From Chaos to Calm: 5 Screen-Free Ways to Fill Your Kids' Downtime

Say goodbye to screen battles and hello to a calmer, happier home with these practical tips.

Most of us would agree that a calmer, less stressful life is a great goal for the new year, but figuring out how to achieve it can feel overwhelming. The irony is that in our quest to find peace, we often turn to the very thing that disrupts it: screens.

Our constant connection to our screens isn’t just a distraction; it’s a symptom of something deeper. The fear of missing out (FOMO) and being alone drives us to check our devices incessantly, robbing us of the natural breaks and moments of stillness we need to reset. For adults, it’s not without consequences, elevated stress levels and fatigue being one of them. But for our kids, this lack of downtime causes mental health problems.

Instead of allowing natural pauses to enrich our lives and keep us healthy, we fill them with scrolling, tapping, and posting. What are we missing in our day-to-day lives? A healthy amount of white space (or margin) to combat stress.

How can we create a calmer home and life in 2025? It’s more simple than you think. You don’t need a fancy course or a complicated list of instructions (that are sure to overwhelm you). All you need is to make some common sense adjustments. Here are five you can implement in your home before the week is up.

1. Get Control of Screen Clutter

The first step to reclaiming calm is clearing the digital device chaos and “de-screening” your home. Here’s how you do that.

• Go on a “screen hunt” in your home: round up all the unused devices, cords, and accessories hiding in drawers, closets, or attics. Do this today. Your kids can help you; they know where all the screens are. Trust me.

• Gather all old laptops from the attic, tablets, and TVs from the playroom and kids' bedrooms—maybe even your bedroom, too, so you can enjoy some better sleep! One TV for the family is all you need.

• Box all the extra devices, tape the box shut, and donate them to a women’s shelter. Not sure where your nearest shelter is? Then just throw them out. Don’t think twice about it.

• Switch to just one shared house flip phone for all the kids (if it’s needed at all). No child or teen truly needs a personal phone device in their pockets. A shared device meets the need for convenience but also means less use by all. This one move may change your life. It will set the stage for a life where smartphones don’t control your kids’ downtime.

Fewer devices mean fewer distractions—and more space for calm.

2. Remove Screen Triggers

Good habits need a supportive environment, and bad habits need barriers. Here’s how to make it work:

• De-clutter the individual devices you keep. Once you have decided which devices are mandatory, “clean” them off. This means you remove most of the apps from your phones and smart TVs and keep the necessary ones on your laptop. Having fewer apps on your phone will make your life more calm. For example, delete social media apps from your phone to reduce mindless checking by you and your kids when they grab your phone.

• Switch all handheld devices to grayscale. The lack of bright, stimulating colors will make the phone less enticing for you and your kids.

• Hide the remote controls so the TV isn’t the default go-to downtime filler.

The goal is to make addictive screens harder to access. Small changes like these can help you and your family resist the pull of screens.

3. Introduce desirable downtime activities and make them easy to do.

Beware, managing screen time is not about having more self-control; screens are designed to fill the nooks and crannies of your day. Being proactive in this area will help. This means that you must stay ahead of screen triggers and replace potential screen time with engaging screen-free fillers. How?

• Make desired activities visible. Keep puzzles, books, art supplies, or a basket of magazines and books within easy reach. You have these things already; just go get them and put them out in easy view. Set up a card table for that puzzle. (And yes, it may be a little ugly or cluttered-looking… but just do it anyway.)

• Fill your home with calming sounds. Play background music during the day from morning till bedtime. It sets a calming tone for the household and tends to replace mindless screen activities. Audiobooks paired with a bucket of LEGOs or blocks work wonders to fill downtime for kids.

• Always go outside first. When in doubt, prioritize fresh air, rain or shine, and physical activity before offering screen time. Making going outside easy will distract your kids from grabbing a screen. After all screens don’t grow on trees (yet!). If you have a backyard, think about what you can do this year to make it more enticing for your kids? Do you finally splurge on the big trampoline? What about hosting weekly dinners in the backyard?

These alternatives can transform idle moments into opportunities for connection, creativity, and calm.

4. Schedule Calm

You can’t teach your kids how to fill downtime if you don’t show them how to do it. Calm will not happen by accident—it needs to be intentional. Block downtime into your family calendar, just like you would any other commitment. Then, model how to spend downtime with your kids (without your screen). Make it a family affair and teach them to be “alone together,” where everyone enjoys quiet, screen-free time in the same space. Young kids—and even teens—crave this; they just don’t know it consciously, so they can’t figure it out on their own.

Here are some ideas to get started:

• Family reading roundup: Everyone grabs a book and reads quietly in the den or kitchen. Together. See how long you can do this!

• Family bike rides: Explore fun local spots together regularly.

• Do screen-free chores together: Cook dinner, do yard work, wash the car, and do cleaning projects together. Believe it or not, these family routines will fill your kids’ need for calm.

• Music lessons: A brain-building hobby like learning an instrument beautifully fills downtime. Music and reading offer some of the most fulfilling downtime activities ever invented.

By creating intentional space in your day for calm, you’re teaching your family to embrace stillness—and reap the benefits.

5. Get a Pet (Or Another Pet)

The benefits of getting the right pet are endless. Pet ownership teaches empathy and responsibility, and it is the perfect fit for healthy downtime. (Think dogs and cats, not fish, for these benefits!) If you have an older dog or a cat that won’t play with the kids, it may be time to add a new pet to the family. When you have a pet, there is always something to do. It is hard to be on a screen while walking a dog, teaching him tricks, or playing with a kitten.

Finally, remember: Simple changes lead to big results.

The best solutions are often the most simple. By making small changes to confront your screen triggers, you will win the screen battle in your home. Rediscovering the hidden gift of downtime will make you and your teens healthier this year.

It is time to put those screens in their place! Let's give our families the priceless gift of peace and a much calmer year than we had last year.

ScreenStrong is here not just to discuss screen problems but also to help you fix them. Download our FREE 7-Day Challenge and take the first steps toward creating a screen-free, peaceful environment. Join our ScreenStrong Connect group today and prepare your home for calm.

If you need to explain the reasons for non-tech downtime to your kids, check out our book, Kids’ Brains & Screens. It’s the only book that explains the science of screen use in a way kids can understand, empowering them to embrace change as a gift, not a punishment.

ScreenStrong Resources

Podcast - “Go Game-Free And Never Have Bored Kids Again”

Podcast - “Tips for Detoxing Your Older Teen”

Melanie Hempe, BSN, is the founder of ScreenStrong, a nonprofit organization, and the author of the Kids’ Brains and Screens Series for students and parents. She is dedicated to preventing and reversing childhood screen addictions by providing scientific evidence and community for families around the globe. Her educational material is filled with everything she wished she had known before her oldest child suffered from a screen addiction. ScreenStrong has created what every family needs—education and the community—to skip toxic screens through adolescence so teens can reach their full potential.

Visit here for family resource materials and here for our Phone-Free Schools Guide, and visit ScreenStrong.org to learn more and join the community that is saving childhood.