May 2026
With summer approaching and the onslaught of screens from every angle in life now-a-days, the answer is becoming obvious to me that we must try to have a screen free (or almost free) summer. Unless you live under a rock you can see how impactful and influential screens already are to society and the youth. Summer is the only time where you might have some control over what you are and aren’t exposed to. The more that tech and social media are taking over everyone’s life and attention my instincts tell me to back off and retreat to simpler lifestyle and daily routine. I would put my feeling on par with a hiker that has just encountered a bear. The hiker would start backpedaling slowly, yet quickly, so they could evacuate themself from the situation at hand!
My two boy’s baseball seasons have just ended and while we spent what seemed like every spare moment at the baseball field, I have grown to enjoy it because of its simplicity. While one of my boys is practicing or playing in a baseball game the other is playing with other baseball siblings and kids at the onsite playground and park. They are playing tag, hide and go seek, pick-up baseball, and who knows whatever else. The sibling that is free playing has a bit of autonomy—in that the parents are keeping an eye but aren’t hovering because they are also trying to watch the ongoing baseball game. The parents aren’t sitting there on their phone. Everyone is watching the game and then talking to each other afterwards. People are getting to know each other through small conversations and shared experiences.
At this point it’s what I would consider as “real life”. Real conversations, real play, real games, authentic interactions, etc. It’s crazy to even put it like that, but that is where we are at. Usually, our time at the baseball field is at least 2-3 hours, sometimes more. So, by the end of it, everyone is authentically tired from play and engagement or just being outside all day. It feels good, somehow productive in that you did something real and notable.
With our baseball experience in mind, I’m convinced that I must proceed in having our summer be the same way. Going outside and playing seems to be an easy remedy to fill the time, however we live in Las Vegas, where it is 1000 degrees in the summer, so just how exactly am I going to do this?!
I’m going to do my best of course but being realistic I will take the approach of an “almost screen free summer”. I will allow minimal usage, like 30 mins a day or a certain amount of time for the week. I’ll save this for the middle of the day when it’s just too unbearable outside and everyone needs a reprieve. So that just leaves the rest of the day to fill in the time with no screens!
My plan so far is a rotation of things. And while I would love our summer to be getting our 1000 Hours Outside, it will be a mix of indoor and outdoor activities due to the heat. See below for 25 ideas that I’m going to use to kick start our days. Print out the list here for a “hopper” of ideas to draw from!
- Hiking (such as a morning sunrise hike with a special breakfast afterwards)
- Bike riding/scooter riding/ roller skating either outside or inside at the roller rink
- Ice skating
- See if there is a regional airport nearby with an overlooking restaurant. Go to that restaurant and watch the planes take off and land
- Arts/crafts, (like Perler beads, keychain making, drawing, painting, DIY projects like “make your own board game” with poster board or make a kite)
- Chalk art
- Board and card games
- Reading time (everyone read their own book together or read one aloud together)
- Visit a library (look at the events they schedule and have it overlap)
- Something in the kitchen to do together (like baking cookies, banana bread, homemade popsicles, muffins, homemade pizza, etc)
- Getting together with friends at a park, which can include a picnic and toys (frisbee, stomp rockets, wiffle ball and bat, nerf football, hula hoops, soccer ball)
- Make your own city-wide treasure hunt, where you list things out and then go visit them and have the kids journal about it. Example: city hall or buildings, places of interest, or something historical
- Museum day or visit an aquarium or planetarium
- Sun paper art and/or make a book of pressed flowers and plants
- Focused “no pressure” study on something fun like clouds or native plants and then go observe.
- Pool/Splash Pad
- Adventure day (go somewhere like an hour away and check out something new like a u-pick farm, state park, historical site, etc)
- Go Geocaching (this is also fun if you’re on vacation—to see what treasures are in another city)
- Go to a minor league baseball game or sport watching of some sort (here in Vegas you can watch the Golden Knights practice for free)
- Try something new together (like frisbee golf, putt putt, top golf, guided paint class or order a paint kit that has video to guide you [www.paintingto gogh.com], science experiment, go to a slime lab or make slime at home, etc)
- Find somewhere you can see animals, like a zoo, ranch, or farm.
- Go bird watching with binoculars and a book to identify (and/or make a bird feeder and watch to see if any birds come to the feeder
- Make your own Nature bingo and then go on a Nature walk. (You can also do another bingo card with Nature colors or numbers—like colors you’d see on trees and plants and then numbers in terms of number of flower petals, etc)
- Indoor playground, laser tag, or indoor rock climbing
- Depending on where you live find a place that you can see how something is made (like Hoover Dam, Ice Cream factory, Chocolate factory, Denver or Philadelphia Mints tours, etc. Find something in your area)
While I feel like it’s great that I’m “getting my ideas together” and getting prepared, I also must remember that my mom didn’t plan out my days during summer when I was a kid! I had to figure it out and entertain myself. Boredom is a good thing, and we’ll allow time for that too (like when I need a nap). And best of all, is that remembering this I don’t feel guilty one bit when I have to say, “find something to do” or “figure it out”.