Whether you’ve been participating in Screen-Free Week since it was known as TV Turnoff Week, or this is your first year, taking a break from TV, laptops, smartphones, and video games is easier–not to mention more fun–when you’re taking a break with others! Going screen-free means more options than just reading a good book (though that’s certainly one great way to enjoy the week).
Here are just a few of the great events that happened throughout the country. Use them for inspiration! Planning something for 2017? Register your week and we’ll list it!
- In Charlotte County, FL, Healthy Charlotte and community partners are offering a variety of family-friendly activities throughout the week, including craft nights and a kids’ fishing tournament!
- On, Monday, May 2nd, Waldorf School of Moraine Farm in Beverly, MA will be hosting a screening of the documentary “Screenagers”. More information and tickets can be found here.
- The Brandon Township Public Library in Ortonville, MI will be holding a Screen-Free Week Celebration Lock-in on Friday, May 6th, an all-ages evening of cards, crafts, games, and snacks.
- Let’s Move! Missoula has partnered with local organizations to provide free and low-cost events for the community throughout Screen-Free Week, including the Let’s Move! Missoula: Unplug and Play! kickoff event on Sunday, May 1st, with over 20 fun outdoors activities for kids.
- The City of Lafayette, CO will be providing K-12 students free passes to the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center, and students can turn in their completed Screen-Free Week activity logs for an award and free book courtesy of the Lafayette Public Library!
- Villa Villekula Neighborhood Toy Store in Fernandina Beach, FL will be hosting its 2nd Annual Screen-Free Week with a kick-off party and activities throughout the week. Those that take the screen-free pledge qualify for discounts at local businesses.
- Among several activities, the LeDuc Historic Estate in Hastings, MN will kick off the week with Photography Day and celebrate the week’s end with a Mother’s Day high tea.
- Sunday Assembly San Diego in California plans to celebrate Screen-Free Week with a sewing workshop and other activities.
- Parent Connection of Eastern NC plans to hold a cloud-watching party.
- Students at Cottage Street Elementary in Sharon, MA will commit to going screen free and will be encouraged to spend time with family and friends, playing outside and doing creative projects.
- Des Plaines Parks in Des Plaines, IL have some great activities planned for the week, including an ice cream social and a campfire night.
- Alabama Waldorf School in Birmingham, AL will be taking their students on an afternoon hike of Ruffner Mountain, hold a school-wide singalong and have a teacher-student game of Space Ball.
- The Charlotte County Library System in Port Charlotte, FL is holding a family game night at its Mid-County Regional branch on May 4th and afternoon story and craft time at the Englewood-Charlotte Library on May 6th.
- The Youth Services Division at the Brighton District Library in Brighton, MI will be holding a Scavenger Hunt, Used Book Swap, LEGO Challenge, Creative Crafting, Sensory Programming, and Family Game Night.
- The Urban Community School in Cleveland, OH will be holding the Neighborhood 5K Race and Health Fair featuring gardening activities and a performance from the UCS choir.
- The West Chicago Park District in West Chicago, IL is offering community members a variety of screen-free activities as part of its Healthy West Chicago Initiative.
- Pre-K through 6th grade students and staff at Maplewood Elementary School in Austin, TX are going screen-free for the week with a poetry celebration, Cinco de Mayo, and an open mic night.
- Baltimore County Recreation and Parks at Lake Roland in Baltimore, MD is encouraging families to unplug with a daytime campfire, fishing, and a cave hike.
- The Greater Pulaski, NY area has been celebrating Screen-Free Week for the past 8 years. This year, libraries, historical societies, and civic organizations in the area will be hosting volunteer projects, a zine-making class, and an amphibian adventure hike.
- The Yarborough Branch of the Austin Public Library in Austin, TX will be holding a Screen-Free Week Book Circle on May 5th with reader’s theater and puppets.
- Kids World at the Eisenhower Public Library in Harwood, IL will have books, screen-free ideas, activities, and challenges available for all K-6 students who stop by the Kids Desk.
- In Ithaca, NY, the Ithaca Youth Bureau will be working with their community to help kids unplug and play! Find out more on their Facebook page, or click here for a full list of events.
- In Newburry, FL, all 102 students at Healthy Learning Academy will be going Screen-Free! Healthy Learning Academy has been participating in Screen Free Week for the past 10 years, and are always excited to hear about the many activities families participate in with their “new found” time! For more about their celebrations, see their Facebook page.
- Dancing Bear Toys with locations in Ashville and Hendersonville, NC is sponsoring its 20th annual Screen-Free Week, offering free play days everyday after school and partnering with local businesses to offer a variety of screen-free activities!
- The Hockessin Library in Hockessin, DE is celebrating the week with a scavenger hunt, Lego club, and preschool game day.
- Northfield Elmentary School in Ellicott City, MD has been incorporating lessons about the harms of too much screen time and encouraging their students to bike to school, take fitness walks during recess, and taking sensory play breaks throughout the day.
- Malletts Bay School in Colchester, VT is celebrating its sixth annual Screen-Free Week where students can commit to different levels of screen-free participation to earn certificates and prizes.
- Canterbury Elementary in Crystal Lake, IL is celebrating with a literacy game night and ice cream social.
- Franklin Academy K-5 will be discussing alternatives to screen time and encouraging families to participate.
- Classrooms at Meadowbrook Elementary School in Golden Valley, MN will be competing to see which class logs the least amount of screen time and which class finds the most creative screen-free activity to do.
- K-5 students at the Kids 1st Afterschool Program in Crescent, CA will be participating in engaging, after school activities that will include physical fitness, enrichment, science, art and reader’s theater projects. The week will end with a family activity night where the students teach family members how to play traditional parlor games from the 1950’s.
- The School District of Chilton and >Chilton Area Catholic School have a variety of activities throughout the week including a family swim night and a couch potato design contest.
- PS 102 in Brooklyn, NY is celebrating its 14th Screen-Free Week with students discussing screen use and taking the screen-free pledge in class
- Students at Plymouth Grove Primary School in Manchester, United Kingdom are giving up screens for the week to raise money for charity.
- Bright Horizons at Tamien in San Jose, CA will host a family game night, sensory night, art night and family pasta dinner.
- Carmel Mountain Preschool in San Diego, CA is distributing “1,000 books to read before kindergarten” posters and stamps to keep track to all students for Screen-Free Week.
- The YMCA Children’s Center in Bethel, CT is throwing a fiesta with dinner and dancing to a live mariachi band.
- LearningWorks AfterSchool in Waterboro, ME is celebrating National Screen Free week by hosting a Family Game Night. Traditional board games will be available, as well as game show type games, and minute to win it games.
- Sunset Hills Elementary in Omaha, NE has a “Get Active” theme for Screen-Free Week, with a Bike rally and Taco ride, outdoor games, skating party, fun run, and prizes!