Things Kids Can Do Instead Of Video Games

This is coming from a lifelong gamer to the parents of the world. Playing video games is an amazing hobby that does not make children violent and want to hurt others. But as the same lifelong gamer, I do wish my parents pushed me to do other things as well.

In this article, I offer a list of things kids can do instead of video games. And not just a measly list of things kids would scoff at, but things kids would actually want to do and should do. Let's begin :) 

Ride Their Bike or Skateboard

Learning to ride a bike or a skateboard is a rite of passage to most of us.

It's our first taste of independence. Just like Sheriff Hopper says in Stranger Things, "Bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids". Look back at 80s and 90s movies about kids. What did they use to get around? Their bikes. 

These days, we don't really see kids going around town on their bikes anymore.

It's a different social climate and there's too much fear for most parents to allow their kids to go galavanting around town with their friends. And it's not exactly the same thing to load up the minivan with your kids' bikes and take them to the park. It loses its natural edge and appeal to them. 

Playing outside is necessary for kids though, so if this fear is stopping you from letting them roam a bit, do your best to push yourself out of your comfort zone. And if kids aren't allowed to go outside and mess around with their friends, of course they're going to play video games!

There's nothing else as appealing!

I guess that's why living in certain spots is more beneficial for kids. If they live in relatively safe neighborhoods and can meet their friends without venturing too far away from home, they can do these kinds of things without much danger. 

Take Them On Hikes And Walks

My dad did this a lot with my cousins, brother, and me.
But he didn't say, "Hey, let's take a walk". 

Instead he'd say, "Let's go exploring". 

My dad was never against playing video games, but if he saw that's all we were doing, we'd leave the house and just go see what's around us. We'd usually try to find hobby shops and comic book stores and a lot of the time we'd just walk to the mall and just window shop, but many times we'd go down walking trails or the bits and pieces of "nature" scattered around the city.

And during these walks, we'd talk about our RPG (role-playing) characters and think of different scenarios and quests we can put them in. 

And when he lived in Washington state, we'd walk the edges of my grandma's property and explore the bottom of the mountain range. We'd try to find snakes too. Those were great times, ones I remember as the 27 year old writing this. Not only is it good exercise, we got fresh air and spent time with our dad. 

It was a magical thing. 

And if I ever have children, I'm going to take them exploring too, like my dad did. Maybe he will be there to join us.

Water Balloon Fights

A water balloon fight is a quick way to get your kids to drop their controllers! Especially if you bombard them with balloons while they're playing their video games!

Take a quick trip to the store to buy some water balloons and squirt guns and get started. I think the best way to have a water balloon fight is to utilize dodge ball rules and have the players divide into groups and face each other in a divided rectangle. 

Each side is allowed a determined amount of water balloons and whichever side is hit the least or walks away the driest wins!

But of course, make up the best rules for your group of kids and just have fun. Remember water balloons sting and will make one or two of the kids cry, but at least tears will be masked by all the water and everyone's faces should be a bit red just by running and dodging and whatnot. 

Do A Puzzle Together

This is a great activity to do with your kids since it can be done in the house with something playing in the background and maybe some food and drinks. Talk to them, listen to their ideas, tell them your ideas -- all of this is easier when you guys have an activity to do together. 

When you guys are finished with your puzzle, why not glue it together and frame it? If it's a puzzle about something your kids are obsessed with, they might want that sucker on their bedroom wall.

This is something kids can easily do instead of video games :)

Play Chess Together

Chess is a funny thing to introduce to kids. 

Many of them take to it like they take to video games, but many also resist the game entirely, either because they're not interested in it or because it's intimidating and they don't want to look stupid.

That's understandable, which is why you have to encourage them to play and teach them strategies and why you should and shouldn't make certain moves. 

Kids who learn and understand strategy will often have an edge against kids who do not. Chess is an amazing game to master and it has the added bonus of a potential new hobby for your children. Plus it never hurts to know a thing or two about how to play. 

Playing a few weekly games of chess with your child is also a great way to spend time with them and understand them as they get older. The more time spent with them... it just goes a long way, you know? While they might not cherish these moments right now, they will look back on them and be grateful.

Play Board Games Together

I have a few friends that love board games more than video games.

I know, weird, right? I get it though, as a geek who grew up with trading card games and tabletop RPGs (like Dungeons & Dragons). The best part of board games is all the players are right next to you. Put together some food and drinks and have a great time.

So do the same thing with your kids and invest in some awesome board games that go above the average Monopoly and Trouble sessions.

I've perused the Amazon pages of these board games and many of them are ones I'd buy myself, but my friends and I live far away from each other, so it's hard to get a group together. Not a problem when you have kids though! 

Round up the littles ones and commit one or two nights for board games. If your kids are truly a bunch of geeks, they'll gladly play a board game instead of a video game, at least for one night a week!

Have Them Write In A Journal Every Night

I'm a major proponent for writing.

Everyone should write, I don't care who you are or what you do for a living, writing is one of the most powerful and rewarding things you can do for yourself and even the world if you ever publish your works. 

"I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say" - Flannery O'Connor

 If you never write down your thoughts, it will take you exponentially longer to understand yourself. It's one of the most powerful habits you can get your children to develop. They don't have to sit down and write for 30 minutes, it can be as short as 5-10 minutes, so long as they do so purposefully.

Just have them write down what happened during the day and how they felt.

This isn't really an alternative activity to do instead of video games, but it's something children can benefit greatly from. And if it's tough for your children to sit down and write in their journal, you can make it a nightly routine y'all do together. Sit down at the dinner table and set a timer for 5-10 minutes.

It might not seem like much when they begin, but after they complete that journal, they will think, "Wow, look how much I've written. And look how much has changed".

Writing puts everything into perspective.

Have A Paper Plane Contest

Okay let's turn down the seriousness a bit and throw in paper plane contests into the fray!

If you need something for your kids to do instead of video games, this is a fun and quick alternative! I don't have to write much in this one, this is as classic as riding bikes and water balloon fights.

And don't just make some silly, janky paper planes, research the best designs and the proper way to throw them!

Get Into Some Origami Projects

This would sort of be a natural progression with designing and folding your guys' paper planes. Your little ones may develop a natural curiosity to what else they can create with just some paper.

New challenger: Origami!

There are many things you guys can make with origami.

The list is just... okay look, create ninja stars, different birds, paper stars, butterflies, boats, hearts, vases, flowers, pencil holders, lamp shades, cubes, all sorts of animals -- this artform is beautiful and fascinating and doesn't require anything but paper.

This isn't exactly a hobby that would usually replace video games, but it does have the potential to be something your kids will do on a weekly basis if you support and encourage it.

Have Weekly Movie Nights

This is something my family did all the time growing up. 

We'd mostly watch TV shows together, but Mom would also take us to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video and we'd pick out movies to bring home and watch. The days of video stores are no more, so that feeling of discovering great stuff to watch is gone. 

Luckily redbox is a thing and can be found at most corner stores.

Got Amazon Prime? Take advantage of all the TV shows and movies on there! And of course, Netflix and Hulu and HBO and Crunchyroll -- my point is is to prioritize sitting down and watching something with your children a few times during the week.

This is a surefire way to get your kids to do something other than video games. In fact, watching Movies and TV shows is one of my Top Ten Video Game Alternatives!

And make sure to set a "talking to a minimum" rule since nothing ruins a movie more than other people talking, especially during the good parts. Afterwards, talk to your children about what they liked and didn't like, who their favorite characters were, etc.. 

Don't know what to watch with them? Action movies and comedies will never fail.

Watch Stand Up Comedy Together

I come from a family that loves comedy and laughing.

It was just something we gravitated towards and we shared it with each other through funny movies, sitcoms, and stand up comedy. My older brother and I would watch stand ups very early on with our parents. And we didn't understand completely why comics were funny and why the audience laughed at their jokes, but there was something to it.

The best way to put it is... stand up comics tell the truth and do so in an engaging way, they make you laugh and think and see the world in a different lense.

And that's critical for young people to experience. In this day and age, it's a bit more difficult to find comics who work "clean" and stray away from sexual and racial jokes, but they exist.

My biggest recommendation for "clean" comics would be Brian Regan, find some of his stuff on da Youtubes.

But watching stand up comedy is a great alternative to do instead of playing video games. And with a little confidence and a willingness to fail until they succeed, your kids might end up being stand up comics, themselves!

Do Silly Challenges Together

Most kids take to challenges as if they were made of sugar and chocolate, it's pretty refreshing to see when you're already an adult and lost the energy to care about things like that.

Disregard the cynicism, most kids have that spark to compete with each other and even adults, including you! 

Here's a pretty torturous challenge my uncle put my older brother and I through when we were kids. The contestants stand up and hold their arms out straight to their sides. One at a time, stack a VHS tape on each hand and have them hold it for 30 seconds.

Then add another VHS tape to each contestants' hands, then have them hold it for another 30 seconds. Keep doing this until one of them drops a VHS stack.

Since VHS tapes aren't commonplace anymore, experiment with other things like books, DVDs, Blu Rays, their own video games, even socks or T-shirts!

Check out my list of challenges here!

Make Movies With Them! 

Do you remember the early days of Youtube?

It seemed every channel did sketch comedy and I loved it. They were cheezy and funny and ridiculous and it was within most people's grasp since all you needed was a decent digital camcorder. Man, how time flies, right? 

These days we all own smartphones with great quality cameras! 

Sit down and write a silly premise together. What would happen if Frankenstein went grocery shopping? Do a parody of a show or movie you guys recently watched! Get the creative juices a'flowing!

Film making is something special!

And for good reason. You're telling a story and story is everything to us. The world of film making is vast, it's something that your kids will not only want to do instead of video games, it might take over their entire life, especially if you encourage and support it :)

Teach Them How To Meditate

If you haven't heard yet, meditation isn't exclusive to adults that are barely holding it together.

Meditation is a powerful habit to form and there's no reason children shouldn't learn how to do it. It's very simple, have them sit down against the wall and let them relax their shoulders and neck (but make sure their backs are straight).

Then have them breathe deeply and slowly and say, "Just think about your breathing and feel the energy inside your body". 

Put on sounds of waves or nature or a rainstorm or even soft music, just don't make it corny or else the little ones will resist this practice altogether. 

This is a great thing to do daily and it'll lead to some routine "quiet" time in the household. Meditation will teach your children how to be a bit more mindful of their actions and will give them much needed time to think.

It's not really something that will replace video games, but like writing in a journal, it's a healthy daily habit.

Pay Them To Do Stuff

This goes back to the idea that kids love and crave structure, especially a structure with a reward system. Since this is a website about video games, I'll use RPGs as an example and talk about quests. 

Players don't go on quests out of the goodness of their hearts or because they want to. We do it for the reward and you bet your booty (talking treasure chests here) that getting that reward will make us work hard and feel good about it. 

This idea can take the place of "chores", but you don't want to overpay or else you might turn your adorable children into greedy little goblins, no no. Keep the rewards low.

And don't just rely on rewards to entice the little ones to help keep the house orderly and maintained. You can tell them, "Look this is the only way for you to earn that video game you want." 

And guess what? 

When they buy that new video game or whatever they want with their hard-earned money, they're gonna have a better relationship with finances when they get older.

Clean And Organize The House Together

Since we're on the subject of keeping the house orderly and maintained, this is a surprisingly great activity to do with the little ones. It serves as a valuable lesson, which is: An organized house is an organized mind. 

Keeping your surroundings neat and tidy helps keep anxiety and stress and "foggy" brain down to a minimum. Plus it feels really good. 

So yes, gather the kids around you at least once a week and tackle some deep cleaning together. Fix  up and organize that crowded garage, tackle a room you've all been neglecting. Sit down and organize the movie collection that's in disarray.

And the reward system can also apply to these days. The reward can be something like, "Okay each of you will get $3 and we'll order pizza tonight, deal?". 

The whole family will reap the benefits of a clean house and this weekly activity will teach the young goblins that living like pigs feels bad. And cleaning the house will pull them away from their video games for a few hours, as well! :P

Build Stuff Together

Have you ever seen those toothpick/popsickle stick arts & craft projects where they build... well all sorts of stuff! You must have, they're quite impressive and something you should consider doing with your children. 

But of course it's a bit hard to know where to start with an off-brand hobby like this. To be honest, I'm not sure myself! I guess the best route to take is to Google/Youtube "toothpick crafts" or "popsickle stick crafts". 

Of course you and your children can pick up some 'put-together" models and start there! One of my fondest memories was the time I put together a Zoids model all by myself and that thing was pretty complicated, though not the most complicated model out there. 

But the great thing about this activity is you can build all sorts of stuff out of all sorts of material. I mean, what's to stop you guys from just diving into woodworking?

That's an obvious one if one of the parents is already active in woodworking, but it might be a great idea to start that endeavour with your children! Try it out :)

Go To The Zoo, Art Galleries, Or Museums Together

This is a great one if the children need to get out the house. Take a trip down to anything your city (or a city close by) has to offer, such as zoos, art galleries, museums, aquariums, and many more things if you get creative enough. 

And while it's not the most exciting thing out there, the library! The library remains an untapped resource for many families. It's not reserved for students, the elderly, and people trying to get back on their feet, it's for everyone and that's fantastic! 

How long has it been since you've been to your local library?

They offer movies and TV shows and even graphic novels and manga now! Plus many libraries hold weekly and monthly events you should become a part of, it'll help bolster the community around you and introduce your children to potential friends they might not have met before.

Okay I might have talked enough about libraries, but we do need to support them, as well as zoos, the galleries, museums, and aquariums of the world.

Play Tabletop RPGs Together

This is a great one if your children are hardcore gamers and don't quite understand the need to moderate their hobby.

The problem with your children being hardcore gamers is it's difficult to get them to want to do other things with their free time. It seems nothing compares to video games. Well, unless they've had a taste of tabletop RPGs.

That's right, folks.

The anti-hero of video game addiction, the predecessor of modern gaming, it stands a daunting (however tall the book is) and weighs (however heavy the book is) and I'm done with this bit. Okay so I got started with tabletop RPGs because my dad and older cousins played them when they were young adults, in their late teens and early twenties.

They started with the quintessential tabletop RPG: Dungeons And Dragons.

They got me involved with it before I could even read! My first character was basically Blanka from Street Fighter. After D&D, we moved on to another game called Vampires: The Dark Ages and that's when I got hooked.

It was all my dad and all us kids would talk about. We'd talk about the vampires we created, the quests we've been on, the enemies we faced, and the times we nearly died because the challenge was almost too great for our characters.

To this day, my dad and I still talk about our characters and all the stories they've been through and reminisce over memories that didn't even happen! It's all make-believe!

Playing tabletop RPGs is the reason I am a natural writer. I can't stop thinking about characters and scenarios and "scenes" in my head. They'll be with me for the rest of my life.

If I had to choose between a week of playing video games and a weekly session of a tabletop RPG with all my friends, I would pick tabletop RPGs every time.

The last thing I'll say in this section is playing these games will get your children to want to read and write more. The fantasy genre (well the entire science fiction genre) is just... well, magical :)

Seriously, get into tabletop RPGs with your kids, entice your chlidren to gather their friends around at your house and have them play once every week. Get them food and drinks, help them put together a playlist of background music, talk to them about the quests their writing up, etc.. It's an amazing experience.

Get Them Into Archery

This is a simple one and I'm getting tired of writing this, so let's cut to the chase. Buy him stick and string, have him shoot target in backyard, make sure arrow fly into target and not neighbor's above-ground pool, making water spill out and neighbor furious over mistake. 

Okay but seriously, archery is a great alternative to do instead of playing video games, but probably doesn't offer enough to act as a true replacement for them, in case that's what you're trying to do (which I advise against, but I'm a bit biased).

Going out into the backyard to shoot a bow is calming, it's been described by many avid archers as a form of meditation. 

It lets you think, it lets you get fresh air, it makes you stand up, and it's a cost-effective hobby. So your children might not spend their entire evening in the backyard, but a good 30 minutes a day? Maybe even an hour a day? 

I'd call that a win in my book if I were a parent of a child with a hardcore gaming habit.

Take Them Running

Okay this is another hard-sell for children, especially since PE (physical education in school) is seen as more of a chore than anything else. However running is a fantastic sport to get into, especially for your children since it will condition their bodies and bolster their cardiovascular system. 

You're setting your children up for success if you get them to enjoy running and teach them the value of being in shape.

And yes, it's an important lesson to proactively teach your children these days! You don't want your children to have anxiety and stress over not performing as well as his friends at school.

Speaking as the out of shape kid, I wish my parents taught me the value of being fast and strong and how to eat properly. 

But I don't want to delve too deep into anything negative, running is amazing, I don't have to tell any parents that if they were/are runners. Running is invigorating, it eases stress, it lets you think, it lets you use your body the way it evolved to be used! 

Going running with your kids will keep you in shape, it will make them faster and stronger, and it can act as a good activity to bond together over.

And once again, running will not completely replace video games, but it's just another one of those things you should get your children to do on a daily/weekly basis!

I really do believe that the trick to moderating video games in your kids' lives is more a matter of getting them to do the important stuff before they sit down to game.

Learn A New Language Together

This can be a fun one and pretty passive too, since your children won't have to take a language class until high school. And you know, it doesn't even have to be a "real" language, why not have fun and try learning a language from Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings -- seriously, get your geek on. 

Do you and your children love anime?

Learn some Japanese words and phrases. And while you're at it, learn about actual Japanese culture and watch videos of making Japanese food. Learning a new language opens up an entire new world, new ideas, things you've never seen before.

And even more, it teaches your children to respect people that do not look like them, a vital lesson.

Build A Treehouse Or Club House With Them

Okay this one requires a decently sized backyard and a strong tree that allows for this to happen, but even just a regular club house that's just theirs would be something amazing. 

Now I know this is only cool for the younger children, I get that, but it's still really cool, right? Cool enough to think back and smile on when they're older. They'll think, "Man that was really cool of my parents to do for me".

Building the treehouse is the activity to do with them instead of playing video games. Once the project is done, it's really just another room for them to hang out in. And if they have mobile devices and handheld consoles, they'll probably play their games in there sometimes lol.

Create A Garden With Them

Just last year, I grew my first tomato plants.

And let me tell you, it was an amazing metaphor for progress. It taught me the value of just doing little things every day until you see the fruits of your labor.

What mattered was consistency. After a few months, it got boring to get up every morning to water the plants and go out into the backyard in the evening to water them again. 

But I did and my family enjoyed lots of fresh tomatos because of it. 

This year, I plan to try my hand at growing potatos, since you know, I'm a pretty big fan of their work and would eat those more than I did the tomatos, just being honest.

For real though, this is a great thing to do with your kids and not only will it teach them the same lesson I learned last year, they'll feel a sense of pride in sticking to something. Who knows, they might love growing stuff so much, they'll develop a dream to be a farmer one day!

Get Them A Piano And Have Them Stick To Their Lessons

I'm surprised this one isn't closer to the top of the list, but the order of these activities doesn't really matter. I find the piano easier to play than the guitar, my fingers just don't contort in the ways they need to in order to play the ole geetar, but since I'm a fast typist, the piano is easier for me to grasp. 

Here's the thing about learning the piano and sticking to your lessons. It's the same thing as gardening. You have to stick to it to reap the rewards.

Consistency is what matters most. Your children don't have to become world-class pianists. They don't even have to create any original songs, though that might come naturally with time. 

What matters is they come to understand the idea of mastery. 

So learning how to play the piano is a beautiful thing, of course it is, but that's not what this is truly about. What matters most is your child experiencing what it's like to be a beginner in something and slowly becoming an expert at that thing.

With video games, there is a lot to master inside them, but you don't really carry much of those skills into real life and that's one of the major problems with them. You spent months becoming a master, but you're only a master inside the games.

When your kids step away from the screen, they went on the journey of mastery, but didn't acquire many useful skills.

Get Them Into Sketching

This is a great thing for your kids to do instead of video games, especially if they're fans of anime and cartoons.

Have them draw their favorite characters, this is what I naturally did as a kid. I would draw the Ninja Turtles and Mario nonstop. 

I'd draw Goku and Mega Man and I moved on to creating my own Dragonball Z type characters and my dream was to create my own anime, though that never came to be once I realized my love for writing vastly outweighed my love for drawing. 

This is another one of those hobbies that your child needs to stick to in order to fully reap its benefits. Let me tell you, I used to draw for years, but how much practice was I putting in exactly? Not much and that's why I never got anywhere with my art.

Teach Them How To Cook

Now this is an excellent one, I should've started with this since cooking is something we all need to learn how to do, it's an art form in itself, and it's impressive when a child becomes a teenager that knows how to cook for himself/herself. 

Plus cooking is just so much fun to do after you learn how to do it properly.

Start off small with breakfast, have them watch you cook eggs, teach them how much oil is necessary, what a properly cooked egg tastes like, what are the things to avoid doing, etc.. 

Remember to have them take baby steps and teach them all the general kitchen rules. Who knows, maybe they'll want to become chefs when they grow up.

Get Them A Decent Camera And Take Photography Trips

This is something I don't really see on similar articles, but it's an activity my friend has done with her daughter. She got her little one a pretty nice point and shoot camera and encourages her to go around the house and backyard to take pictures of anything. 

And not only that, it gives them a reason to get out of the house to go on photoshoots!

Photography is much easier for children to get into, especially compared to drawing. I'm not saying photography doesn't have its rules and doesn't require discipline, it's definitely an artform that requires commitment to get right.

Enroll Them Into Martial Arts

This is something I will 100% do if I ever have children. 

I'm going to enroll them into martial arts as soon as I can and I'm going to prioritize it throughout their lives. My dad and older cousins were all martial artists and I admired their discipline so much when I was a kid. My dad's discipline is much stronger than mine and I attribute that to his years spent in the dojo. 

If you do go down this path, this is the number one thing my dad told me to do when looking for a good instructor: watch how the instructor teaches children and what he teaches them. Is he teaching them the basics/fundamentals of fighting or is he putting them through a glorified PE class? 

And the next thing to do is watch how good the instructor's black belts are. Are they impressive? Are they good with their students? Of course, watch videos discussing the differences between good martial arts schools and the bad ones. 

And don't just look at traditional Japanese and Korean styles, boxing is an oustanding art for your children to get into and master, as well as wrestling. 

Children need to rough house, it teaches them how to navigate this world filled with other people. The ability to defend themselves against bullies isn't really the aim of martial arts. It trains them to fight and, in doing so, teaches them that violence is always the last answer, but it is an answer. 

The funny thing about learning how to fight is your chances of getting into a fight diminishes drastically. And that's because when your children come across adversity, they won't be afraid of it, they'll be ready.

And when their "enemy" sees they're not afraid, but prepared to throw down, they won't be an enemy for long. 

But to end these recommended activities on a light note, martial arts is crazy fun and something your children can easily fall in love with, make great friends, establish a foundation of honor, kindness, courage, and discipline for the rest of their lives :)

To Summarize

I'm grateful for my childhood and for my mom and everything she did for my brothers and I and how she never tried to control us and manipulate us, but encouraged us to pursue anything our minds obsessed over. 

And I think video games were a wonderful way to spend my childhood, but I do wish there were some things my parents had made me do, like enroll into martial arts, learn how to play the piano, and just commit myself to something even if it wasn't fun or got hard. 

And also I wish I got to do more stuff with my dad.

Without going into detail of my personal life and childhood too much, the times I spent with my dad were valuable to me and I cherish those memories. I learned a lot from spending time with my parents and that's why I emphasize doing activities with your children. 

I understand the life of a parent is busy and stressful, don't get me wrong. I'm probably preaching to the choir here. To be honest, this article was meant to be pretty quick, just a list of things for your kids to do instead of video games, but it brought a lot more out of me. 

Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you bookmark us so you and any gamers in your life can return in case they need help :)