What Are Some Screen-Free Ideas for EYFS?
Screen-free activities for EYFS should encourage children to move, talk, play, create, investigate and interact with real people and real objects.
You do not need complicated activities or expensive resources.
Simple screen-free ideas include outdoor play, loose parts, water play, mud play, stories, singing, dancing, building, drawing, mark-making, sensory play, gardening, role play, puzzles, construction and nature exploration.
The important thing is not replacing a tablet with another adult-directed task.
It is giving children rich experiences that let them participate actively.
For a more comprehensive guide, read this handbook: The Complete Guide to Early Years Outdoors.
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Why Is Screen-Free Play Important in the Early Years?
Young children develop through relationships, movement, play and real-world experiences.
A screen cannot fully recreate the experience of talking to another person, climbing, building, touching mud, listening to a live story or investigating something in nature.
The Department for Education’s current guidance says screens should not replace physical activity, time outdoors, stories or high-quality interaction with adults and other children.
It specifically states that interactive, screen-free activities are preferable.
For children under two, screen use should generally be avoided except in exceptional circumstances such as video calls.
For children aged two to five, screen time should be limited to one hour a day, and less where possible.
20 Simple Screen-Free Ideas for EYFS
You do not need a complicated activity plan.
Try outdoor chalk drawing, mud kitchens, den building, water pouring, stick collecting, stone sorting, cardboard box construction, singing nursery rhymes, action songs, dancing, story sacks, role play, playdough, painting, gardening, nature hunts, threading, puzzles, building blocks, loose parts play.
Many of these activities support several areas of learning at the same time.
A child building with cardboard, for example, may be developing physical skills, communication, mathematical thinking, creativity and problem-solving.
Screen-Free Outdoor Activities
One of the simplest alternatives to screen time is to go outside.
Children can run, climb, balance, dig, collect, transport, build and investigate.
Try puddle jumping, measuring sticks, collecting leaves, building dens, making nature pictures, creating obstacle courses, exploring shadows, washing toys outside, moving water through guttering or creating giant chalk drawings.
Outdoor play naturally encourages movement and real-world interaction.
Explore: Outdoor Play EYFS: The Complete Guide
Discover: Early Years Outdoor Learning: The Beginner’s Guide
Screen-Free Loose Parts Play
Loose parts are ideal for screen-free play because there is no predetermined outcome.
Offer children sticks, stones, pinecones, cardboard, fabric, crates, tubes, wooden discs, containers, baskets and natural materials.
Let children decide what they become.
A cardboard box could become a boat, shop, bed, house or spaceship.
A collection of sticks might become a picture, number line, road or building.
Loose parts encourage children to generate ideas rather than waiting for entertainment.
Explore: Loose Parts Play EYFS: The Complete Guide
Screen-Free Literacy Ideas
You do not need an app to develop early literacy.
Try reading stories together, retelling familiar stories, singing rhymes, playing listening games, creating puppets, making story maps, drawing outside with chalk, making signs for role play, hunting for sounds and telling stories using natural objects.
One of the biggest advantages of a live story is interaction.
Adults can change their voice, pause, respond to children’s reactions, ask questions and encourage children to join in.
The DfE guidance specifically notes that a story, rhyme or song delivered on a screen cannot replicate the richness of an engaged adult responding directly to children.
Screen-Free Maths Ideas
Early mathematics can be incredibly practical.
Try counting stones, sorting leaves, comparing sticks, building towers, making patterns, measuring puddles, filling containers, creating giant number lines, matching quantities and exploring shapes outdoors.
Children can physically experience concepts such as more, less, taller, shorter, heavier, lighter, full and empty.
That experience gives mathematical language meaning.
Screen-Free Phonics Ideas
Phonics does not need to happen on a tablet.
Try sound hunts, oral blending games, action songs, chalk graphemes, sorting real objects by initial sound, making letters from sticks, tracing letters in mud or sand and playing listening games outdoors.
Children can move while they learn.
The aim is not simply to replace a digital phonics activity with a worksheet.
Keep it active and playful.
Screen-Free Movement Activities
Young children need movement.
Try obstacle courses, balancing, dancing, jumping games, crawling challenges, beanbag throwing, carrying and transporting, action rhymes, bike and scooter play and follow-the-leader games.
Movement can also be built into curriculum learning.
Children can jump along number lines, move between sounds, act out stories or physically represent shapes.
Screen-Free Sensory Play
Sensory play can be extremely simple.
Water, mud, sand, playdough, clay, leaves, herbs, ice and natural materials can all provide rich sensory experiences.
Children can pour, squeeze, mix, dig, roll, smell, scoop and manipulate.
For children with SEND, sensory experiences should always be adapted to individual preferences and needs.
Not every child will enjoy the same textures, sounds or environments.
Screen-Free Activities for Babies
Babies do not need digital entertainment.
Try tummy time, songs, peekaboo, simple books, sensory baskets, outdoor blankets, mirrors, fabric, natural light, movement and conversations.
Even walking outdoors and watching leaves moving in the wind can provide rich sensory stimulation.
The current early-years guidance recommends avoiding screen time for children under two except in exceptional circumstances.
Screen-Free Activities for Toddlers
Toddlers often love repetitive, practical experiences.
Try filling and emptying containers, transporting objects, water play, stacking blocks, drawing, dancing, simple puzzles, cardboard boxes, digging, sorting objects and outdoor exploration.
Repetition is valuable.
A toddler may pour the same container twenty times.
They are not “doing nothing”.
They are learning how the world works.
Screen-Free Ideas for Nursery
Nursery children can manage increasingly complex play.
Try den building, loose parts construction, mud kitchens, role play, gardening, painting, nature investigations, story-making and collaborative building projects.
Allow children enough uninterrupted time for their play to develop.
Screen-free does not need to mean adults constantly introducing another activity.
Sometimes the best resource is time.
Screen-Free Ideas for Reception
Reception children can still learn actively and through play.
Try outdoor maths, phonics trails, story acting, chalk writing, construction challenges, nature science, physical number games and practical problem-solving.
A screen may occasionally have an intentional educational use, but it does not need to become the default way children practise skills.
What Can We Do Instead of Using Screens During Transitions?
Transitions can be a tempting time to put something on a screen.
Instead, try songs, rhymes, breathing games, oral stories, listening games, simple movement, finger rhymes, conversation or giving children a small practical responsibility.
The DfE guidance specifically advises settings not to use screens simply to occupy children during transition periods or as a behaviour-management tool.
What Can We Do Instead of Using Screens to Calm Children?
Screens can distract children, but distraction is not the same as learning to regulate.
Try offering a quiet space, sensory resources, books, movement, familiar songs, outdoor time, a trusted adult, breathing activities or a predictable calming routine.
Children develop regulation through supportive relationships and repeated experiences.
The new guidance advises against using screens to calm children or manage behaviour because this can interfere with the development of self-regulation.
Do Early Years Settings Have to Be Completely Screen-Free?
No.
The new guidance does not say every early years setting must remove every screen.
It says screen use should be limited, carefully planned and linked to a clear learning or developmental purpose.
Adults should co-engage with children rather than allowing passive viewing.
Screen use should also not replace outdoor play, movement, stories or meaningful interaction.
From 1 September 2026, EYFS providers must follow this screen-use guidance.
What About Children With SEND Who Use Screens to Communicate?
This is an important exception.
Screen-based assistive technology can be essential for some children with SEND.
The recommended screen-time limits do not apply to assistive technology used for communication, wellbeing or quality of life.
A screen-free approach should therefore never remove communication tools that a child genuinely needs.
Should Early Years Settings Create Screen-Free Areas?
This can be a useful approach.
The DfE guidance suggests settings consider permanently screen-free spaces to protect opportunities for social interaction and learning.
You might decide that your book area, outdoor environment, mealtimes or particular areas of continuous provision remain screen-free.
This can help stop screens becoming a default part of every experience.
Screen-Free Does Not Mean More Worksheets
Reducing screen use should not mean replacing tablets with paperwork.
Young children need active experiences.
If we remove a screen and immediately sit children down with worksheets, we may still be missing the point.
Instead, think:
Can children move?
Can they talk?
Can they touch something?
Can they build?
Can they investigate?
Can they create?
Can they play?
Can they interact with another person?
Screen-free early years practice should feel more human, more active and more playful.
Keep Screen-Free Provision Simple
You do not need to provide twenty activities every day.
Start with simple resources that children can use repeatedly.
Cardboard, chalk, water, mud, blocks, books, fabric, natural materials, baskets and loose parts can provide enormous possibilities.
A stripped-back environment can actually encourage children to develop their own ideas rather than constantly waiting for the next source of entertainment.
Frequently Asked Questions About Screen-Free EYFS Activities
What can I give children instead of a tablet?
Try books, blocks, loose parts, puzzles, drawing materials, playdough, sensory resources, outdoor activities and imaginative play.
How much screen time should a 3-year-old have?
Current government early-years guidance recommends that children aged two to five have no more than one hour of screen time per day, and less where possible.
Should children under two have screen time?
Current guidance says screen time should generally be avoided for children under two except in exceptional circumstances, such as video calls with parents or carers.
Are educational apps okay in EYFS?
An app being labelled educational does not automatically mean it is appropriate. Screen use should be intentional, age appropriate, supervised and linked to a clear learning purpose.
Can children learn phonics without screens?
Absolutely. Phonics can be taught through songs, listening, movement, oral blending, real objects, stories, chalk and practical activities.
Are screens banned in EYFS from September 2026?
No. Screens are not banned. From 1 September 2026, providers must have regard to the new DfE screen-use guidance, which emphasises limiting screen use and prioritising interactive, real-world experiences.
Start With Real Experiences
Children do not need constant entertainment.
They need experiences.
They need adults.
They need movement.
They need conversation.
They need stories.
They need nature.
They need objects they can manipulate.
They need opportunities to create their own ideas.
And they need time to play.
Reducing screen use does not mean making early years practice harder.
In many cases, it means making it simpler.
Put the screen away.
Take out a cardboard box.
Open the door.
And see what the children do.
Explore More Screen-Free EYFS Ideas
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