Eight Easy Ways to Reduce Your Child’s Screen Time
At our Illinois summer camp, because we don’t allow electronics at camp, it’s pretty easy to limit campers’ screen time. It’s also always interesting year-over-year, seeing returning campers look forward to being electronics-free and liberated from the pressures of having to be “connected” at all times.
At home, however, it can often be a challenge to manage (and help kiddos manage) screen time. An article by Lindsey Barton Straus has eight great tips for helping that process.
Bullets below, with the full article at this link.
Check Yourself
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Be aware of how much screen time you and your children are getting; keep track and set limits for the entire family.
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Avoid using screen time to reward or punish a child. Use praise, encouragement, and recognition for physical activity, and make screen time a “non-event” in your home.
Double Time
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If/when watching television at home, exercise during commercial breaks.
After-School Action Plan
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Sometimes, kids just need a little help coming up with alternatives to screen time; have them make a “Top 10” list of after-school activities (i.e. riding bikes, shooting hoops, walking the dog, folding laundry or helping with dinner), which can be posted on the fridge, to be checked when they get home.
No TV Dinners
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Turn off the television during mealtime and take turns talking about the day.
Cut the Cord
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Remove TVs and computers from your kids’ bedrooms. Children with TVs in their rooms spend almost 1.5 hours more each day watching them than their peers.
Watch at Once
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If you have a DVR, record some of your kids’ favorite shows and then let them watch them all at once. That way, you’ll have more time during the rest of the week for activities.
Work It Out
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Use the television to watch an exercise video; put on your sweatbands and have some family fitness time!