Our Screen-Free Gift Guide: 5 Awesome Picks Your Kids Will Love

Screen-free gifts are more than just a break from devices; they engage kids’ minds, spark creativity, and promote real-world interactions. We love how Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, describes screen-based devices as "experience blockers," limiting children’s ability to connect with the world around them. That's why we’ve put together our top 5 screen-free gift ideas to inspire play, learning, and adventure away from screens.

Top 5 screen-free gifts

Whether you’re looking for experiential gifts or something more tactile, we’ve got ideas for every budget. Here are our top picks for screen-free gifts:

1. Experiential gifts that make memories
2. Subscriptions—the gift that keeps on giving
3. Toys that challenge the mind and build skills
4. Games (not the video kind)
5. Books we love

1. Experiential gifts that create memories

It’s become very popular to give experiences instead of material items. And for good reason! Experiential gifts:

• keep clutter at bay,
• create memories,
• often teach new skills, and 
• usually support local businesses.
  

Here are our favorite experiential gifts:

• Day out with mom or dad/grandparents: Find something your child enjoys like hiking, fishing, playing a favorite sport, or whatever they love, and go out to do it together! ‍
• Day pass or annual pass: The possibilities are endless here—trampoline parks, water parks, theme parks, gyms, YMCA, climbing gyms, pools, museums, escape rooms, axe throwing, etc.‍
• Tickets to a live show: Find a play, concert, or performance that your child would be interested in—or maybe even one that will stretch them to learn something about another culture.‍
• Camps or lessons: Does your child have an interest they haven’t had a chance to explore yet? Sign them up for a camp so they can get a taste for it. These days there are camps for almost anything—horseback riding, sports, music, cooking, baby-sitting, crafting, sewing, martial arts, dance, etc. If your child already has a deep interest in something, consider giving them a year of lessons as a gift.

Related: Family Digital Detox: 5 Truths We Learned on the Appalachian Trail

2. Subscriptions—the gift that keeps on giving

Subscriptions are also gaining popularity—and we love them because they offer exciting surprises all year long! Here are some of our favorite subscription ideas:

• Little Passports: A monthly play-based science and geography kit. They have different kits for each age group.
• Universal Yums: Each month, Universal Yums will send a box of snacks from a featured country, plus a 12-page booklet on that country. This is a fun (and yummy!) way to learn about other countries.
• Kiwi Crates: You can choose from various age groups and interests including science, art, geography, and early learning. A monthly crate will show up with age-appropriate projects.
• National Geographic Magazines: For kids ages 3-6, subscribe to National Geographic Little Kids which includes 6 bi-monthly magazines and 6 early-readers. For kids 6 and up, subscribe to National Geographic Kids which includes 10 issues in an annual subscription. And for teens, the regular National Geographic magazine is great!
• Escape the Crate: Geared for kids 10 and up, this escape room subscription provides hours of collaborative fun. Games take 2-3 hours to complete, and our designed similarly to actual escape rooms, but with the benefit of enjoying them in the comfort of your home. Younger kids can enjoy these with help from older players.
• CrateJoy: This company offers a variety of subscriptions to suit every interest and age from craft boxes, books, stem experiences, and even fidget toys.

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3. Toys that challenge the mind and build skills

If you’re looking for a more tactile gift, you’ll want to check out our list below. We chose these toys because they require critical thinking and build motor skills.

• Marble runs: We especially love the Q-BA-MAZE 2.0 by MindWare.
• SnapCircuits: Kids learn about electrical circuits by building their own circuits. The challenges get increasingly more difficult as they go.
• Magformers: This is a fun building toy that uses magnets to hold everything together.
• Legos: These building bricks continue to be popular with kids of all ages—even teenagers!
• Stomp Rockets: Kids of all ages love sending these rockets into the sky.
• Craft kits: There are so many to choose from and they come with everything you need, so no extra trips to the store to get something to finish it off. You can find them at Walmart, Amazon, CrateJoy, and more.

4. Games (not the video kind)

A good board or card game is a great gift and another way to keep kids off screens—plus they encourage social interaction, which is always a plus!

Here are some of our favorites:

Ages 4+

• Zingo!: A fun twist on Bingo, this fast-paced game teaches young kids language and matching skills.
• The Ladybug Game: An engaging board game where children lead their ladybugs home through challenges like a preying mantis. Developed by a first grader, this game is a kid-favorite.
• Sequence for Kids: A just-for-kids version of the classic. Kids use strategy that helps develop logic skills. No reading required.
• Ants in the Pants: An interactive game where kids launch plastic ants into a Panda's pants. The first to land four in the Panda's pants is the winner. Lots of squeals guaranteed.
• Outfoxed: A cooperative mystery game where players work together to solve which fox stole the pie.
• Spot It! Animals Jr.: The first player to match a symbol between two cards wins the card, and the player with the most cards at the end wins the game. It's a fun, quick-thinking, matching game!

Ages 6+

• Qwirkle: Wooden tiles are used to create sets—players build off each other’s tiles.‍
• Roller Coaster Challenge: A one-player logic game where players go through different challenge levels to build model roller coasters.
• Monopoly Jr. Bluey edition: Kids love taking their Bluey character tokens around the gameboard, collecting Dollarbucks along the way.
• Clue Jr.: Kids solve the mystery of which toy was broken, who broke it, and where it was broken.
• The Floor is Lava: A game for the whole family! Players jump from foam pad to foam pad while accomplishing physical challenges all while trying not to fall into "lava."
• Taco vs. Burrito: Players build the weirdest, wildest meals to rack up points, using action cards to sabotage opponents and spice up the fun.
  

Ages 8+

• Guesstures: Players must quickly act out the word on their card in this high-speed charades game, racing against time before the card drops into the game unit.
• Mastermind: This game challenges two players to create patterns that their opponent must guess.
• Azul: Players use tiles in this strategy/pattern game to create mosaics.
• Ticket to Ride: Players compete to build rail routes across the map, blending adventure with geography in this strategic board game.
• Headbanz: Players wear a headband with a card on it so only the other players can see it. They ask yes or no questions to figure out what picture is on their card.
• Kingdomino This game offers a twist on traditional dominoes, where players use tiles to create a small kingdom.
• Throw Throw Burrito: A dodgeball-inspired card game that gets a bit wild—make sure you have plenty of space to play! This game is a hit with kids, teens, and even adults.
• Labyrinth: This dynamic strategy game challenges players to collect items on a constantly changing board, shifting with each person’s turn!
• Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza: A lively twist on slap jack—this game can get a little wild sometimes, but is lots of fun!
• Flash!: This dice game is like a simplified version of Yahtzee
• Codemaster: A one-player game that teaches coding. Players go through increasingly difficult challenges.
  

Ages 10+

• Apples to Apples Jr.: Perfect for parties, this card game sparks laughter and creativity as players match words in unexpected ways.
• Ghosted: A clever twist on Clue, where players work to solve a haunting mystery with spooky surprises at every turn.
• Cahoots: A cooperative card game where everyone is on the same team, strategizing to win together.
• Herd Mentality: A hilarious family game where players flip over a question and try to guess what other players are thinking. The goal is to have your answer be the same as the majority's.
• Nertz: A fast-paced, competitive card game that combines the strategy of solitaire with head-to-head speed. Players race to empty their piles in shared foundation stacks.

5. Books we love

Last but not least, we’ve got books on our list. A book is always a good gift. Although digital books are quite popular and convenient, we find that most kids we know actually still prefer reading a hard copy of a book. And with all the time spent on screens for school and leisure, it’s a great way to work in a screen break! Mix it up with both fiction and non-fiction.

Not sure where to start? It was so hard for us to choose, but here are a few of our favorites:

Picture Books (ages 1-5)

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
• Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen
• The Little Mouse, The Red Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood
• Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
• The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith
  

Books for younger readers ages 4-8

• The Most Boring Book Ever by Brandon Sanderson
• Biscuit books by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
• Tales From the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne
• The Princess in Black series by Shannon Hale
• Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo
• The Adventures of Robin Hood by John Burrows
• Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon
• The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne
• All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan
• The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
• Dragon Masters series by Tracey West
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
• Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. by Kristen A. Jenson (ages 3-6)
  

Books for middle readers ages 8-12

• The Betsy Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace
• Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Mr. Lincoln's Drummer by G. Clifton Wisler
• The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio
• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
• Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland
• Keepers of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
• Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
• The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull
• Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen A. Jenson
  

Fact Books

Kids will spend hours looking through these books! Here are some of our favorites:

• National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia ages 8-12
• National Geographic Kids 5,000 Awesome Facts (About Everything!) ages 7-10
• Any book from DK Books
  

Note: We haven’t read every single book in each of these series. Please look at reviews of each book to determine whether or not they are appropriate for your child.

Related: How To Cultivate a Healthy Mind: A Fun 7-Step Object Lesson

While tech gifts can be exciting, screen-free gifts provide something invaluable: meaningful, hands-on experiences that encourage curiosity and connection. Balance out the holiday excitement with these non-tech gift ideas and give your child reasons to explore, create, and interact—no screens needed!