This is un-prompted and un-sponsored and I get nothing from it, but my friend Keith Devon has made this amazing new parenting tool called offline kids and I want to share it with you.
My kids often come to me with the “I’m boooooooored”. In fact, the time between the end of their screentime and the “I’m boooooooored” is one of the smallest recordable measurements of time, like the distance between “scalding hot” and “freezing cold” on most showers.
Anyway, we have our standard response list.
- You could go outside
- You could read a book
- You could do a puzzle
- You could do some craft
- You could practice piano
- You could tidy your room
- You could unload the dishwasher
- You could…
You get the idea.
But now… NOW I can open offline.kids on my phone, tap the “9 year old” and “at home” filters and there are dozens of activities listed.
As Keith, who made offline.kids, has said, there are loads of web pages with lists of activities for kids to do that aren’t on screens. But like him, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a simple, filterable list, free of ads and cookies (read the cookie notice on the site… it’s perfect!)
This is sort-of a bit of a marketing thing – Keith and his colleague Mark are using a new WordPress plugin they’ve built to power it. But you wouldn’t know about that. It’s a passion project, born from the real-world pain of running out of ideas.
I’ve contributed my own travel game: Pub Cricket. Though I think it’s more for adults really, and I was surprised that Keith published it pretty much as I wrote it up, unedited. That made me laugh.
And he wants feedback. With the UK half-term holidays coming, perhaps it’s the ideal time to try it out and let him know what you think.
THANK YOU Keith and Mark for making this. Of course, it’s gonna rain for the whole half-term week after about 8 weeks of near-permanent sunshine. So I will be giving the “Indoor Activities for Kids Aged 9” list a run for it’s money.