Screen-free activities for kids: 30 drawing ideas

Drawing is one of the easiest screen-free activities for kids: it needs only paper and a pencil, works at any age and can hold attention for a long time. The trick is to make it as easy to start as a screen. Keep supplies out, have a few go-to ideas ready, and offer drawing at the moments kids usually reach for a tablet.

Make drawing the easy choice

• Supplies within reach. A caddy on the table, not a cupboard. See setting up a kids’ art corner.
• Ready-made ideas. A list on the fridge, a book on the shelf or a prompt generator.
• A routine. After school, after dinner, Saturday morning.
• Your company. Sit down and draw for five minutes. Kids follow.

30 screen-free drawing ideas

Quick (5 to 10 minutes)

1. Trace and color a character.
2. A step-by-step cartoon from a free lesson.
3. Draw your breakfast as a monster.
4. Turn a squiggle into a creature.
5. A face with a different feeling. See cartoon expressions.
6. Draw your pet.
7. Draw something with your eyes closed.
8. Doodle patterns in a shape.
9. Draw the weather outside.
10. Copy a grid drawing one row at a time.

Games (for two or more)

1. The squiggle game.
2. Draw what I describe.
3. Exquisite corpse: fold, draw, pass.
4. Pictionary with cartoon characters.
5. Drawing tag: add one line each, take turns.

More in drawing games for kids.

Projects (30 minutes or more)

1. A four-panel comic. See make a comic with kids.
2. A tiny picture book. See make your own picture book.
3. A map of an invented world.
4. A full grid drawing. See what is grid drawing?
5. Design a board game and draw the board.
6. A family portrait as cartoon animals.
7. A poster for a made-up movie.
8. Draw and cut out paper puppets.
9. Cards for friends and family. See turning drawings into gifts.
10. A home art show. See host a kids’ art show.

Outdoors

1. Sidewalk chalk monsters.
2. Draw a tree from life.
3. Nature scavenger hunt drawings.
4. Draw bugs you find (no touching!).
5. Cloud creatures: look up, then draw what you see.

A gentle screen swap plan

1. Pick one regular screen time to swap, like the first 20 minutes after school.
2. Set out paper, crayons and one idea.
3. Draw alongside your child for the first few days.
4. Celebrate the drawings on the fridge.

Don’t make it a battle. Screen-free time works best when it feels like a treat, not a punishment.

More ideas

See 100 things to draw when bored, rainy day activities and quiet time activities. We’ve also written about screen time alternatives.

The book that helps

A drawing book on the shelf is a ready-made screen swap. The Cartoon Robots trio covers ages 3 to 12.

Trace Then Color: Cartoon RobotsSee it on Amazon

How to Draw: Cartoon RobotsSee it on Amazon

Draw by Grid: Cartoon RobotsSee it on Amazon

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