HOW I GET MY CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR SCREENS!
I love organizing. I love when everything is in its place. But I also love when children get the education and development that they need. For that very purpose I always leave things around the house so they can start using them when they’re “bored”.
I personally don’t like when my children pass the 1.5 hour screen time mark…unless there’s an emergency or I’m taking a break from adulting for the day. To make sure that they spend their time properly when they’re “bored” there are things purposefully scattered around my place so they can start using them without my direction.
They used to say the words, “I’m bored” so much before. And it would really bother me for some reason. I would try and convince them that they had no reason to be “bored”. Well, it doesn’t bother me any more. I just ignore it because I have learned that children get super creative when they are bored, and that we should make sure our children get “bored” more frequently. After saying it about 3 times and getting no reaction from me, they just start doing what they can to entertain themselves.
Below are 5 things they do most often:
My older one starts reading; my younger one starts playing with her hamster. I have books everywhere in our apartment. On the floor, their bunk bed, the bar table as well as baskets around our studio. When it is easily accessible their hands just reach for them automatically when they’re “bored”. Sometimes, I have to peel my older one away from her book. She gets so into it. In her father’s home, on the other hand, where iPads are the norm, she doesn’t read for days. So don’t tell me your kid is just not that into reading. If they get bored enough, they’ll do ANYTHING to entertain themselves. Allow them to get bored!
My older one starts writing; either in her diary, her journal, on post-its or on my digital typewriter. Those are also things that are strategically scattered all over my place. My older one writes stories, journals about her day or writes me letters. My younger ones practices her ABCs on post-its and sticks them all over her bed.
They start drawing. I can’t stress how happy this makes me. They will draw for hours sometimes. They never used to do this before I put a screen time limit on their iPads when we moved. Crayons, pencils, markers and sketch pads are also scattered around my little studio.
They start playing together. This is a time when they see having a sister as a bonus. Sometimes they dance around or wrestle. Remember wrestling as kids? I don’t know about you but my brother and I used to wrestle so much! Limiting their screen time has ensured my kids experience their childhood the way I did. Other times they start dancing. I can honestly say that music plays in the background at all waking hours in my house. I don’t even own a TV but my speakers are always on for beautiful and diverse music.
They lie down and do nothing. I love this because it leads them to the world of imagination. Sometimes it gives us all a chance to rest a bit. Pillows, soft cushions and blankets are also readily available all around.
As they say, “out of sight out of mind”. If you want your children (or even yourself) to do more of something and less of something else, make sure that the things you want to do more of are readily accessible. Conversely, if you want to cut down the time spent on something that doesn’t serve you, take it as far away and make it as inaccessible as possible. Want to watch less TV? Take the batteries out and put them in a box inside a drawer. It will take some major dedication to go take them out. Want to learn to play the guitar? Leave it on the sofa like I do with my ukulele or put it on a stand that you can get very inexpensively online. Hope you found this article helpful. Let me know your thoughts!
