It’s a fairly obvious statement—banal, even—that screens are more present in our lives than ever. For schoolwork, social life, and entertainment, it’s easier than ever for your child to spend their entire day in front of a screen. Excessive screen time, whether from television, video gaming, social media, or otherwise, has been shown to contribute to anxiety, depression, sleep loss, social dysfunction, eye strain, and other adverse health outcomes.1 Some screen time is unavoidable, but this makes it even more crucial to think of non-screen hobbies that you can encourage your student to pursue.
Before suggesting any of the below ideas, it’s important to pay attention to what your kid(s) want, what they enjoy doing, skills they want to develop, or niches they want to explore. Listen to what they have to say about their interests, and tailor your suggestions based on that. With that in mind, here’s an array of options:
Skill-Building Activities: From Arts to DIY
One of the most engaging things that your student can do is develop a skill. Working on a skill of any kind is compelling: the sense of accomplishment, progression, finding a new community of other practitioners, and doing or making something are all incredibly fulfilling. In every community, there are local groups dedicated to various crafts and skills. Diverse locations like arts/ceramics/woodworking studios, bike repair co-ops, and community gardens offer structured ways to learn skills. They could also, of course, develop a skill (like cooking or DIY skills) independently, with the help of guidebooks.
Outdoor Exploration and Adventure Ideas
You can also encourage your kid to devise an adventure. Encourage your student to think of all the things that are within a walkable distance of your home. Pick a spot, and go explore it! Geocaching—essentially a GPS-based scavenger hunt—can be a good option, too, especially if your kid is having trouble thinking of options. Granted, geocaching does come with a minor screen usage component, but it fosters engagement with the outside world while developing skills in problem-solving, observation and analysis, and critical thinking.
Nature-Based Hobbies for Young Naturalists
While out exploring, why not learn more about nature? Hobbies like birdwatching, stargazing, amateur dendrology, or mycology (i.e., looking at trees or mushrooms) can be fun and engaging ways to explore the outdoors. Spending time in nature without a phone promotes paying greater attention to the natural world while also exercising attention spans. It’s a great antidote to excessive screen time, especially for kids with a love of biology and conservation.
Citizen Science: Engaging Kids in Real-World Research
If your student is scientifically-minded, you can suggest they contribute to a citizen science project. Citizen science refers to collaborative projects where people all over the world contribute data and observations to ongoing scientific research. The US government maintains a list of federally-funded citizen science projects at citizenscience.gov. Other non-governmental projects are out there too, of course, and are only a quick web search away.
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Rediscovering the Art of Handwriting
If your kid enjoys writing, you can encourage them to write something by hand. The art of handwriting, whether it’s for letters, calligraphy, journaling, or creative writing, is something of a lost art, but extremely satisfying and gratifying for anyone who loves the written word. Taking a break from writing for school to instead write for pleasure can also rekindle a love for writing in students who used to love writing but are feeling burnt out from school pressures.
Physical Activities: Balancing Mind and Body
It’s important to note that being physically active can offset many of the harmful mental and physical effects of excessive screen time. The benefits of being active include decreased depression and anxiety symptoms, increased dopamine levels, better sleep, improved cognition, and better heart and lung health.2 The teamwork aspect of many forms of activity (especially organized sports) is an additional bonus. Being physically active doesn’t have to mean hitting the gym or training for a marathon; it can mean going for a walk, hiking, or doing yoga. It could also mean something more specialized, like scuba diving, biking, or kayaking.
The Benefits of Volunteering for Students
Lastly, you could suggest volunteering. Volunteering is often recommended, and for good reason: it looks great on college applications, and it provides a structured, reliable way to get out of the house and do some good out in the real world.
Along with the above suggestions, it can be important to model screen-free time for your kid. By creating a household culture of minimal screen time, everyone in your home will benefit. If you lower your screen time, whether that means turning off the TV or spending less time scrolling on your phone, then your kid will be more likely to reduce their own screen time, and more likely to take up a healthy, engaging, non-screen-dependent hobby.
1 Muppalla et al. 2023. “Effects of Excessive Screen Time on Child Development: An Updated Review and Strategies for Management.” Cureus15.6: e40608. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10353947/
For eye strain, see https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/c/computer-vision-syndrome.html
2 https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/physical-activity/benefits