Screen-Free Holidays: How to Keep Children Off Devices When You're Away

Screen-free holidays sound like a punishment. For most families who try them, they turn out to be the opposite. The holiday where nobody had their phone out and there was a game of boules every afternoon and the children built something on the beach every morning is almost always the holiday families remember most clearly, most warmly, and most often. The holiday where everyone scrolled for a week is the holiday they remember least. The research on this is not surprising. The lived experience of parents who have tried it is not surprising. What is surprising is how few families plan for it deliberately, and how much difference the planning makes.

Why Holidays Are the Highest-Risk Screen Moment

Holidays present the highest-risk screen environment most families face, for a specific structural reason: the schedule that normally limits screen time has been removed. School, activities, bedtimes, and routines all impose external structure that caps the screen day at a manageable level. On holiday, none of these exist. The child who had two hours of screen time on a school day discovers that on holiday, no limit is being enforced. The two hours becomes four, then six, then the entire afternoon.

The screen-free holiday is not about banning devices for a week. It is about creating enough structure and enough compelling alternatives that screens are not the default activity for every unplanned hour. The planning required is specific and front-loaded: it happens before the holiday, not during it. A family that arrives at a holiday cottage with a bag of outdoor games, a chess set, and a plan for the first morning has already done the hardest work.

The Screen-Free Holiday Toolkit

The Boot of the Car: Pack Before You Leave

The single most effective screen-free holiday strategy is what goes in the boot of the car before the journey. Games that are already packed, already accessible, and require no additional purchases at the destination. The Jaques of London Garden Boule Set comes in a carry case and works on grass, gravel, hard standing, and park paths. The Garden Quoits Set comes in a bag and sets up in thirty seconds. The Junior Boules for younger children, also in a carry case. These three items fit in any car boot and provide the outdoor activity infrastructure that makes a screen-free holiday achievable. Add to Bag

The First Morning: Establish the Pattern

The first morning of a holiday determines the pattern for the rest of it. A family that gets outside on the first morning, before phones have been checked and before the screen default has been established, is a family that has set the holiday's tone. Outdoor game in the garden or nearest park. A walk with a destination. Something that requires physical activity and produces fresh air before any screen has been turned on.

The Jaques of London Family Rounders Set is the perfect first-morning game for a holiday with enough outdoor space: it requires everyone to participate, it produces sustained physical activity, and it generates the collective energy and mild competitive heat that makes the morning feel purposeful rather than drifting. Add to Bag

The Afternoon Fallback: When Energy Dips

The screen moment most likely to happen on holiday is the post-lunch afternoon: everyone is full, energy has dipped, and the screen is the easiest bridge to the next activity. The screen-free afternoon needs a specific, low-energy alternative that can start without setup and sustain attention for an hour without requiring physical effort.

For families with younger children, this is where the Jaques of London Wooden Activity Cube from twelve months or the Early Years Stacker from twelve months earn their place in the holiday bag. For older children and adults, a game of draughts or chess at a table, unhurried, screen-free, face-to-face, is the afternoon activity that the holiday is designed to make possible but that the normal week rarely allows. Add to Bag

Evening Games: The Family Time That Screens Displace

The holiday evening, after the day's activity, before bed, when the family is together with nowhere else to be, is the specific time that screen-free families identify as the most valuable of the whole holiday. A game of Ludo. A game of Snakes and Ladders. A strategy game that takes the whole evening because nobody is in a hurry to finish. This is the family time that the normal week's screens displace and that the holiday, if well prepared, can restore.

The Jaques of London traditional games range, Ludo introduced to Britain by Jaques in 1896, Snakes and Ladders, dominoes, are designed for exactly this. They travel well, they require no electricity, and they produce the sustained shared engagement that the holiday is actually for.

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  Pack before you leaveThe outdoor games that are already in the boot get played. The ones left at home do not. A boules set, a quoits set, and a family rounders set take up minimal space and provide the physical activity infrastructure for the whole holiday.
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  Outside first, every morningThe family that gets outdoors before any screen has been turned on has set the day's tone. Outdoor activity before breakfast is easier on holiday than at home, no school run, no commute, no pressure. Use the extra time.
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  Adults off screens tooA screen-free holiday that applies to children but not parents is not a screen-free holiday. It is a resentment-building exercise. The parent who puts their phone away and plays boules for an hour is doing something more powerful than any rule about device use.
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  Evening game every eveningMake the after-dinner game a holiday ritual. Not an occasional treat. Every evening. This is the most easily achievable screen-free commitment and produces the most consistent positive memory across the whole trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep children off screens on holiday?

The most effective approach is preparation rather than restriction. Pack outdoor games before the holiday. Plan an outdoor activity for the first morning. Establish an evening game as a daily ritual. Make the screen-free alternative the most accessible and appealing option at the moments when screens are most tempting: the post-lunch afternoon and the after-dinner evening. Prepared environments beat rules every time.

What are the best outdoor games to take on a UK holiday?

Boules is the most versatile: it works on grass, gravel, beach, and park path, fits in a small bag, and plays from two to eight people with no setup required. Quoits packs flat and plays on any surface. A family rounders set provides the most physical activity and works best in open park or beach spaces. A chess or draughts set provides the evening option for all ages.

Do screen-free holidays actually work?

Yes, consistently. Research on screen breaks shows measurable improvement in mood, sleep, and family connection within forty-eight hours of reduced screen exposure. Parents who report the most positive holiday experiences consistently describe holidays where screens were minimal and outdoor games, evening games, and unstructured outdoor time were the main activities. The pattern is so consistent that it has been noted by researchers studying family holiday satisfaction specifically.