No-Internet Games for Kids
I recently read a really encouraging parenting book by Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane. It’s called Screen Kids, and I came away with a lot of practical encouragement for how to navigate technology in our home.
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Over the years, I’ve shared all kinds of different tech ideas for families to use in their homeschooling routines as well as just in their regular family rhythms: educational television shows, wholesome movies, helpful apps, interactive games and activities, all kinds of things.
In this post, I’m sharing a handful of different games your kids might enjoy. Some of them at one time were actually considered video games – Get ready for some blasts from the past!
These games do not require the internet.
That’s right No-Internet Game Ideas for your kids! Many of them are available in the form of a stand-alone hand-held device – and we have found them to be great options for roads trips especially.
You may feel like it’d be a whole lot easier just to grab the apps for all of these and hand your kiddo the iPad, but for us, we mostly use the iPads for homeschooling, and we really like to limit the time they spend with their tablets outside of that.
Another question we receive: Do we watch movies in the car? Well, not too often. If we’re making a 3 or 4 hour trip, we have our kids pack themselves a little bag of things they’d like to do while we’re in the car. They usually pack:
- a book (Our favorite chapter books for kids are saved here.)
- Paint-by-Sticker Activities (or some other kind of art activity)
- their favorite snack and a water bottle
- one of the games I’m sharing in this post today
Now if we’re taking a longer trip – say to ones of our favorite beach spots in Florida – and we’re driving 8, 9, or 10 hours, sure, we’ll do a movie together at some point.
Everyone’s family is different, and different seasons will require different things. Focus on your specific family and what works best for you – be especially kind to yourself if you are traveling with a newborn! 😉
Get excited! Here we go!
Don’t worry! I’m saving them all on an Amazon List for you – I’ll link the list at the end of this post.
First up, this game takes me back to the Game Boy days – a little hand-held Tetris game. Boy, do I wish I still had my original Game Boy. It was a huge mistake to get rid of that little gem.
Next up, remember Simon? Oh my – this game has always had a way of making me a nervous wreck! ha! Anyone else?
Another favorite: Bop It! A years ago, I spotted these at a yard sale and grabbed them up for my kids. I never felt like I was very good at this game, but my kids have really liked this one.
Another yard sale find!
I’m tellin’ ya, I am all about letting them have fun without access to all the yucky!
Now for my all-time favorite: Pac-Man! This one includes a few different games, and I’m tellin’ ya, my born-in-the-80’s self just loves it.
Oh yes, and Frogger…can’t forget Frogger!
Want some additional ideas along these lines that are more learning-centered?
I’ve loved watching my boys learn the Rubik’s Cube algorithm. Here’s a great how-to video – but please supervise accordingly as YouTube cares nothing about the safety of your children online.
How about letting them write their spelling words with an Etch-a-Sketch?
Here are a few math ones my kids have loved!
Please don’t attempt to purchase all of these at once. Over the years, these have made great stocking stuffers, birthday presents, etc. By sharing these favorites of ours, we hope to provide your kids with some great alternatives to having a phone/tablet in their hand. We hope your family has as much fun with some of these as we have.
We promise to continue adding to this list as we find others we think you might like, and while you’re in our Amazon storefront, you might also like checking out our favorite STEM Toys and our top picks for Family Game Night.
Thank you for supporting This Little Home of Mine by shopping our favorites on Amazon.
I loved this post! It’s so refreshing to see a list of no-internet games for kids that encourages creativity and bonding. I can’t wait to try some of these activities with my children this weekend. Thank you for sharing such fun ideas!
We appreciate that! We hope you have fun with these!