01 · 10 activities
Quiet Wins
For when the baby just went down and the dog is also asleep.
A practical guide for tired parents
It's 4:47 pm. They're bored.
You're done.
One hundred and one things to do that aren't a screen — every one tagged by how messy it gets and how long it takes to set up. So you can find the right activity in fifteen seconds, not fifteen minutes of scrolling.
Get the book — $29
Instant download · PDF · 30-day money-back guarantee
As featured in
The Guardian
Mamamia
Kidspot
ABC Everyday
babyology
Polly Hayes
A guide for tired parents
101
Beyond the Screen
Tech-free boredom busters,
sorted by mess & prep.
The 4:47 pm problem
"I'm bored." Two words. Said at the worst possible time — usually while you're holding a knife, an email, or a baby. Sometimes all three.
You'd love to hand them something that isn't an iPad. You really would. But your brain is gone, the craft cupboard is a crime scene, and the last thing you searched was a Pinterest board that needed three trips to Bunnings and a glue gun.
You don't need more ideas. You need the right one, for right now, in the next ninety seconds.
This is the book for that exact moment.
The system
Every activity, double-tagged.
Every other activity book hands you a list and walks away. This one asks two questions first — how messy can you cope with right now? and how long do you have before dinner? — and gives you the activity that actually fits.
- Mess level — Clean, Light, or Big. No surprises.
- Prep time — 0–2 min, 5–10 min, or 15+ min. Honest numbers.
- A matrix on page one. Find your cell. Pick the activity. Done.
Mess × Prep matrix
0–2 min
5–10 min
15+ min
Clean
14
e.g. Sock-Matching Race
11
e.g. Story Dice
9
e.g. Indoor Camping
Light
12
e.g. Sticky-Tape Maze
15
e.g. Capsicum Stamps
10
e.g. Salt-Dough Coins
Big
8
e.g. Bath Paint
12
e.g. Tape Resist Painting
10
e.g. Backyard Mud Kitchen
Hover a cell on desktop. The book has the same matrix — printable, fridge-ready.
What's inside
Eight chapters. One hundred and one ways out of the witching hour.
Each chapter opens with a one-line promise and ends with the messiest activity, so you can stop where your nerves stop.
02 · 15 activities
Get Them Moving
Burns serious energy in fifteen minutes. Bedtime made easier.
03 · 20 activities
Make Something
Real making, household stuff only. No glue gun required.
04 · 13 activities
Kitchen Quests
Tiny chefs. Real food. Mostly edible outcomes.
05 · 14 activities
Pretend Worlds
A blanket fort, a shop, a spaceship — all already in the lounge.
06 · 16 activities
Outside Adventures
The backyard, the footpath, the park — re-enchanted.
07 · 9 activities
Brain Benders
Riddles, puzzles, lateral games. Quietly hard.
08 · 4 activities
Connection Time
The four that quietly become memories. Don't skip these.
A look inside
Here's what an activity looks like.
Each one fits on a single page. The tags up top tell you, in one glance, whether you can cope with it right now.
No. 014
Get Them Moving
Sock-Matching Race
Tip the laundry basket onto the rug. Set a two-minute timer. Whoever pairs the most socks wins (you also win — the laundry's done).
● Clean
⏱ 0–2 min
Ages 4+
"Burns five minutes. Folds your laundry. Trust me on this one."
No. 052
Make Something
Tape Resist Painting
Masking tape onto paper in any pattern. Paint over the lot. Peel the tape off when dry. They will gasp. You will frame it. Trust me.
● Big mess
⏱ 5–10 min
Ages 3+
"The op-shop frame makes it. Don't skip the frame."
No. 087
Pretend Worlds
Indoor Camping
Sheet over the dining table. Torch. Biscuits in a tin called "rations." One bedtime story read in a whisper. They will remember this one.
● Light
⏱ 15+ min
Ages 3+
"Lasts until they fall asleep under the table. Often does."
The offer
Everything in one tidy bundle.
No upsells, no email funnel, no thirty-day course. One PDF, two bonuses, free updates forever.
-
01
$29
The book — Beyond the Screen
101 activities. PDF. ~25 pages. Designed to read on a phone or print on A4.
-
02
included
Bonus · The Matrix Cheat Sheet
A one-page printable. Goes on the fridge. Solves dinnertime.
-
03
included
Bonus · Rainy Day Quick-Start
A curated 10-activity guide for the days the weather decides for you.
-
04
included
Free updates, forever
When new activities are added — and they will be — your copy updates too.
Total value
$74
Yours today for $29
Instant download · 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.
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About the author
Polly Hayes
Polly Hayes is a former primary-school teacher, mother of three, and the writer behind one of Australia's most-read parenting newsletters. She spent a decade watching kids light up at the simplest things — a piece of masking tape, a torch, a sock — and grew tired of activity books that asked you to drive to three different shops before bedtime. Beyond the Screen is the book she wishes someone had handed her at 4:47 pm on a Tuesday in winter. It is built from things you already own, tested on children who do not pretend to enjoy them, and written for parents who are too tired to read anything longer than one page.
"Trust the kid in front of you over the number on the page."
From parents in the trenches
A few words from people who've used it.
“I bought this on a Sunday night, printed the matrix on Monday morning, and by Friday my kids had stopped asking for the iPad first. That is not an exaggeration. The fridge sheet alone is worth the $29.”
“What I love is the honesty. Every other activity book lies about the mess. Polly just tells you — this one is Big, this one is Clean — and you pick what your nerves can handle. It feels like she's actually parented a child.”
“I gave this to my daughter for her twins' fourth birthday and she cried. In a good way. She said it was the first parenting gift she'd ever received that actually respected how tired she was.”
Frequently asked
Sensible questions, honest answers.
What format is the book?
A PDF, sized for A4 (works fine on US Letter too). About 25 pages. Instant download
after checkout — no account, no app, no waiting on an email.
Will this work for my four-year-old? My nine-year-old?
Yes. Each activity has a suggested age range, but they're suggestions, not rules.
Trust the kid in front of you over the number on the page.
Do I need any special supplies?
No. Everything in the book uses things you already have — paper, tape, a few
socks, the pantry. Nothing requires a Bunnings run or a glue gun.
Can I print it?
Please do. The matrix cheat sheet is designed for the fridge, and the activity
pages print cleanly on A4 — black-and-white friendly, no edge-to-edge bleeds.
What's your refund policy?
Thirty days, no questions asked. If you didn't get a single useful idea out of
it, write to me and I'll refund you. I'd rather you have your $29 back.
Is this just a list of activities?
No. It's a system. Every activity is double-tagged by mess and prep, the
chapters are organised by what kind of energy they spend, and the matrix on
page one means you can find the right one in fifteen seconds. The list is
only the second-best thing about it.
Stop scrolling for activity ideas.
Start doing them.
Get the book — $29
Instant PDF download. 30-day money-back guarantee. No funnel, no follow-up sequence, no nonsense.