Tell a story about one or more characters who find a way to spend less time using their screen device. How do they unplug? Is there anything (or anyone) that helps them put away their smartphone or turn off their laptop? A hero perhaps? What does the character do instead?

In this activity, you’ll become a scientist of sorts and gather information about how you spend time using screen devices in your house. For families that want to spend less time on their phones, this can be an important first step. You might have a feeling about how you use your devices, but if you wrote a little about your screen time each day, what might you learn? Try this for several days and find out.

In this activity, you and your family will make a quick list of the technologies you use at home and how much time you spend using them. Next, as a group, you’ll come up with new and creative ways to spend less time on your devices and more time connecting with one another, for example, or exercising, pursuing your hobbies, cooking, or playing games together.

Gossip spreads quickly on social media, texting and group chats. Likewise, bullying has been a part of school communities for a long time, but social media, texting and screen devices give people more access to one another. This makes it easier for the drama to unfold.

When speaking, many people will use “like,” “um,” or “uh” to fill the silent space in a conversation. Other words you might here are “so” or “right.” This is a habit, but one you can modify. This activity helps to eliminate these fillers in conversation and build public speaking skills.