Are you unplugging this week? (Besides, of course, your momentary glance at this screen to get some great ideas — we’ll give you a pass, just this once.) Here are 20 screen-free activities to keep the kids engaged and having fun.

1. Go stargazing! On a clear night, go outside and see if you can identify any of the spring constellations. Here are just a few that should be visible because they are highest in the sky this time of year: Leo, Virgo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Cassiopeia. The star Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, is also known as the “little king” or “lion’s hear” (Cor Leonis). –from Camp Out by Lynn Brunelle (page 188)

2. Write with sunlight! Use a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto a soft piece of wood, like pine (don’t forget to wear sunglasses), and gradually move the beam of light over the wood to burn a message or a picture. –from Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun by Michael J. Caduto (page 88)

3. Free associate. Play this noncompetitive word game in which one person says a word, then next person calls out a word associated with that first word, the third person calls out a words associated with the second, and so on (example: love, tennis, court, supreme, Diana Ross…). At the end, see if you can recall it in reverse! –from The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson (page 105)

4. Make a “Life-Size Me”! Cut a piece of butcher paper about 12 inches longer than your child’s height. Place it on the floor, have your child lie on top of it, and trace your child’s outline. Your child can use crayons and markers to fill in the details — clothes, expressions, and any other add-ons! –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 142)

5. Make utensil-free fruit salad and take it on a picnic. Cut up approximately 1-inch chunks of fruits like cantaloupe, pineapple, pear, apple, banana, add some whole fruits like strawberries, grapes, and pitted cherries and slide them onto bamboo skewers. Yum! –from The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman (page 295)

6. Play the ABCs of groceries! Write the letters A through Z on index cards. Shuffle them up, and place the deck face down on the floor. Your children can take turns rolling a pair of dice and selecting a card. If you roll a 4, and turn over the B card, you call out 4 grocery items that start with the letter B: beans, bananas, bread, and beets! –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 295)

7. Make a simple rock sculpture. Collect some fist-sized flat rocks at the beach or park or in your backyard. Sort them by color or size or shape. Arrange them in a spiral or pile ‘em high! Make a stone fairy house or construct a miniature Stonehenge. –from Camp Out by Lynn Brunelle (page 264)

8. Have a cookbook scavenger hunt! Select a cookbook that includes the categories “Main Dishes” and “Desserts” (use rubber bands to close off the other portions of the book). Have your child pick a recipe, announce the category, and reveal the ingredients to you one by one. You get to take a guess after each ingredient. –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 274)

9. Plant a tree. Did you know that one billion pounds of carbon dioxide would be taken out of the atmosphere if every family planted just one tree? Keep a pair of binoculars handy — as the tree grows over the next months and years, you might spy some visitors: birds, squirrels, tree frogs. –from Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun by Michael J. Caduto (page 68)

10. Take a hike! Lace up an old pair of shoes (don’t break in those brand new boots now, or it’s blister city!) and a fresh pair of socks. Pack a layer (it often gets colder in the shade of trees and at higher altitudes when there’s more wind and less to block it), some snacks and water, a compass and map, sunscreen (and hat, and sunglasses) and insect repellent, and a basic first aid kit. And don’t forget to pack your camera, so you can show off the sights when you get back! –from Summer: A User’s Guide by  Suzanne Brown (page 86)

11. Make chocolate covered pretzels. (You can’t say that this isn’t better than TV!) Melt a 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips, open a 10-ounce bag of pretzel rods, and put any number of the following toppings on small plates: chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, sweetened flaked coconut, crushed cookies, miniature M&Ms or other tiny chocolate candies. Dip the pretzel rod about two-thirds of the way in the chocolate, then roll the pretzel rod in a topping and place them on a baking sheet until the chocolate hardens. (Variation: Dip strawberries instead!) –from The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman (page 293)

12. Build a clubhouse. This one’s obviously a bit more involved, but start with the plans — let your children brainstorm and draw the sorts of features they’d like. Write up a shopping list together, then take a trip to the local lumber yard and pick out the materials. Go ahead and build your dream house — square the foundation, set the cornerstones, and construct walls and windows. When it’s finished, draft rules, keep an activity log, and throw a clubhouse warming party! –from Keep Out by Lee Mothes

13. Run in a back-to-back race. Here’s another game to get people moving (and not too fast…). Have kids pair off back to back and link their arms at the elbows. Then it’s a race to the finish line! –from The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson (page 321)

14. Play toddler basketball. If your kids aren’t quite 7 feet tall yet, just grab a laundry basket or other small tub and a soft, medium-sized ball. Hold the basket at toddler height — and don’t forget that part of your job as basket tender is moving the basket to help catch the ball! –from Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner (page 54)

15. Play red light, green light. A perennial favorite, and one to really stop people in their tracks (ha!): One person is “it” and turns his/her back on the rest, who line up about 25 paces behind. “It” calls out “green light!” signaling the other players to advance, then whirls around and yells “red light!” to indicate a stop. If “It” catches anyone still moving, he or she is sent back to the starting line. First one to reach “It” wins! –from The Games Bible by Leigh Anderson (page 321)

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What do you plan to do to unplug? And if you haven’t taken the screen-free pledge this week, head over to the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood to sign up! Let us know in the comments what you’re doing to unplug, and you could win a copy of one of the books mentioned above.

Like many kids who grew up in suburban New England, I spent a lot of my childhood outdoors. Yes, I did enjoy reading on the top bunk/bed-fort, but I also liked to climb the pine tree in my back yard and build enormous snow castles at the end of my driveway. (These were also good places to read.)

Despite a love of nature, I never once went camping as a child—at least not what I considered real camping. My parents weren’t (and still aren’t) really into the whole not-sleeping-in-a-bed thing, so they didn’t take me and my siblings on any trips that involved mosquitoes or canned food or “roughing it.” Another problem was my mindset: To me, camping required lots of gear, none of which we had. Okay, we had sleeping bags, but they were cotton and covered with pictures of Snoopy and the gang—no waterproof exterior, no thermal lining, more appropriate for the living room rug than the forest floor. We couldn’t cook a hot-dog or roast marshmallows because we didn’t have a camping stove, and our parents certainly wouldn’t allow us to start a roaring campfire without their help. And, probably the clincher, we didn’t even have a tent. Talk about pathetic.

Thinking back, I shouldn’t have felt so hopeless, because the truth is that I really did do a lot of camping, just not in the traditional sense. I never pitched a tent, but I did spend more than one night sleeping on a friend’s backyard trampoline. And roasting marshmallows was a bit of a Fourth of a July tradition in our neighborhood; granted, they were roasted over the barbecue, but the s’mores surely tasted just as sweet.

All this (phew!) to say that it’s August, and summer is winding down, and you should definitely give “real” camping a try if you’re able. Below is an excerpt from Camp Out!, the ultimate guide to camping for kids, that details the intricacies of finding the perfect spot for your tent, and what to do once you’re set up. And remember that you can still have fun even if the “perfect spot” for your tent just happens to be your living room.

As for me, I still haven’t parked myself in the woods for a night, but I’ve come close the few times that I’ve gone to Bonnaroo, an annual music and arts festival in Tennessee. There am I in front of my tent with a real camping stove and a really large number of mosquito bites. Perfection.

From Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids’ Guide, by Lynne Brunelle
Location, Location, Location
No matter what type of tent you have, before you put it anywhere, think about the location in terms of water, sun, slope (is it on a hill or in a ditch?), ground surface, and wind. Tents are incredible contraptions, but they work best when smartly placed. After all, the tent is your outdoor bedroom; in some ways, it’s the most important room in the “house”!

• Stay dry. Though it may seem ideal to pitch your tent on the banks of a pretty lake or near that pond in your yard, you should always be at least 200 feet from any water. Being next to water can mean you’ll wake up drenched in dew. Water evaporates from the body of water and forms a cloud as the night air cools. Land around a body of water gets a bigger share of the moisture or dew. Also, water is where mosquitoes and other biting insects live, which means that if you’re near water when the sun goes down—insect feeding time—you’ll be on the menu for dinner. Instead, pitch your tent away from water. Find a well-drained spot that is on high ground and avoid dips and depressions—if you pitch your tent on low ground or in a dip and it rains, you’ll be snoozing in a puddle.
• Made in the shade. It’s usually best to put your tent in a shady spot, if possible, especially if you’ll be staying for more than one night. If the sun bears down on your tent all day, it will feel like an oven when you get back from frolicking in the woods. (Plus, too much sun exposure can weaken the fabric, making it more susceptible to tears and leaks.) If there are no trees around, try finding a natural feature that can block the sun, like a boulder.
• Be grounded. Seek out a smooth, flat patch that will fit your tent comfortably. If the ground slopes everywhere you look, you can still pitch your tent, but make sure you arrange it so your head will be uphill. Move away any rocks, large pebbles, sticks, or debris so you won’t be lying on top of them. But remember that this stuff isn’t garbage, it’s part of the environment—leave it nearby so you can replace it after you’ve taken down your tent. You want to leave a campground nicer than you found it, so the next family that comes by can enjoy it too.
• Fresh air. If you’re going to a car camping site with bathrooms, check to see where the camp toilets are and which way the wind is blowing. You want to be close enough to use the bathroom easily, but not so close you can smell it—after all, you want fresh air! If you’re in a remote area where you have to dig your own pit toilet, make sure you set it up at least 200 feet away from water, trails, and camp, and downwind (the wind direction might change, of course, but at least you gave it a shot).
• Don’t get winded. Choose a place that will be protected from the wind should it kick up. You don’t want your rain flap to fly around too much or blow away.
• Flee from fire. Pitch your tent a good distance from your fire pit and kitchen area. Fire makes sparks, sparks can land on tents, and sparks on tents can equal fire—which equals bad news. You also want to steer clear of pitching a tent near your kitchen or dishwashing area, because animals are attracted to the scent of food.

Settling In
Once your tent is set up, go on in and make yourself at home. Roll out your sleeping pad and sleeping bag and let them sit while you explore your site. Next, air out your tent, which can get a bit stuffy and funky-smelling: Open the windows, keep the screens closed, and let the air (not the bugs) flow through. If weather permits, leave your backpack or duffel bag outside the tent to maximize space inside. Cover it with a garbage bag so it doesn’t get soaked with morning dew.