Tips to manage children’s screen during holidays
Here are some tips to follow in managing children's screens during holidays,
During the school holidays children, predictably spend more time watching screens.
Parents and caregivers struggle to manage their children’s screen time during school holidays and the festive season.
With the school holidays upon us and the kids spending more time at home, it can be tricky to know how to navigate keeping their screen time in check.
With these challenges in mind, the experts Jessica Hill from Family Zone shared her tips on managing screen time these school holidays.
1. Set routines and boundaries: If you already have routines and boundaries during the school term, keep these going during the school holidays. By keeping to the same routine, kids won’t fall into bad habits when they have more time to use their devices.
2. Take them out of the house: Time permitting, arrange some family fun days outside the home. Take them somewhere new or even somewhere they usually love going. By distracting them and placing them in a new environment, they won’t even think about wanting to use their devices.
3. Provide some activities that don’t involve screens: Painting, drawing, reading, board games, building a fort, baking a cake… the list goes on. What did your kids enjoy doing before they ever got an iPad or smartphone? Tap into what they enjoy doing outside of YouTube, gaming or social media to keep them entertained.
4. Moderate device use: Like everything in life, moderation is key. Try and make sure your family routine consists of a range of healthy and sensory activities, encouraging lots of physical, creative and sensory play.
5. Appropriate apps: Help children make good app choices. There are so many fun educational apps, that children won’t even know they’re learning. In addition, they develop important skills like hand-eye coordination, early literacy, building relationships and more. The internet is a wonderful resource for them when used safely and I encourage parents to “co-play” or get involved with their child’s use of technology as much as possible. This will keep them connected as a family but also allow you to ensure their app choices are safe and healthy.
