Everyone is telling you to ban screens for your kids.. but here are the screen-based activities I'd recommend to any parent.

We're an outdoorsy family but as someone who funds their whole life by working online, I want my kids to learn that there are some really amazing things you can do online. I truely believe the kids growing up today developing digital design, coding, fine motor skills and a general understanding of what's possible will be set up for success in our tech based future. 

I love that I can encourage these skills without loosing my kids to doom-scroll on YouTube.

Here are the activities I'd recommend to any parent and that kids love! 

GeoGuessr - you can play it on desktop or the ipad app. You can even create your own challenges for your kids (we did places that we've travelled to for our kids). We love this for the observations skills, analytical skills and geography knowledge. These are actual skills I've used in my career as a Landscape Architect.

XPlane - Flight simulator used by pilots that you can get on desktop. We bought a joy stick and we've even downloaded the graphics for our local airport. We love this for the fine motor control, technical knowledge and geography. 

Lego Worlds - The ultimate world building game. Think Minecraft, but with Lego. This inspires so many of our real life Lego games.  We love it for the building and design skills, spatial awareness, creativity and fine motor control skills. These skills form the basis of 3D modelling and design used by Architects and Engineers. 

Procreate - This is the app I use every day to illustrate my books and my kids love it too. You can use different mediums and layer colour and texture to create amazing digital illustrations. We love it for the creativity, fine motor control and design and illustration skills. These skills are transferrable to professional illustration and publication software like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

I want my kids to be confident and skilled in the digital world, while still keeping them grounded in real life. If you have any online games your kids love, let me know in the comments!