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Let's be real here. I love Netflix as much as the next person, but it's time to turn off the TV!
This list could also be called 101 things to do with your kids, or friends, or just out in the real world – it's all about getting up away from the tube.
Turn Off The TV And Do These 100 Things Instead
1. Read my best blog posts: Rants, Recipes, Reviews.
2. Visit the library.
3. Make your own hula hoop, and use it.
4. Turn off the TV and start a journal to give to your kids (even if you don't have any yet).
5. Listen to a book on CD.
6. Meditate.
7. Go bowling.
8. Paint something.
9. Test drive your dream car.
10. Make some jewelry.
11. Make a diaper cake.
12. Play a board game.
13. Go on a date.
14. Browse Etsy.
15. Do some yoga.
16. Learn how to juggle.
17. Organize your receipts.
18. Make paper dolls.
19. Learn how to take a good photograph.
20. Cook something healthy.
21. Paint your nails.
22. Train for a 5K.
23. Wash your car.
24. Write a love note.
25. Alphabetize your spices.
26. Work out.
27. Make holiday cards.
28. Find a new blog to read.
29. Bendaroos. (Hours of fun!)
30. Make a beauty mask.
31. Give yourself a french manicure.
32. Shampoo the carpets.
33. Make your own cheese.
34. Learn how to blog.
35. Have a picnic.
36. Browse Amazon.
37. Start a work-from-home business.
38. Learn to crochet.
39. Ride a bike.
40. Volunteer.
41. Re-do your grocery budget.
42. Cook something unhealthy, like Oreo Pancakes.
43. Clean out your junk drawer.
44. Learn how to write calligraphy.
45. Go camping in your back yard.
46. Go for a walk.
47. Visit a museum.
48. Get a pedicure.
49. Create your own trail mix.
50. Learn to knit.
51. Plant a tree.
52. Turn rocks into paper weights.
53. Take a relaxing bath.
54. Make up a silly story. Type it up, print it out, and make it into a book as a keepsake.
55. Roller skate.
56. Clean or organize the mess under your sinks.
57. Go for a hike and collect leaves, then do leaf rubbings.
58. Do a puzzle.
59. Make s'mores.
60. Take a nap.
61. Go fishing.
62. Donate stuff to Goodwill.
63. Create origami animals.
64. Take a cooking class.
65. Make a comic book.
66. Hit the thrift store and find some books to read.
67. Go geocaching.
68. Go to the park with your kids.
69. Paint your toenails 10 different colors.
70. Make a dreamcatcher.
71. Clean out your pantry.
72. Go see a play.
73. Go stargazing.
74. Make a menu plan for the week.
75. Plant some seeds.
76. Clean out your closet.
77. Let your kids give you a makeover.
78. Read a book that you've never read before.
79. Set goals for the next 90 days.
80. Join swap-bot and swap something.
81. Learn to play an instrument.
82. Scrapbook or organize family photos.
83. Build a fort in the living room.
84. Visit your local zoo.
85. Go bird watching. Make a list of the birds you find.
86. Visit historical sites.
87. Play dodgeball.
88. Write a poem.
89. Bake cupcakes!
90. Carve a stamp.
91. Rearrange and redecorate your bedroom.
92. Play hide-and-seek.
93. Walk the dog. Or the cat, but that may not go over so well.
94. Fly a kite.
95. Call a family member (texting doesn't count).
96. Make your own Lego Crayons!
97. Play tennis.
98. Write a letter (snail mail).
99. Get lost on Pinterest.
100. Leave a comment on this post with your own ideas!
So whether you stay home and create your own comics, or go out for an adventure in stargazing, turning the TV off is the first step. Don't worry, the latest episode of Scandal will still be available on Hulu when you get back.
Come clean my house? :)
LOL
more things to do instead of tv … make a robot shirt / outfit out of a cardboard box with your child, make a flower out of kleenex.
Thanks for all the ideas!
Craigslist shopping
Make a fairy house…
Build a structure w/playing cards..
Make a simple bird feeder..
Have a water balloon/water gun fight..
Dress up & have a tea party…
Thanks for the wonderful ideas, my kids are grown so I love the ones about being crafty, making my own cars, etc. I hate TV, always have. I think it is good to get an update on your local news and weather but that’s it!
I meant cards, LOL
Here’s an idea I like: What about saving tin cans from veges, etc. and then make lanterns from them? Poke holes in them for designs, flowers, etc. (put water in them and freeze them so they don’t crush when you do this). Then paint them and throw a candle inside, they are beautiful in the evening!
That sounds like a really cute idea!!
Lovely Idea ! thank you
cool ideas! found this post on pinterest!
here are some of my ideas:
ice skating
play UNO blocks with the whole family (the one who loses have to wash the dishes)
visit an orphanage/home for the elderly and donate if you can
learn how to dance (pole dancing counts)
play dress up with the kids
xx Anne G
http://anneg08.blogspot.com/
Um, wow. This is a pretty dang good list. lol. Thanks for the ideas! Was ‘dance with your kids’ on there? That’s a good one that my kids tend to enjoy :)
I personally gave up watching TV August of 2011. The rest of my family still watches some TV but since I banished the TV to the basement they watch it less and less. I find myself just 65% more productive without the TV.
For me, TV was just a time sucker and I was just starting to get fed up with all the crap on TV. The commercials, the un-real “reality shows”, the home and cooking shows that made you fat and want a house you never could have (I still have Pinterest if I need to get my drool on).
I found myself watch TV because I was “bored”. And my motto is (and always has been) is only boring people are bored. So instead of TV I find something to do to make myself less boring. Be that reading a good book, going for a walk, working in the garden, or taking care of those things around the house that I have been putting off for “someday”. There really are only 24 hours in a day and in the end your obituary is not going to read “watched 4 hours a day of TV and knows all the words from every episode of Friends”.
Take empty cans (you can spray paint them green or leave them blank) get a ball (red) and play ANGRY BIRDS!! Make different pig layouts and get either one ball or a few and try to knock em down!
My ideas!:
*Make a music video
*write a play and perform it
*play hide and go seek (even if you are “too old for it”)
*make your own board game
*buy Jumbo coloring books to color
*sing karaoke
*make a calendar with your own photos
*have fun doing crazy things with your friends!
SEX!
Love your list. I got some great ideas. My husband and I cut the internet off and aspire to quit wasting away our life in front of the television. have only one add, and this should follow the get lost in Pinterest.
Make something from one of your Pinterest boards!
Awesome ideas and comments, my addition is:
Wash the dog
Get a hair cut.
Clean the church
Visit a nursing home
Mow the grass
Join a club
Have a yard sale
Color
Bling a pair of pumps
Try stain glass motif
Put a 1000+ Puzzle together
have a tea party
Sharades
Tie-dye a shirt or shoes
Make greeting cards
Design a Web Page
Clip Coupons and donate them
Go to the park
Create a raised garden
Play Cornhole
Change the batteries in your fire alarms
Clean the air filters
get the oil changed in the car
make a foot stool
I could keep on going but I’ll leave some for others.
Make Kirigami
Make soap
Make a new hair cut
Wake early and don’t Waist time it’s too expensive
Bake Bread
Additions:
Read scriptures, read Juni B. Jones with your children, grow something, exercise, wash car, water fight, play SkipBo, memorize something, read jokes, play hopscotch or two square and learn a new language!
I think a good idea is to get busy cleaning and organizing your home.
Thanks for all the ideas
I like to watch TV so I can get caught up in the drama, comedy, and action in my favorite TV shows. So shut up you dumb women and stop telling people what they can and can’t do! And I don’t how you guys live.
No one’is telling you you can’t watch TV, why aren’t you watching it now? Instead of insulting people on the internet! This is for the people who don’t want to watch TV, not you! It’s for people who want to do more constructive things with their time! How long have you had an issue with respect? You’ll never get.anywhere in life that way! just miserable! I’m just being honest and trying to help you!
Are you actually 12 years old? It takes common sense to understand that this article is for people who are looking for ideas to do other than watch tv. Why are you even on this blog? Why did you search it up? Why did you waste your energy making the most ignorant, immature comment? What adult has a username such as yours?
I love watching news and sports on TV and sometimes movies but id rather love those two.
Some are really interesting.