To kick off the first month of the New Year, I would like to challenge you all to take some time off from your electronics! Wait, don’t go yet! Allow me to explain. Whether you have kids that are addicted to the tube and their latest video game, or perhaps you, yourself, spend a majority of your time on a social media website, MP3 player, or even your Kindle, consider taking a small portion (an hour a week) of that time to play a game with friends and family.

• Check out Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Recycling Branch’s Recycle Board Game, which you can print out for your little nephew, sibling, student, or your own child to play. Not all kids are guaranteed to like the game, but you won’t know until you suggest the idea to them. Encourage them to make up their own rules.
• Got any board games lurking in a closet somewhere in your house or apartment? Bring them out to play with your family and friends for some added personal interaction – something which electronics can never fully replace. Are some of your game pieces missing, or are parts of the game in a different form? Make up your own rules as a way to adjust to the difference. You may be surprised by how awesomely creative you can be.
• Create your own game from materials you already have laying about the house. Remember the paper football? Do you really think you’re not capable of making something like that, or even better?
• Maybe you have friends or family who like to hear and tell stories? Gather around and make up one of your own!
• For a bonus, take a look at Etsy’s catalogue of items made from recycled board games.

Sometimes, I think we spend a little too much time in our electronic world, missing some great opportunities for healthy social interaction. The most important part about these suggested non-electronic activities is that you should have the utmost fun with them, fulfilling one of the vital requirements for a person to live in a healthy environment. What will you do with your hour of non-electronic activity?

photo credit: board game image – shutterstock.com