Ever wonder if your kids know about that alternate universe that doesn't run on "e" and "i"? If you hand them a book, do they try to figure out how to recharge it or where to plug it in? Do they look for the delete button when you hand them a plate of veggies? Do they reach for the fast forward when you are talking to them? Are they "married" to several people on FB? It might be time to disconnect for a little while.

Here are 101 suggestions to encourage your children to disconnect and connect with the real world:

1. Bake cookies and deliver them to an elderly neighbor or relative

2. Learn to jump rope

3. Start a band

4. Work a jigsaw puzzle with a group of friends

5. Start a small business

6. Volunteer at an animal shelter

7. Become a clown and visit nursing homes

8. Start a poetry club

9. Find a pen pal

10. Collect stamps and find people to swap with

11. Make a mosaic

12. Carve soap into a figurine

13. Work with clay and a potter's wheel

14. Walk dogs for neighbors

15. Build a model

16. Get a group together and break a world record in something

17. Start a neighborhood newspaper

18. Lie in the grass and look at the clouds

19. Read an entire dictionary

20. Set up a scavenger hunt for your friends

21. Go on a photo safari

22. Paint a picture

23. Learn to play chess

24. Grow an herb garden

25. Make a movie with your friends

26. Knit a sweater

27. Embroider a bib for a baby

28. Do yoga

29. Learn a new language

30. Do a chore without being asked (and watch the magic happen)

31. Leave love notes all over the house

32. Direct a neighborhood talent show

33. Raise money for a charity

34. Raise a caterpillar into a butterfly and release

35. Wash the dog or clean the bird's or hamster's cage

36. Mold chocolate candy

37. Blow bubbles

38. Make a scrapbook of your life

39. Make a time capsule and bury it in your back yard to dig up when you are 20

40. Cook a five-course meal and serve your family or a group of friends

41. Record a song

42. Start a book club

43. Spend an entire day in the library reading

44. Pick a bouquet of wildflowers for your mother

45. Make a rock collection

46. Play with the hose

47. Build a snow fort

48. Make a quilt

49. Go on a hike and camp out

50. Earn and save money for something big you have been wanting

51. Participate in a charity event

52. Write a fan letter to a celebrity you admire telling them why

53. Spend the day getting to know a younger sibling

54. Learn to belly dance

55. Make sandwiches and deliver to the homeless

56. Write out a plan for your future and see how close you come to it

57. Make candles

58. Dry or press flowers

59. Learn calligraphy

60. Lie in the grass and look at the stars and identify them

61. Create a superhero and write his story in a graphic novel

62. Wear a blindfold or earplugs all day to help you better comprehend how blind or deaf people live

63. Plan a family night with an activity and snacks

64. Spend an entire day praying and talking to God

65. Read a book series (Harry Potter, Series of Unfortunate Events, etc.) to a child

66. Listen to an opera

67. Try a new food

68. Sew a pillow

69. Tie-dye a T-shirt

70. Learn to batik

71. Collect coats and gloves for the needy

72. Make a loom and weave place mats

73. Paint your bedroom

74. Jump on a pogo stick

75. Try water skiing or tubing

76. Bake bread

77. Work a crossword puzzle

78. Read a newspaper front to back

79. Teach someone something you know how to do well

80. Tutor someone in a subject in which you are strong

81. Run for something (class president, most like to ...) or run a campaign for a friend

82. Start a petition for a cause you believe in

83. Write a congressman about something that concerns you

84. Draw a floor plan for your idea of a perfect house

85. Run a day camp for neighborhood kids (summer, winter break, spring break)

86. Skip everywhere you go for one full day

87. Try to answer everyone who talks to you by singing a song

88. Play with toys in a bubble bath

89. Redecorate your room with a theme

90. Throw a surprise party for someone for no particular reason

91. Create a new holiday

92. Work at a soup kitchen

93. Make a budget

94. Play in the dirt or mud

95. Grow a frog from a tadpole

96. Go fishing

97. Make a rubber band ball as big as you can

98. Speak in pig-Latin for an entire day

99. Take a picture of yourself wearing the same thing in the same place every day at the same time for a year and then make a movie of it

100. Go to school in formal wear with a few of your friends

101. Build a better mousetrap

There you have it. A list to hand your children when you ask them to unplug and they say they are bored. Make substitutions and either hand them the list, or cut into strips and put in a jar and let them draw one out each time they whine. They may discover hidden talents, untried passions, or a lifelong hobby. You may discover a little peace.