Screens are an increasingly familiar part of children’s everyday lives. From educational programmes and interactive games to videos and digital activities, technology offers opportunities for entertainment, learning and communication.
However, as children’s experiences become increasingly digital, it is worth considering the importance of making time for something much simpler: creating with our hands.
A piece of paper, a handful of crayons, some paint or a collection of interesting materials can offer children opportunities to investigate, experiment, imagine and make decisions for themselves.
Screen-free art is not about rejecting technology or expecting families to fill every spare moment with carefully planned activities.
It is about recognising the value of giving children time to explore the physical world, express their ideas and connect with the people around them.
1. Why are we talking about screen-free experiences?
In May 2026, Ofcom published its latest research into children’s media use in the UK.
The findings highlighted how early digital experiences are becoming part of childhood. Ofcom reported that 85% of parents of children aged between six months and two years said their child had looked at a screen.
For older children, digital technology is increasingly integrated into everyday leisure and communication.
This does not mean that all screen use is harmful. Digital experiences can offer opportunities for learning, creativity and connection, particularly when they are age-appropriate and shared with adults.
However, it raises an important question: are children still getting enough opportunities to explore, create and play away from screens?
In March 2026, the government published the findings of its independent Early Years Screen Time Advisory Group, followed by updated guidance for families.
The government’s Best Start in Life guidance recommends avoiding screen time for children under two, apart from shared activities that encourage interaction, and aiming for no more than one hour a day for children aged two to five, with less where possible.
These recommendations relate specifically to young children, rather than setting a universal limit for all primary-aged pupils.
The wider message is about balance: ensuring that screen use does not replace important experiences such as sleep, physical activity, conversation, play and real-world exploration.
Creative activities can be one enjoyable part of achieving that balance.
2. Creativity begins with exploration
Children are naturally curious about materials and the world around them.
They may be fascinated by the marks a pencil leaves on paper, the way colours mix together or the different shapes they can make with cardboard.
These experiences might appear simple, but they provide opportunities for children to observe, investigate, experiment and make decisions.
The Department for Education’s guidance on imagination and creativity in the early years encourages practitioners to:
“Give children enough space and time to experience and explore.”
Department for Education, Help for Early Years Providers: Imagination and Creativity.
This is an important principle for both classrooms and homes.
Sometimes adults approach art with an expectation of what the finished piece should look like. We might prepare a particular craft, demonstrate an example and guide children towards recreating it.
There can be value in teaching specific techniques and introducing children to new ways of working. However, children also need opportunities to make choices and discover what materials can do without being directed towards a predetermined outcome.
A child who spends time mixing colours, repeatedly drawing lines or investigating how paper tears may be exploring something meaningful to them.
The value of these experiences is not necessarily found in the finished artwork, but in the decisions, discoveries and experimentation that happen along the way.
3. Art creates opportunities for connection
One of the most valuable aspects of creative activity is the opportunity it provides for adults and children to spend time together.
The NHS highlights the importance of everyday play and shared activities for children’s emotional and physical development.
Its guidance on playtime and bonding with toddlers encourages parents to follow their child’s interests and join in with their play.
Art can provide a natural opportunity for this.
Sitting alongside a child who is painting, drawing or making something creates moments for conversation, observation and shared enjoyment.
Rather than directing every stage of the activity, adults can notice what the child is doing, describe their discoveries and respond to their interests.
For example, noticing how two colours have mixed might lead to further experimentation. A drawing could become the starting point for a conversation or imaginative story.
Sometimes children want adults to join in. At other times, they prefer to explore for themselves.
Both experiences can be valuable.
The important part is not creating something impressive together, but making space for connection and allowing children to lead their own creative decisions.
4. The benefits go beyond making art
Art experiences can support several interconnected areas of children’s development.
Fine motor development
Holding crayons, manipulating paper, using brushes and working with modelling materials give children opportunities to practise controlled movements.
The NHS identifies play as important for both fine and gross motor development.
Language and communication
Creative experiences can encourage conversation about colours, textures, shapes, materials and ideas.
Children may describe what they are doing, explain decisions or develop imaginative stories around their creations.
Problem-solving
Making art frequently involves challenges.
A material might not behave as expected, a structure might fall over or a child may want to change something they have made.
These moments create opportunities to try different approaches, make adjustments and explore solutions.
Confidence and independence
When children have opportunities to make their own creative decisions, they can develop a greater sense of ownership over what they produce.
The Department for Education’s early years guidance particularly emphasises the importance of valuing children’s individual responses, rather than expecting everyone to reach the same outcome.
These benefits are not unique to art. Outdoor play, construction, music, imaginative play and many other activities also provide valuable developmental experiences.
However, art is a particularly accessible way to bring several of these opportunities together.
5. The importance of protecting creative time
For those of us working in primary education, the value of creative experiences is familiar.
The National Curriculum for Art and Design expects pupils to develop the knowledge and skills to:
“experiment, invent and create”
Department for Education, National Curriculum in England: Art and Design Programmes of Study, 2013.
These experiences should not be limited to timetabled art lessons.
Creative thinking develops through opportunities to investigate ideas, revisit materials and make independent choices.
AccessArt, a UK charity supporting visual arts education, advocates for regular opportunities for children to engage in creative practice.
Its guidance on making time for sketchbooks in schools encourages a little-and-often approach, helping pupils build habits of experimentation and creative thinking.
This is a useful reminder that meaningful art experiences do not always require an entire afternoon.
A short period of drawing, a few minutes investigating materials or the opportunity to revisit an unfinished creation can all have value.
For schools, this might mean protecting time for sketchbooks or independent exploration alongside planned curriculum teaching.
At home, it might simply mean keeping a few materials accessible and allowing children to use them when inspiration strikes.
6. Making screen-free creativity achievable at home
One of the challenges for families is knowing where to begin.
Social media can sometimes make children’s art activities appear more complicated than they need to be, with elaborate setups, specialist materials and beautifully presented finished pieces.
In reality, meaningful art experiences can be much simpler.
A few accessible ideas include:
- Create a small art space: Keep paper and age-appropriate drawing materials somewhere accessible so children can return to them regularly.
- Offer an invitation, not an instruction: Place a few interesting materials together and allow children to decide what to do with them.
- Make use of everyday resources: Paper, cardboard and suitable clean packaging can become useful creative materials.
- Allow time for repetition: Children may want to explore the same materials or techniques repeatedly before moving on.
- Celebrate discoveries: Show interest in children’s experimentation, choices and ideas rather than focusing entirely on what they have produced.
For younger children, activities should always be appropriately supervised, particularly when using tools, small parts or other materials that may present safety risks.
The aim is not to produce a finished piece of artwork every day.
It is to help creativity become a familiar and enjoyable part of family life.
7. Creativity doesn’t need to be complicated
There is something reassuring about the simplicity of making art.
Children do not always need an elaborate activity, a model to copy or an adult explaining what to do next.
Sometimes, they just need an opportunity to begin.
A few marks on paper might become something unexpected. A collection of cardboard shapes might lead to an imaginative construction. A painting might become an exploration of colour rather than a picture of something recognisable.
The process may last five minutes or much longer.
And not every invitation will capture every child’s interest.
That is part of allowing children to develop their own relationship with creativity.
When we make time for art, we are offering something more than an alternative to a screen.
We are offering children opportunities to explore, make decisions, express themselves and experience the satisfaction of creating something in their own way.
Final thought
Technology will continue to play an important role in children’s lives, and there are many ways it can support learning, creativity and communication.
But physical creative experiences offer something different.
The opportunity to feel materials, experiment with possibilities, respond to unexpected discoveries and share moments of attention with others.
Perhaps instead of asking how to eliminate screens entirely, we should ask:
How can we make more room in children’s lives for the creative experiences that screens cannot fully replace?
Sometimes the answer might be as simple as putting out some paper and seeing what happens.
Introducing Home Studio: Creativity Beyond the Classroom
By Hannah, Founder of The Primary Art Network
As a primary school teacher and a parent, I’ve become increasingly interested in how we can make meaningful art experiences accessible to children beyond the classroom.
I know that family life is busy, and that finding the time, space and inspiration for creative activities at home is not always straightforward.
That’s why I’ve been developing CREATE TOGETHER – The Primary Art Network Home Studio Approach.
Home Studio is a collection of 24 thoughtfully designed creative invitations, intended to help families introduce simple, screen-free art experiences into everyday life.
The approach is rooted in many of the same principles I value in primary art education: creativity, exploration, independence and valuing the process rather than expecting a particular finished outcome.
The invitations are designed primarily for young children from approximately two years old, with opportunities to adapt and extend experiences as children grow.
Parents do not need specialist art knowledge or expensive equipment. The aim is to make meaningful creative time feel achievable, enjoyable and accessible.
I’ll be sharing more about Home Studio through The Primary Art Network as it develops.
For those of you who are also parents, or who work with families interested in creative learning at home, I hope it will offer a useful way to extend the value of art beyond the classroom.
References and further reading
Ofcom (2026). Children’s Media Use and Attitudes: 2026 Research.
Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (2026). Screen Use by Children Aged Under 5.
UK Government, Best Start in Life (2026). Screen Time Guidance for Under-5s.
NHS, Best Start in Life. Playtime Activities and Bonding With Your Toddler.
Department for Education. Imagination and Creativity: Help for Early Years Providers.
Department for Education (2013). National Curriculum in England: Art and Design Programmes of Study.
AccessArt. Making Time for Sketchbooks in Schools.
Reference note: This original article has been written for The Primary Art Network and draws on published research and professional guidance from Ofcom, the NHS, the Department for Education and AccessArt. Direct quotations are identified and attributed to their original sources. The Home Studio section introduces The Primary Art Network’s own creative approach and is not presented as a product endorsed by these organisations.
