The devices we use in our homes are part and parcel of how we interact with the world these days, but it’s true to say that sometimes, too much exposure isn’t healthy.
In fact, a recent NewsBreak article shared the praises of a mother who recently deleted her daughter’s social media accounts with over a million followers after logging in and seeing that she was doing some tasteless dancing.
The mother explained that she didn’t want her teenage daughter to value her worth based on people across the world who didn’t even know her.
With this in mind, many people have taken it upon themselves to reduce their social media consumption. Spending all day refreshing the feeds of other people’s lives isn’t healthy at all, especially to children.
Children know how to operate smart televisions, how to play games on a phone or an iPad, and how to get the best from their games console. But there’s more to childhood than viewing life through a screen, of course, and it’s a unique situation that parents have to navigate.
So, here’s a little help on navigating this challenge.
Give Them Worthwhile Toys
Giving your children worthwhile toys, like a cool transforming Paul Toy figure, or a model pirate ship for them to make, or a dolls house to play with can help them learn not only how to interact with one another socially in a play environment, but to learn the principles of play and how that works.
There’s plenty of sophisticated learning going on when children play pretend, using toys as an element of that. For example, a young girl playing with dolls is simulating the social relationships of the members of a household or friendship group, and that’s quite a worthwhile thing for them to learn.
Get Them Involved In Creative Projects
Getting your children involved in creative projects can be a good idea. For example, you may want to have an “arts and crafts” day every other week where you come together and paint something, make a gift for one another using a range of crafting materials, or just sit together coloring.
In short, creative projects can help children feel inspired and keep them away from the screens.
Inspire Outside Play
Inspiring outside play is a good use of your time. In fact, August is Family Fun Month, so get out and play with your children. Spend quality time with them.
Spend Time With Them!
Speaking of which, spend quality time with them. Family Fun Month is celebrated throughout the month of August with a focus on families enjoying extra fun and activities, especially outdoors.
Some common activities for Family Fun Month include going camping, going to the playground, and taking a vacation, just to name a few.
You can almost be guaranteed that a child would choose spending some quality fun family time over any game console out there or phone app.
