Why I Created a ‘Screen-Free Parenting App’ for Kids’ Activities (And I Need Your Feedback)
Last Saturday, I stood at the kitchen counter stirring burnt coffee, staring at my two kids propped against the couch, both craning their necks to see my old phone propped between them. It was 8:12 a.m., we’d already eaten breakfast, put away the Legos, and turned down a walk around the block because a steady drizzle was turning the sidewalk gray. “Find something to do,” I’d said 10 minutes earlier, and this is what they found. I get it. I do the exact same thing when my brain goes blank and I don’t know what to do next—I reach for my phone. But that day, the thought I’d been turning over for months clicked into place: why is every kids’ activity idea locked behind a screen?
I’ve been a part-time preschool teacher for 8 years, and a full-time mom to a 7-year-old and 4-year-old for just as long. I’ve pinned hundreds of activity ideas on Pinterest that I’ve never looked at again. I’ve downloaded three different kids’ activity apps that ended up sending me 10 notifications a day and eventually got deleted when I needed storage for family photos. I’ve made the fancy activity jar with handwritten slips, only to watch the slips get crumpled, lost under the couch, or pulled out all at once and strewn across the floor by my toddler.
None of it worked for the small, boring, everyday moments when you need an idea fast: the 25-minute wait at the pediatrician’s office, the road trip construction delay that has you parked on the side of the highway, the rainy Tuesday afternoon when you need 15 minutes to answer a work email and the kids have already gone through every toy in the playroom.
That’s how I got the idea for a screen-free “app.” It’s not actually an app you download—it’s a physical deck of small, credit-card sized cards, sized to slip into any purse, glove compartment, or diaper bag pocket. Each card has one simple, low-prep activity on it, no special supplies required. I cut a prototype out of old cardstock a couple months back, tucked it into an empty mint tin, and started testing it.
The first real test was that doctor’s wait I mentioned a few weeks back. My kids were already bouncing off the vinyl chairs, begging to play my phone, when I pulled the tin out of my bag. “Pick a card,” I told them. My 7-year-old pulled one that said, “Make up a story where one character is a sock and the other is a doorknob.” They sat cross-legged on the waiting room floor and brainstormed for 22 minutes (I counted, because I was checking the clock waiting for the nurse) until our name was called. No fighting, no screen, no begging. It worked so well I was almost shocked.
I’ve kept the prototype in my bag since, and I pull it out at least once a week. Last month, we were at a playdate where the kids got bored of the dollhouse and the blocks and started arguing over who got to use the host’s tablet. I pulled out my tin, they picked “have a three-legged race across the backyard,” and everyone ran around screaming for 40 minutes while the adults got to finish our iced coffee. Last week, when I needed to fold laundry after dinner, my 4-year-old pulled a card that said “pretend to be a cat chasing a red dot” and chased the sun spot from the window all around the living room while I worked.
The insight here, from what I’ve seen working with kids and raising my own, is that kids don’t need fancy, expensive activities. They just need a nudge. Most of the time, when they say “I’m bored” and beg for a screen, it’s not that they have nothing to do—it’s that their own brains are stuck, and they can’t come up with a starting point. A 5-word suggestion on a card is all that’s needed to get them going. I don’t have to plan anything, I don’t have to buy anything, I just hand them the starting line.
All the activity card sets I’ve seen are either overpriced, full of activities that require you to go buy special craft supplies, or targeted only to toddlers. I wanted something simple, for kids 3 to 10, that works for any situation. My rules for the activities are straightforward: you already own everything you need to do it, it can be done alone or with a group, and it can take 5 minutes or an hour, whatever you have time for. Some are quiet for waiting rooms, some are active for burning energy outside.
Right now, I’m getting ready to print a small first batch of durable, water-resistant cards to share, and I’m trying to figure out if this is actually something other parents want. I’m stuck on a few small things, too: should I add 5 blank cards at the end so parents can write in their own family’s favorite activities, or keep the deck small and slim to fit easily in bags? Do categories (quiet, indoor, outdoor, creative) help, or is it better to just shuffle and pick any card at random?
I know it’s a simple idea, and some people will say it’s easier to just pull up a free list of activities on your phone. But when you’re already holding a crying toddler, or you’re stuck in a dead zone with no service, or you don’t want to hand over your phone just to get an idea that turns into screen time anyway, a physical deck that’s always in your bag works better. For me, it’s cut down on the number of times my kids end up on a screen when I’m too tired to think of an activity, and it’s given them more practice coming up with their own fun once they get that first nudge.
This morning, my 4-year-old pulled the prototype out of the junk drawer on her own, picked the “hunt for three things softer than a sponge” card, and dragged her brother around the house looking for items. I got to finish my coffee while it was still hot. That’s enough of a win for me to want to share it, but I want to hear what you think. Have you ever been in that spot, bored and stuck reaching for a screen just to fill 10 minutes? Would you keep a deck of these in your bag, or is this just one more thing to clutter up your already overstuffed life? I’m listening.
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