5 Screen-Free Brain Games for Kids: Ideas & Benefits

You go to a restaurant, and you often get to see children watching screens while eating their meals. Even at parks, you see young kids glued to their smartphones or tablets while being pushed in a stroller or when walking with a parent. Constant exposure to screens not only leads to addiction, making them oblivious to the world around them, but also affects their overall development. 

It is up to us as parents and caregivers to help them strike a balance, and create a holistic environment fostering intellectual, emotional, and physical development. Continue to read on as we share fun and exciting ways to promote screen-free activities.

Why Are Screen-Free Brain Games Important For Kids' Development?

Studies conducted worldwide have demonstrated that early exposure to screens in children can lead to delays in language development. Kids under the age of 2 learn far more from watching and interacting with adults rather than passively watching screens. Kids get so enamoured by the colourful characters on screens that they prefer being connected to the virtual world rather than stepping out of their homes and indulging in carefree playtime.

For pre-teens and teenagers, excessive screen time is detrimental to their physical health, academic performance and emotional well-being. They can develop sleep disorders, obesity, mood swings and suffer from low self-esteem. Thus, we must monitor the content that kids of all ages are exposed to and regulate it assertively and consistently. 

Introducing kids to the fascinating world of educational brain toys will help channel their energies, appeal to their curious minds, and allow them to tap into their creative and imaginative abilities. Some other benefits are:

1. Brain games like puzzles, flashcards, and board games compel kids to think, stimulate critical thinking, and develop problem-solving techniques, which are essential for both academic and life success.
2. These games encourage kids to interact socially, helping them to enhance their communication skills, learn to work as a team, build empathy, and deal with triumphs and failures; again essential life skills, which would help them through life.
3. While playing these games, kids develop other essential life skills such as the ability to focus and patience, which are compromised by the fast-paced characters on screens.
4. Through these games kids step out and no longer remain sedentary, benefiting their physical health and motor skills.
   
   

How To Choose Perfect Scree-Free Brain Activities For Kids?

If you have been reading so far, you would have come to realise the many merits of brain activities and IQ games for kids and the importance of regulating their screen time. The next thing that you need to do is choose the right toy for your kid so that ditching the screen becomes ‘easy peasy lemon squeezy’ - their words, not mine. Here are some key pointers, which will help you in this endeavour:

1. Select age-appropriate toys: remember that each age has different developmental requirements. 
2. Choose games that resonate with their interests: if your kid likes arts and crafts, choose kits that would further refine their skills, a curious and budding engineer would love spending amidst building blocks.  
3. Physical Activity: Pushes them to engage in physical activity and movement.
4. Encourages social skills: compels them to mingle with other kids and family members. 
5. Logical Skill: Choose games that enhance their learning potential, such as memory games, mental math challenges, strategy-based board games, puzzles, and other STEM projects.

If these are too many points to take into consideration, worry no more and visit Skillmatics’ online store. Here you will find the right educational learning toys for your child, catering to all their developmental requirements.

05 Must Include Mind Games In Kids' PlayTime:

To make things even simpler for you, let me list down some of Skillmatics’ most sought after brain developmental toys for kids that promote learning in a fun and engaging way.

1. Reusable Activity Mats Ages 6+ has a collection of fascinating tasks from the world of logic and problem-solving. This game is designed to ignite your child’s creativity and critical thinking.
2. Mind Challenge Reusable Activity Mats (ages 6+) is another great activity set to help your child enhance their logic and problem-solving capabilities and keep them engaged for hours.
3. It is a well-known fact that Sudoku helps enhance a child’s logical reasoning, problem-solving skills and concentration. Taking note of this Skillmatics’ has designed a fascinating set of Sudoku puzzles for kids to develop a liking for this game while parallelly engagingly enhancing their skills.
4. SQUIK – Sentence Edition is an exciting strategy game for kids aged 6+. It tests their communication skills, helps them to improve sentence construction and learn new vocabulary. Making it a must-have brain development learning toy for all growing kids.
5. India Map Puzzle & Game, suitable for kids aged 6 to 12 years, is an educational masterpiece that helps children to explore India’s diverse landscape in a fun and engaging way.
   
   

How to Incorporate Brain Activities In Kids’ PlayTime?

A child's heart is a ground for unconditional love, and things that are communicated compassionately will be embraced wholeheartedly. Let us look at some fun alternatives to incorporate brain activities in kids’ play time:

1) Let's get out:  Unleash the inner explorer of your little one, step outside, dance with the winds, sing with the birds, and experience the wonders of nature together. Your backyard, local park, or neighbourhood is a great place to get fresh air and vitamin D and engage in imaginative conversations about jungle safari, space exploration, or mythical creatures or ask them to spot birds, flowers or special objects. Connect and captivate their imaginative minds.

Awaken their creative side: Allocate a designated place for them to explore and be messy with paints, homemade slime and clay. Let them create masterpieces that will later adorn your fridge.

Board Games: With board games and and floor puzzles, children can overcome boredom with these classic board games and create lasting memories and bonds.

Unlock the world of fun with books: allocate a designated time and place for reading. Early on, get your child hooked on books, and a treasure chest packed with fun and adventure stories, and grow their brain with each book they read.

Conclusion

Getting your children to willingly move away from screens can be made easy if it is communicated effectively and adhered to consistently. Take them outdoors in nature, spend time together colouring, playing a sport, solving board games, dancing, or simply goofing around. Strengthening family ties and creating everlasting memories. 

Make screen free time extra special for your child with Skillmatics’ kids learning toys. Visit Skillmatics today to explore their wide collection of brain development game sets that would inspire your kids to explore their creative abilities, and get them to ditch the screens effortlessly. 

FAQS

What are screen-free brain games for kids?

Puzzles, memory games, logic game sets, board games, and STEM activity kits and many more. You can also include IQ games for kids' brain development.

Why are screen-free mind games important for kids?

Excessive exposure to screens affects the overall development of children of all ages. Therefore it is essential to engage them in screen-free brain & mind games that contribute to their intellectual, physical, emotional and cognitive developmental needs. 

Are screen-free games better than digital learning apps?

Screen-free games are always more beneficial than digital learning apps as they encourage children to interact and work with peers, and get hands-on experience without unnecessary exposure to screens.

Are there outdoor brain games for kids?

Yes, there are a lot of outdoor brain game options. Check out Skillmatics’ collection of educational toys and pick one for your child today.

Can these games help kids perform better in school?