How Busy Moms Can Create Screen Free Family Time Without Adding To Their Plate

For busy moms, family time can be an unattainable luxury. Between work, school, chores, cooking, shopping, and everything else that life throws your way, who has the time to disconnect from screens and spend quality time with the family?

The truth is that it doesn’t take much to carve out screen-free family time, and it won’t add to your already hectic schedule if you just approach it differently.

Think Small

Screen-free family time doesn’t have to be another big time commitment on your plate. Even 15 or 20 minutes is enough to allow yourself and your kids to disconnect from the digital world.

Instead of waiting for a big chunk of free time to enjoy your family, seize little opportunities to have fun with them. This could mean having breakfast together, spending some time connecting after school before homework starts, or even playing a quick game before bedtime.

 

Create a Routine

Creating a routine around screen-free family time can be useful because then nobody has to decide what to do and how to spend your precious together time. Decide on a time that works for your family and make it your sacred screen-free family time. It could be dinner, the first 20 minutes after school, or your final hour before bed

Keep it simple. Just agree that during that time, phones, television, and other screens can be put aside for your time together. A loose structure to your screen-free family time will probably be more sustainable than a rigid schedule.

 

Let Kids Decide

Having screen-free family time doesn’t have to be boring if you let your kids decide how to spend it. Ask them to come up with some activities that you could do together, and chances are you’ll find some simple ideas that you hadn’t thought of.

Activities could be as simple as building something with blocks, drawing, playing games, reading, making up silly family challenges, doing puzzles, having an indoor scavenger hunt, making an easy snack, or going for a walk.

Your family time doesn’t need to be an educational or bonding opportunity. Sometimes the best way to create lasting memories is to just do something ordinary with your kids.

 

Turn Chores Into Activities

Not every one of your activities together has to be considered a “family activity.” Chores can be great bonding opportunities for younger children while providing a chance for older kids to chat while you work.

It’s also a great way to make the most of your time if you’re a working mom because you don’t have to try to squeeze in an extra chunk of screen-free family time

Keep It Simple

Sometimes it’s the preparation that keeps us from doing things with our kids. The more work that goes into an activity, the less likely we are to do it. Instead of long-winded preparations, make a list of simple activities that don’t need much setup.

A family drawing game, storytelling, a simple puzzle, or a living room dance party can be all you need. The less work that goes into it, the easier it is to just decide one day, “Hey, we should do something fun with the family.”

 

Make Meals Fun

Meals can be an easy chance to do screen-free family time by simply turning off devices and making meals a chance for everybody to contribute. If you have time, you can have your family help set the table, prepare the meal, or clean up.

For younger kids, this can be an opportunity to interact with you while learning about helping others. For older kids, you can use this as a chance to talk about their lives while giving them an easy chore.

This is a great screen-free activity for working moms because it doesn’t require an extra chunk of free time. You’re simply turning a routine family chore into an opportunity for you and your kids to bond.

 

Stop Worrying About Boredom

Kids will inevitably complain about being bored when they don’t have a screen to stare at. Don’t worry; this can be an opportunity for your kids to learn about coming up with their own games, exploring, using their imaginations, and being creative.

You don’t have to entertain your kids constantly. Sometimes it’s good to just leave them alone for a few minutes and let them find something to do on their own.

Make an Activity Jar

Let’s face it, it can be really hard to come up with fun things to do with your kids that everybody will enjoy. The next time you’re stuck in this situation and don’t have any ideas, make an activity jar!

Write down a bunch of activities and put them in a jar so you can pull one out anytime you need something to do. Activities could be as simple as having a family storytelling night, building something together, drawing pictures of each other, taking a walk, playing charades, making a blanket fort, having a family puzzle challenge, inventing games, or reading.

This takes only a little time to set up, but it gives you plenty of fun activities to do with your kids.

 

No Need For Perfection

One of the worst things parents can do is put ridiculous standards on themselves during screen-free family time. Your house doesn’t need to be spotless, dinner doesn’t need to be gourmet, everybody doesn’t need to play along, and nobody needs to be excited to be spending time with you.

Some nights it’ll be messy. Some nights it’ll be boring. Your kids might get distracted and not want to do anything you suggested. That’s life. The whole point of screen-free family time is to create opportunities to talk, laugh, and interact with each other.

Not every night needs to be a grandiose adventure your kids remember for the rest of their lives. Sometimes it’s good to just have simple family time.

 

Make It Fit Your Schedule

There are many ways to spend screen-free time with your family, and working moms especially have very limited time. Instead of trying to copy other people’s routines, try finding the smallest version of something that works for you.

Once you’ve built that habit, you can work on increasing your screen-free family time if you and your family want more opportunities to spend time together.

Final Thoughts

Screen free family time shouldn’t be this huge burden and added stress on moms who barely have any free time.

The reality is that you don’t need dedicated chunks of time to have meaningful interactions with your kids. You can have simple dinners where everybody talks, play some fun games, read, do simple activities together, or help around the house.

Instead of worrying about how much time you can dedicate to your kids, focus on how you can use your limited time to maximize your family bonding.

Author Bio

Bilal Khan is a writer focused on parenting, family life, children’s learning, and practical advice for modern families. He enjoys creating clear, useful content that helps parents make everyday family life more manageable. Read his article on  How to Choose Educational Toys for Kids