. A neat outdoor activity
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We write sentences for our 6 year old to copy on our fridge with dry erase markers, we got a ball at dollar general and I kick it and whoever doesn’t catch it has to do something silly. Then when they get bored of that I put paint and tiny foam balls with glitter eyeballs you name it and the call it their sensory bag. And when all else fails we play in the mini pool I got them
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I know this defeats the point but it actually monitors screen time and gets them away from tech but uses it as a reward, made this up to get my kids outdoors, sweets and ice cream worked before
Outside play? Bikes, trampolines, hiking, walks?
Painting, reading, scavenger hunts… cleaning, cooking…
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Make a checklist of non-tech/tv things they can do…Read for 20min., make their bed, complete a chore…Play a game together as a family, do a puzzle together. “Before any Tech there must be a check”, make boxes next to the tasks for the check marks and they can fill it in as they go…
All of what she just said lol and just say no time to play and not electronics i have 7 gbabies 8 and under and just visted with them all i took that stuff away and they had a blast
Life size minecraft outside or even inside. Get a bunch of big legos for them to build with they have minecraft themed jumbo legos online too they could turn their rooms into forts
Crafts
Family bike rides
Baking
Board games
Get them a soccer ball or something to play with outside
Have tried a taking them himing most parks are open as long as you social distance and stay off of playgrounds. Or a scavenger hunt around your yard/neighborhood. I started “breaking” the internet so they can’t use it (in other words turn it off) Amazingly at this point they will find something else to do without me having to do any yelling or bribery.
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Take everything away when their sleeping lol
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Turn your wifi and TV off, they will go find something else to do
Allow them more time on electronics, or fill their time with something else (you may have to be involved to get them interested, my kids and I play cards a lot).
easy… tell them to get off and put it up. Let them be bored to the point those boring toys are fun again. Worked with my kids
There are tons of activities and craft ideas on pinterest for indoor and outdoor play. You could also find a new hobby to try and get them interested in ( astronomy, Dinosaurs, gardening ect.) And find ways to expand on that hobby. Books, games, projects.
Outsiiiiide.!!! Give them a little garden box to grow herbs or a few plants. Teachs them some self reliant skills. Like laundry, offer more Hands on activities not screen time.
Let them play and draw in shaving cream on the table. Super fun and easy to clean up!
Take the cords to everything electronic and say “go play” make them earn an hour of electronic a day by playing outside…playing board games…painting…doing crafts.
Turn the TV and wifi off, they’ll soon find other things to do.
Limit their time on their electronics…
Only can play after x,y,z chores are done… give them a limit. Make them read for a specific amount of time every day and them write five sentences. Ask them questions about what they read. Have to be off electronics by a certain time. Pick up a ball of any kind play with them outside in the evenings when it’s cool. After dinner play cards, Pictionary, charades when it’s too dark to be outside. Make them go outside and play early in the mornings before it’s too hot. The more involved you are as a parent to get them off electronics, they will be more willing to play and entertain with you.
You’re the parent…you send them outside.
My kids played in a large kid’s pool all summer long. Couldn’t hardly get them out of it. Outdoors and great exercise. Get some pool toys, maybe water balloons, squirt guns, floaties, etc. Ofcourse, backyard needed.
Tell them to get off and go play… I have to do the same with my daughter sometimes
Play w them and have limited screen time
I have a 9 year old and twins of 8 - if I gave them half a chance, they would sit in front of screens all day. During lockdown , I’ve been using screen time as a reward (ok, bribe). If they do their daily chores and don’t half kill each other during the day, they get half an hour screen in the evening. If they say they are bored, i give them more chores (they stopped mentioning the :bored" word astoundingly quickly). For the most part, they invent their own games, but sometimes come to me for suggestions (lego, digging holes and making mud baths outside, building indoor forts, painting, box construction, treasure hunts, scooters and skateboards, building racetracks for their toy cars). We also walk the dogs and go for bike rides often to get rid of their endless energy.
Find something you can do together. This is a great time to spend an hour or so talking with them. My friend started painting rocks with her kids and they put them all over the neighborhood. Paints and brushes are really inexpensive at WM. They pick up rocks here and there. They have become quite competitive.
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Go on scavenger hunts in the yard. Like have them pick something green have them pick a brown leaf. Stuff like that. You point it out and have them find it. Also sit down and make a time capsule.
Build something together. Crafts. They are old enough, have them empty the cupboards and give them a good scrub down before winter. You could also try some fun, at home science experiments. I sneak in multiplying fractions into real life by doubling or tripling a recipe for cookies or bread with the kids.
Turn off the power, oops power went out. Let’s play a game
Unplug the internet lol
We go on walks to the park or out for a drive blasting music we love singing at the top of out lungs.
Get down and dirty in the dirt with my son lol
Water fun will all of them
Mani pedi’s with my girls
Weird stuff like that
Go out and play with them
They are bored with other activities because technology is like crack for them! I hate what the kids become when their on their devices. We only play on the tablets 3 hours on Saturday and only watch TV during the week after we went biking, walking or did other activities
I got my boys a hoop and basketball. I got them a blow up plol and they have been out side every day playing like i did as a kid they are 5 6band 10 all boys lol
I just tell my kids no devices, find something else to do. They will whine in the beginning but they end up playing together, dolls, board games, hide and go seek. Or on a nice day (which it’s been so hot or rainy , I know) I make them go outside with me and they end up having fun bc they aren’t allowed to go in and get on a device.
Do up a daily checklist of things to complete before they can have any screen time and include 10mins reading, 10mins exercise/outdoor play, 10mins being creative. Slowly increase times as they get used to doing this. They’ll probably do extra time anyway once they’ve started an activity. Good luck
Turn off all screens, give them some chores and then let them be bored. They will figure out how to entertain themselves and use their own creativity instead relying on you or screens to entertain them.
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Your the mum just tell them to get of and do something else simple
do a scavenger hunt in your house,get them to find something that starts with the letters of alphabet,for those letters that you can not find something have them draw a picture using that letter