Screen Free Ideas for Children 0-18 years old
Finding thoughtful, screen free gifts or activities for children aged 0–18 can feel like a challenge in a world dominated by tablets, phones and digital entertainment. But unplugged play is more important than ever, helping children boost creativity, build real world skills and enjoy meaningful family time. Whether you’re shopping for babies, curious toddlers, adventurous tweens or hard to please teens, there are plenty of inspiring, tech free presents/activities that make gifting guilt-free for us as parents who wish to keep play at the heart of childhood.
In this guide, we’ve curated the best screen free gift ideas for every age—ideal for birthdays, celebrations, seasonal surprises, or even just tech-free ideas for all ages to have at home.
Screen-free gifts or activities for all ages
Screen-free ideas for babies 0-12months:
We all know this is a full on development stage for our babies, 0-12 sees rapid growth and curiosity, which is why it is so important to engage, inspire and promote the world around them safely.
Monotone sensory toys for babies:
Monotone toys are so beneficial to babies allowing them to focus on the toy in front of them, the contrast of the colours are easier to see and can boost cognitive growth and development by being engaging.
Click here to find a great Monotone bundle
Musical and teething toys for babies:
Teeth are big news in your babies world and can be quite a painful, so why not offer them a sensory toy, which allows them to play and chew on at the same time.
Click here to see a great musical chew toy collection
Busy boards for older babies 1-2yrs
We love a busy board! These are an interactive board with your babies favourite switches, latches, buttons, lights and plugs, allowing them to safely explore these fascinating objects. These kept our children entertained for a long time.
Click here to find busy board ideas
Engaging Screen-free ideas for toddlers 1-3years
Stepping Stones and Balancing Blocks 
These were an absolute favourite in our household for many many years. We offered them to our children when they had mastered walking and over the years they had been used not only for balancing and creating stepping games but has helmets, pancakes, turtle shells, sheilds and the list goes on! This is a favourite and guaranteed a toy that will last a long time.
Click here to find out more
LED Textured Balls and sensory toys 
The Classic spikey LED balls, another one of those toys that is still in the toy box and still is played with even though they are nearing their teens.
Click here to find our favourite ones
Zippy Mat 25 Key Piano
We absolutely love the Zippy Mat digital Piano! A stunning piece of furniture in itself, the Zippy Mat Piano would look great in any home. Introduce your little one to the piano without the overwhelm of all those keys like with a normal sized piano. Being electronic means that with the lightest of touches your little will be able to make music and spend hours tinkering away.
Click here to buy your Zippy May Piano
Play centred screen free ideas for pre-school children 3-5years
LCD Writing/drawing pad
Great for car journeys! We still haven't given our children phones or tables for the car, therefore; this has been a brilliant toy to bring along with us. They each have their own and will make up and create so many games which keeps them entertained for hours! They even use it to take orders, when we are cooking dinner, which is great fun.
Click here to choose your colour LCD drawing pad
tonies Story Reader with Characters 
All of the entertainment without the screen! Children will play, sit and listen or drift off whilst listening to tonies stories. You can pick and choose your starting package or slowly build on your collection over the years. We have a 6yr old and a 10year old who love their tonies and will always choose this when it comes to free play.
Click here to see which bundle works for you
Jelly Blox
Have you heard of Jelly Blox? We hadn't either until they were bought as a brilliant gift for your youngest's birthday! Remember those day of stepping on Lego and cursing under your breath - well no more! Jelly Blox are squishy, flexible, stackable jelly-like blocks - and standing on them is actually highly encouraged!
Click here to see the range of Jelly Box to choose from
Zonky Play Sofa 
If your little ones are always playing 'Floor is Lava' or using you pillows and cushions as stepping stones, or trust falling onto the sofa, then we may have the best answer for you to keep your furniture (and the children) safe.
Zonky Play Sofas spark imagination, creation, problem solving and joy. This sofa is designed to be jumped on, designed to be rolled across the floor, stacked, stepped on and shaped into what ever your child can think of, maybe it's a castle, a stage, a ramp, a nook, a library, a monster! and now with Zonky Buttons (round cushions) you can add wheels to your creation.
Click here to view all the colour options
Creative play for Primary School children 5-8years
Full Cooking Set 
We are big believers in offering children the right tools for the job. We have always wanted them to use real tools and equipment to experience it and learn how to use these items correctly. This set is fantastic for those who love to cook (if you have an older child, who is into baking, see further down). Even vegetables get eaten after they have been chopped by the child themselves with circles, stars, and flower cutters.
Click here to get your buddy chef well equipped
Lego & Mini Figures 
Always and forever a classic! We love Lego and will often find ourselves getting very much involved in it too - which is a win win for everyone. We have recently been building up our mini figures as they can be played with in Lego sets or with other toys and scenarios.
Click here to find a new Lego set or collection of mini figures
Science Kids Electronics Kit 
Our 6year old LOVES his electronics kit! We have spent many hours, working out the right paths to make the light turn on, how to use the magnet breaker, play 'Happy Birthday' and watch the spinning top fly into the air. We love this kit because it has different levels of difficulty, therefore each time we went back to it, we know we would be challenged by something else. You can create over 188 different circuits.
Plus Plus Tube Puzzle Pieces
We were really surprised by these. They were bought for our children as a gift and for a LONG time, both our children were obsessed by the puzzle pieces. They spent hours building spinners, people, a fence for the animal Lego Mini Figures, houses, brick roads, and the list goes on. Such a simple toy and yet had some of the biggest impact on our children.
Click here to find a great colour set
Tech-free ideas for tweens 9-12years
Now is a great time to get our tweens into hobbies, they are much more able to concentrate on learning alone and through the process they will, hopefully, have products or skills to be proud of:
Mini Portable/Travel Watercolour Set
We love this kit for its flexibility and being so compact. Take it on long car trips, holidays, whilst visiting friends/family, events and even just alone time at home. This mess-free kit will have your tween telling their story through their watercolours.
Click here to find out more about portable watercolour kits
Crochet Starter Kit
Don't roll your eyes too quickly, we promise this is a great option. If you can encourage your child and their friend(s) to start, it will allow then to stay off the screens and learn together. We even know of friends who take their kits into school to practice in the playground at lunch.
Click here for crochet starter kits
Mini Potters Wheel
Now, we know this is a more top-end product in cost (for a hobby), however we know very well that anything smaller is less powerful and generally breaks, so we believe it's worth spending a little more to get better quality. Use this table top wheel with air dry clay for larger decorative items or with earth-clay and a Mini Microwave Kiln to fire smaller projects!
We can guarantee that you, as parents, will also love this potters wheel! This makes for a great experience together.
Click here for our potters wheel recommendation
A Book of Life Skills for Tweens
Reference books are brilliant for the tweens to dip into and find out more on topics that may not always be taught in schools. This book also comes with a Life Skills for Tweens Workbook to offer more indepth ideas and place to note down ideas.
Click here to buy your copy of Life Skills for Tweens
Screen-free idea for teenagers 13-18years
Cake decoration kit
Now is a great time to be offering your teen ideas that might spark something in them and discover what their interests are, beyond the screens. Our eldest is now into cake decorating (and she is really good at it) this kit has allowed her to work on cakes at any time, practising techniques and dealing with knock backs, when it doesn't quite go right - it's all part of the process.
Click here to find out more about cake decorating kits
Acoustic Guitar
Letting your kids loose with a guitar can keep them entertained for hours, let alone years, when they become proficient in playing. Make sure to buy a step-by-step guide book as well to help with the first few cords. What better way to learn the guitar than together. We are attempting this right now, it's not easy, but we are determined to learn the guitar and do it together, no matter how many fall outs!
Click here for a range of acoustic guitars
3D Resin Printer
This product blow my mind a little, we have watched endless videos of people using these 3d resin printers and how the products are created still gets me! Now, I may hear you saying but it needs a phone or computer to use the printer, which is very true but I equally believe that the end product will off our teens hours of painting and use away from the initial product set up.
Click here to look ay 3D Resin Printer ideas
We will continue to add to this article and yes, there are affiliate links throughout, however we have only picked items that we have personally used, or products that we intend to buy when the children are the right age. These affiliate links mean that if you agree with our recommendations and buy from those link, we will earn a small commission - with no extra cost to you!
We are on a mission to keep our children's childhood, a childhood, similar to ours. Lots of play, lots of imagination and 'only returning when the street lights turn on' type of play. We know the future is very heavily dominated by screens and the pressure to have a phone as a very young age, so we wanted to create an ideas hub for families like us who are seeking screen-free ideas for their children 0-18years old.
