Screen-Free Holiday Activities for Kids (That Don’t Exhaust Parents)

School’s out.
Routines are gone.
Screens are creeping in.

And if you’re honest, you’re probably tired.

During the Christmas and year-end holidays, many parents struggle to balance screen time and connection. With children at home all day and energy running low, screens often become the easiest option.

That doesn’t make you a bad parent.
It makes you human.

At Look Up Family, we don’t believe the answer is to ban screens entirely, especially during the holidays. Instead, we focus on screen-free alternatives that are simple, realistic, and low-effort for families.

Why Screen-Free Time Feels Harder During the Holidays

Holidays disrupt everything:

• daily routines disappear

• parents juggle work, hosting, and caregiving

• children crave stimulation and attention

In these moments, screen time often becomes a default — not because parents don’t care, but because they’re stretched.

Rather than framing screens as “bad,” we find it more helpful to ask:

What can children choose instead?

From “No Screens” to Helping Children Choose

Telling children “no screens” often leads to power struggles. Giving them clear, visible choices builds cooperation instead of resistance.

Choice helps children develop:

• independence

• emotional regulation

• cooperation and decision-making

This approach is inspired by resources from Sesame Workshop, which encourage families to make everyday choices visible and shared. We loved the idea — and adapted it for real homes, without printers or complicated setups.

A Simple Screen-Free Tool: The Choice Jar

One of the easiest screen-free activities for holidays is a Choice Jar.

You only need:

• a jar, cup, or container

• small pieces of paper

Together with your child, write or draw 3–5 simple activity ideas, such as:

• reading a book together

• helping to cook or prepare food

• building something with blocks or recycled items

• dancing or singing to music

• video chatting with grandparents

When your child asks to play, instead of scrambling or defaulting to a screen, you can say:

“Let’s make a smart choice.”

Then let them pick.

The goal isn’t to eliminate screens. It’s to make alternatives easy to access.

No Printer Needed: Let Kids Draw Their Choices

Many screen-free activity ideas online assume families have printers. Most don’t — and don’t need to.

Let your child draw their activity choices instead. When children create the options themselves, they’re more invested and more likely to follow through.

You can use:

• scrap paper

• old magazines

• supermarket receipts

• envelopes or cardboard

This keeps screen-free time creative, flexible, and pressure-free.

Make Screen-Free Choices Visible at Home

Where you place choices matters.

Put the Choice Jar somewhere visible:

• on the dining table

• near the toy shelf

• on the fridge

When alternatives are visible, children are less likely to fixate on screens as the only option. This also helps reduce daily negotiation and power struggles during the holidays.

Screen-Free Activities Don’t Mean Doing More

One important reminder for parents:

Screen-free activities are not about doing more.

They are about:

• making transitions easier

• reducing power struggles

• building connection in small moments

Ten to fifteen minutes is often enough. One shared activity can be more meaningful than a long, forced play session.

A Gentle Reminder for the Holidays

There is no need for perfection.

You don’t need:

• perfect routines

• zero screen time

• elaborate holiday activities

You are doing what you can and that is enough.

If you’d like to explore the original resource that inspired this idea, you can visit Sesame Workshop via the link in our caption. We’re grateful for tools that remind families that small choices, made together, matter.

At Look Up Family, we believe in one simple principle:

Look up when you can. Connect how you can.

Optional: Screen-Free Tools

You don’t need to buy anything to make screen-free choices work at home.

Paper, pens, and everyday items are more than enough.

That said, for parents who are especially tired, short on time, or want something portable. Here's something that we found useful. We use this to print our kids' drawing, or interesting diagrams for her to colour. They can also stick on the family journal to keep as memories.

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