Let's face it many of us have used the television or tablets to keep our children occupied at one time or another. Lately I have felt like my children were having too much screentime and not enough of my time. So that will be changing in our household immediately. Now please believe me I am not anti-screentime. Not all screentime is bad. There are many educational programs and content out there. In the near future I will have another article on programs my children enjoy that are educational on a few different platforms. However I believe there should be limits and a routine.
Guidelines Toddlers (1-2 years old) Amount of screentime: Little to no screentime. Reason: They crave physical and creative interaction with people. Preschool (3-4 years old) Amount of screentime: Up to 1 hour per day. Reason: They crave mindful interaction with characters from programs but parents should plan tv time in advance. Elementary (5-10 years old) Amount of screentime: 1 to 1.5 hours per day. Reason: Although technology skills are important there should be a balance between creative time and relaxation. Middle Schoolers (11-13 years old) Amount of screentime: Up to 2 hours per day. Reason: At this age your preteens can start to manage their own screentime, you can help them see the benefits of setting limitations. The Entire Family Amount of screentime: Varies Reason: Having communal screentime can engage children in different ways. How to reduce screentime? Start off with lessening the amount of hours you watch in a day, then slowly work your way up to one full day of no screentime. For instance for our family I plan on having no screentime during the week, only on the weekends. I recently had a full day with no screentime with my little ones and I saw the benefits.
I believe having no screentime during the week will allow me to connect more with my children. It will also allow them to have more interactive fun with each other and myself. As I mom I love watching my sweet babies become so excited about learning. Here's a link to our YouTube channel HarleyPartyOf5 where we had a day with no screentime. https://youtu.be/VRJG7wOp52s
I try to offset screen time with reading or doing an activity outdoors.
Me too I am trying to figure out how to lessen my screentime but still create content for all my platforms 🤣😂😅
I'm trying to limit my screen time...as I sit on my phone lol. I'll do better tomorrow.