What can we play without a screen?

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years3 to 4 years

How to play

1. Draw a face on a cardboard box and poke small holes around the head with a skewer
2. Collect fallen leaves, twigs and flowers together
3. Your child pushes the stems into the holes as hair, then you name eyes, nose and mouth together

You need

• Cardboard box
• Marker
• Skewer (adults only)
• Fallen leaves

⚠️ Adults make the holes. Check the leaves aren't from toxic plants such as oleander.

Fine motorSensoryLanguage

12 to 18 months18 to 24 months

How to play

1. Cut a long slot in the lid of a formula tin
2. Your child posts old cards through the slot
3. Open the lid, tip them out, and go again

You need

• Formula tin with lid
• Old cards or coasters

Fine motorProblem solving

12 to 18 months

How to play

1. Keep an empty wipes pack with a flip lid
2. Your child pushes small toys in through the opening
3. Pull them back out one by one together

You need

• Empty wipes pack
• Small toys

⚠️ Toys must be bigger than a toilet-roll tube, so they can't be a choking risk.

Fine motor

12 to 18 months18 to 24 months

How to play

1. Cut a round hole in a box or tub lid, just bigger than the ball
2. Your child pushes the balls through the hole
3. Open the lid to find them, then go again

You need

• Box or tub with lid
• Medium balls

⚠️ Large balls only.

Fine motorProblem solving

12 to 18 months18 to 24 months

How to play

1. Cut a slot in a box big enough for board books
2. Your child posts the books in one at a time
3. Read whichever one went in last together

You need

• Cardboard box
• Board books

Fine motorLanguage

12 to 18 months

How to play

1. Fill a basket with safe kitchen things: a wooden spoon, steel cup, coconut shell
2. Let your child pick up, bang and explore
3. Name each thing they pick up

You need

• Basket
• Safe kitchen items

⚠️ Check every item is too big to swallow and has no sharp edges.

SensoryProblem solving

12 to 18 months18 to 24 months

How to play

1. Tape wide clear tape to a wall or door, sticky side out
2. Your child sticks on paper scraps, leaves or straws
3. Peel off and stick again as often as they like

You need

• Wide clear tape
• Paper scraps, leaves

Fine motorSensory

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years

How to play

1. Poke lots of holes in a cardboard box
2. Your child pushes chopsticks or straws into every hole
3. Tip the box over, empty it and start again

You need

• Cardboard box
• Wooden chopsticks or straws

⚠️ Stay close, and no running with pointy sticks.

Fine motor

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years

How to play

1. Tape small toy animals to a tray with masking tape
2. Tell your child the animals are stuck and need help
3. They peel off the tape strip by strip to free them

You need

• Masking tape
• Tray
• Toy animals

Fine motorPretend play

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years

How to play

1. Tape toilet-roll tubes to a wall to make a chute
2. Put a tray at the bottom
3. Your child drops bottle caps in and watches where they come out

You need

• Toilet-roll tubes
• Tape
• Large bottle caps

⚠️ Small items are a choking risk. Sit close and use big caps.

Fine motorProblem solving

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years3 to 4 years

How to play

1. Tape a road on the floor with masking tape, with bends and junctions
2. Your child drives toy cars along it
3. Add a car park, houses or a bridge made from boxes

You need

• Masking tape
• Toy cars

Gross motorPretend play

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years

How to play

1. Mix water and a little soap in a basin on the balcony
2. Get the toy cars a bit muddy
3. Your child scrubs them with a sponge and an old toothbrush

You need

• Basin
• Sponge
• Old toothbrush
• Toy cars

⚠️ Always stay with kids around water, even shallow water.

SensoryPretend play

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years

How to play

1. Pour uncooked rice into a big tub
2. Add spoons, cups and a funnel
3. Let your child scoop, pour and fill

You need

• Uncooked rice
• Big tub
• Spoons and cups

⚠️ No mouthing: uncooked rice is a choking risk.

Fine motorSensory

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years

How to play

1. Hand over a bucket of water and a paintbrush
2. Your child "paints" a wall, floor or fence
3. Watch it dry and disappear, then paint again

You need

• Bucket of water
• Paintbrush

Gross motorSensory

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years

How to play

1. Mix water and food colouring in spray bottles
2. Tape paper to an outside wall or fence
3. Your child squeezes and sprays the colour

You need

• Spray bottles
• Food colouring
• Paper

Fine motorSensory

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Freeze small toys in an ice tray overnight
2. Put them out on a tray with spoons, warm water and salt
3. Your child works out how to free the toys

You need

• Ice tray
• Small toys
• Spoons
• Salt

⚠️ Frozen toys must be too big to choke on. Stay close.

SensoryProblem solving

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years

How to play

1. Mix food colouring into water, pour into an ice tray, add lolly sticks, freeze
2. Put thick paper on a tray
3. Your child draws with the melting ice sticks

You need

• Ice tray
• Food colouring
• Lolly sticks
• Thick paper

SensoryFine motor

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years

How to play

1. Set out two bowls, one filled with bottle caps or pom poms
2. Your child moves them across with kitchen tongs, one at a time
3. Count how many together

You need

• Kitchen tongs
• Two bowls
• Bottle caps

Fine motor

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Fill a basin with water and line up household objects beside it
2. Your child guesses: sink or float?
3. Test each one and sort them into two piles

You need

• Basin
• Household objects: spoon, sponge, cap, leaf

⚠️ Always stay with kids around water.

Problem solvingLanguage

18 to 24 months2 to 3 years

How to play

1. Line up pillows and cushions into a path on the floor
2. Your child walks, crawls or hops across
3. Rearrange it to make it trickier

You need

• Pillows
• Cushions

⚠️ Clear away anything hard or sharp nearby first.

Gross motor

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Mix 2 cups flour, half a cup of salt, 2 tbsp oil and warm water a little at a time until it kneads
2. Your child helps knead and add food colouring
3. Roll, shape and cut. Keep it in a sealed box to reuse

You need

• Flour
• Salt
• Oil
• Food colouring

⚠️ Very salty, don't let them eat it.

Fine motorPretend play

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Colour some clothes pegs, or cut coloured paper cards
2. Go for a walk in a park or your soi
3. Find something in nature that matches each colour

You need

• Clothes pegs
• Paint or coloured paper

⚠️ Watch for red ants, thorns and the midday sun.

LanguageProblem solving

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Stand toys on concrete in the morning or late afternoon, when shadows are long
2. Your child traces the shadows in chalk
3. Come back an hour later: where did the shadow go?

You need

• Chalk
• Toys that stand up

⚠️ Avoid the midday sun and use sun protection.

Fine motorProblem solving

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Use pillows, chairs and tape to set up stations: crawl under, jump over, walk the line
2. Explain each station step by step
3. Time them, or let your child design the next course

You need

• Pillows
• Chairs
• Tape

⚠️ Clear the space and table corners first.

Gross motorProblem solving

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Save a big delivery box
2. Cut a door and windows, and let your child draw and decorate
3. It becomes a house, a shop or a rocket, whatever they imagine

You need

• Big delivery box
• Tape
• Markers

⚠️ Adults do all the cutting.

Pretend playProblem solving

2 to 3 years3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Put 4 or 5 objects on a tray and name them together
2. Your child closes their eyes while you hide one
3. Open eyes and guess what's missing, then swap roles

You need

• Tray
• 4 or 5 household items

Problem solvingLanguage

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Write 1 to 5 on cardboard with that many circles under each number
2. Your child fills the circles with bottle caps
3. Go up to 10 when they're ready

You need

• Cardboard
• Marker
• Bottle caps

Early mathFine motor

4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Draw straight lines or simple shapes on paper
2. Your child cuts along them with child scissors
3. Count the pieces together

You need

• Round-tip child scissors
• Paper
• Marker

⚠️ Round-tip child scissors only.

Fine motorEarly math

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Collect leaves, grass, flowers and sticks
2. Tie them to stick ends with rubber bands to make brushes
3. Dip in paint and see what pattern each one makes

You need

• Sticks
• Rubber bands
• Leaves, grass
• Paint

Fine motorSensory

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Make a list of words: bumpy, smooth, soft, pointy, wet
2. Walk together and find something for each word
3. Your child touches it and says how it feels

You need

• A word or picture list

LanguageSensory

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Trace around blocks on paper
2. Take the blocks away and let your child match each one to its outline
3. Stack blocks and trace the outline to make it harder

You need

• Blocks
• Paper
• Marker

Problem solvingEarly math

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Use play dough, cookie cutters and a tray to make pretend bakes
2. Your child runs the shop and you're the customer
3. Use bottle caps as money and count the change

You need

• Play dough
• Cookie cutters
• Tray
• Bottle caps

Pretend playLanguageEarly math

3 to 4 years4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Freeze water in small tubs with a lolly stick and paper sail
2. Float the boats in a basin of water
3. Your child blows through a straw to race them

You need

• Small tubs
• Lolly sticks
• Paper
• Straws

⚠️ Always stay with kids around water.

Problem solvingGross motor

4 to 6 years

How to play

1. Cut cardboard into a shape and snip notches all around the edge
2. Tie yarn to the first notch
3. Your child wraps the yarn across from notch to notch to make a pattern

You need

• Cardboard
• Yarn
• Scissors (adults)

Fine motorProblem solving