Charlene DeLoach on Great Day Connecticut with Toys To Keep Kids Screen Free

By Charlene DeLoach, Chief Play Officer, Playroom Chronicles

Charlene DeLoach discusses open-ended toys that encourage kids to step away from screens — Image Credit: Playroom Chronicles

 TV APPEARANCE DISCLOSURE: I am not compensated for TV appearances. My time is my own, and products featured are purchased by myself or provided for demonstration and donation.

Toy and play expert Charlene DeLoach joined Great Day Connecticut on WFSB Channel 3 to share ideas for a No Phone Summer! These are toys that naturally draw kids away from phones, tablets, and TV. Plus, without making screen-free time feel like another rule to enforce.

The throughline was simple: the best summer toys are fun in more than one way. They invite kids to create, move, imagine, collect, make decisions, and come back to play again tomorrow.

What Charlene Shared on Great Day Connecticut

Summer does not need to be scheduled minute by minute for kids to spend less time on screens. A few well-chosen toys can create an easy invitation to play, whether that means a craft project on a rainy afternoon, backyard movement, imaginative small-world play, or a silly game with friends.

The toys in the TV segment featured were selected because they can be used in different ways and stretch beyond a single afternoon. They give kids something engaging to do independently or together, while also creating things they can proudly share with friends and family. Then, when kids do pick up their phones again, they may be sharing a tie-dye project, a drawing, a funny collectible reveal, or the imaginary world they built—not just scrolling.

That is the goal of a No Phone Summer: not eliminating screens entirely in the screen free toys way, but making sure real-world play is interesting enough to compete with them.