7 CLEVER Ways To Get Kids Off The Couch

November 14, 2017

It’s frightening to know children spend anywhere from 5-7 hours a day in front of a screen. Great, but does anyone provide a solution?! Clearly not, or we wouldn’t be writing this!


Below are 7 clever ways to fulfill your kids daily play meter, no couches necessary!


1.Frozen Chef

This delicious idea requires only 3 ingredients and uses no dairy, no preservatives, no artificial colors, no creepy ingredients whatsoever!


You'll need a popsicle mold, your choice of dairy free almond, coconut, or cashew milk, frozen fruit, and stevia for healthy extra sweetness. Blend your ingredients, pour into the molds and that's it! You'll have a blast creating your own custom flavors and the best part, you know what you're putting in. If you need a more detailed recipe, click here!


2.Monkey Draw, Monkey Do

Purchase some chalk and head outside for the fun to begin! Have a go at drawing a fun game for you both to do. Start simple with a game of hopscotch, or get real wacky and use one of our ideas below! The sky's the limit... Perhaps the amount of chalk you buy too.  

Below are some ideas to get you started on your chalk extravaganza:

  • Musical Yoga: Musical chairs except replace "chairs" with chalk drawings/names of yoga positions. Play music while you walk around over the different drawings and randomly stop the music. Whatever name you are standing on is the pose you have to instantly hold. Immediately hold that pose or else you're out! 

  • Treasure Hunt: Create a chalk path that leads to a TREASURE! It can be food, a toy, or whatever you like. Come up with "obstacles" placed along the path like a tower of pillows you must climb over, or a task you must perform to pass (i.e. 30 jumping jacks, hop on one leg, etc.)

  • Map Quest: Draw a map leading to something awesome! Draw just well enough for the quest seeker to understand where to go in real life (no verbal hints). As the game goes on, give more hints by adding more detail to the map until they find where X marks the spot!


3.Emoji Charades

This one is sure to bring out your inner goofballs! Print emojis, cut them to size, and mix them up in a bowl. Take turns choosing a slip with an individual emoji on it, and offer your best performance of the emoji you chose!


Ready to make it more challenging? Try performing as the emoji without sound or do the opposite and only use sound to carry out your crazy charades!


4.Balloon Volleyball

Create a divider with a blanket or something long and skinny. Then blow up some balloons.

Stand on separate sides of your divider and get ready to show off your quick ninja moves! You can start by tossing one balloon up in the air and pass it over the divider line. Add more balloons into the mix to increase the challenge!


Ready to make it more interesting? Make different color balloons represent different challenges. For instance:

  • green balloons can be kept in the air any way you choose

  • yellow balloons can only be hit with your head

  • red balloons can only be kept up by blowing on them


5. Deep Sea Diver

This too requires some balloons... and a pool.


  1. Blow up several different colored balloons, each with a different amount of air inside.

  2. Take the balloon with the least amount of air, and write a "1" on that balloon.

  3. Next take the balloon with the second to least amount of air inside and write a "2" on that balloon.

  4. Continue writing numbers on the balloons in order from least air to most. (The balloon with the most air should have the highest number on it)

  5. Get ready to play!

 (When you're done it should look something like this)


Toss yourselves and the balloons into the pool. Tug balloons to the bottom of the pool, starting with the "1" balloon. Work your way up the numbers until you find the balloon that has too much air to tug to the bottom of the pool! It's exciting to guess the highest number you'll be able to pull to the bottom before the game begins!


6.Monster Dub

This game is simple but oh so fun...


  1. Two monsters (aka you and your kiddo) sit side by side and face a mirror.

  2. One of you pretends to be a monster that can move but can't make noise

  3. The other monster can make noise but can't move!

  4. Try and match the sounds of the immobile monster to the mouth movements of the silent monster! ... Maybe throw in a fart sound effect for some laughs too.


7.Foreign I-Spy!

This is iSpy with a couple of added twists. Find an object you want them to run to and use a translator tool to discover the name of that object in a different language. You'll say "I spy a ____" and fill in the blank with the foreign name for that object. Have them run to the object instead of simply pointing to it! Give some hints in your native language as necessary, until they run to the proper object!


If you thought any of these game ideas were unique, awesome, active, educational, or everything combined, you MUST check out this awesome new product that brings toys to life and creates educational active games for kids to learn: ToyUpgrade.com

Kids stay active while learning with LINK!


LINK is a magical device that can transform ordinary toys into extraordinary companions in order to teach children multiple languages through fun games and active learning.


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