Family Fun and Screen Free Bedtime Tips
When bedtime is approaching, your little ones are still wide awake, and you wish you had just an ounce of their energy, it’s easy to give in to temptation and pass them an ipad, turn on the TV, or prop them by the nearest laptop for quick entertainment. However, this wind down time is when their body should start the melatonin creation. When we put blue light devices in front of our children, this disrupts the natural sleep-wake cycle by confusing their mind into thinking it’s still daytime.
The good news is you can ditch the screen and create beautiful moments with your children that will wear them out, get them ready for sleep, and put a smile on everyone’s face. I actually LOVE seeking more effective ways to end our day without relying on the screen and get my family ready for sleep.
Here are a few of my favorite screen-free bedtime activities!
We’re all familiar with the “I’m still hungry” bedtime stall tactic as soon as we try to get them to sleep. During dinner time, I always look for ways to get my little ones to sit longer at the table and thus, eat more. During dinner we play the game “High Low”. We go around the table and one by one everyone says what the “high” point of their day was and then what the “low” point of their day was. We then take the time to get into “why,” and as a family we revisit any fights that happened, have an opportunity to hear about what’s happening at school without asking or forcing it, and more!
Kids always seem to have energy that just needs to get out. It’s much easier to find ways to run them down than to fight bedtime. If the weather is nice we go on family nature walks. The kids have their own gathering baskets that they made. We find rocks we can paint another day, pretty leaves, or pick up trash to throw away.
If it’s too hot to walk and the kids are bouncing off the walls, we do a sprinkler run in the grass. My girls think it’s hilarious to see us chase them through the sprinkler. We follow this up with a warm cozy bath to calm them right back down.
One of my favorites is building a pillow fort and reading stories inside. The kids love to find pillows from all over the house to make their “special fort”. They pull blankets and stuffed animals in and then we snuggle up to read bedtime stories!
Last but not lease, Hide and Go Seek is a classic that is ALWAYS a big energy release
To calm down after these events, I love to light a candle. My favorites come from HOUSE OF INTUITION, where you can find a candle based on what your family is currently going through. For example, we just moved to a new house so we use the “house blessing” candle. There are also different scents for grief, health, love, gratitude, and more! When the candle has burnt through the wax, there are crystals at the bottom and my girls are obsessed with finding them. I light my candle, play music from my favorite calm down album (White Sun, specifically the song AKAL), and the kids lay down and I scratch their backs. If I notice my girls still have extra energy, I’ll try to slow down their mind with a little more talking. We go around and each say something we are grateful for, worried about, or wishing for and let the candle light our way!
I was a very anxious kiddo and this interrupted my sleep. I had a “worry jar” next to my bed that I made and decorated. Every night I would write down a worry (or five) and put them in the jar. Writing these down was very helpful. I’d talk about them with my mom and let the jar do the worrying so I could get some sleep. If your child is like I was, this is a nice activity to tone down their anxiety before bedtime.
Are you dreaming of a peaceful bedtime routine with your toddler? Don’t worry momma, we’ve all been there! At My Sweet Sleeper our only goal is to give you sweeter sleep. Check out this Instagram post for more ways to make bedtime screen free and fun for your toddler!!
We have a new class!
If you’re expecting, you might be interested in our new maternity sleep class!
Did you know that not getting enough sleep during pregnancy can actually affect your baby’s sleep patterns once they are born? That’s one of the reasons why prioritizing sleep during pregnancy is so important! In this class we teach you how to prioritize your own sleep during pregnancy as you lead up to the arrival of your little one + some tips on how to set up your baby with healthy habits in the 4th trimester.
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