Unplugged play
From Paige McCoy Smith, the Not-So-Perfect Parent
If it were up to my eight-year-old, he would happily spend an entire day rotating between video games and TV watching. He would choose screen time over family time, baseball time, meal time and practically any other time including bathroom time. Once, he was hopping around so much, I insisted he take a break on behalf of mother nature. “But Mom, I can hold it just until I get the new high score!”
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids should not spend more than two hours per day watching TV or playing video games. But the truth is, most kids spend three times the recommended limit in front of the screen.
So if parents know that too much TV is not a good thing, why are kids continuing to spend their days on a coach exercising nothing more than their thumbs? Bobbie Conner, author of “Unplugged Play” says that “parents are making a mistake by saying ‘No’ to TV time when the really need to be saying ‘Yes’ to other options.” Conner emphasizes that kids need some coaching from their parents on different activities that inspire creativity and interaction. “You can’t just leave kids to their own devices. You need to give them a few ideas and provide a little demo and then get out of the way.”
Bobbi Conner’s book is filled with over 700 games and activities that require no batteries and no plugs. Most of the activities she provides involves items that you already have in your home. For example, she provides suggestions for finding a productive use with something as annoying as junk mail. Toddlers can open envelopes, play post office and even cut out coupons. Another clever idea is making homemade bean bags out of socks and dried lentils. A laundry basket or grocery sacks are wonderful targets for your kids to shoot while you’re making dinner.
Many of Conner’s activities also require movement. Games such as Musical Island (a version of Musical Chairs involving Hula Hoops) and Spaghetti and Meatballs (involving a colander and ping pong balls) keep kids active and interactive. According to Conner, excessive screen time can have harmful consequences. “We have an obesity crisis in this country. So many kids are overweight and inactive because they spend so much time sitting.” Conner goes on to say that children are not using imaginations which can limit long-term creative development. She says, “creativity and problem solving is on the decline because kids are doing pre-programmed games.” Another concern involves a lack of relationship skills. “If you and I were kids and we were playing, you would start to understand verbal and nonverbal cues. You would learn when I am mad and when I am happy. But if one of us is sitting in front of a computer, interaction is gone.”
So when it comes down to it, You Are What You Do. If you act like a couch potato, your body and mind will adjust accordingly. It’s the same for your kids. When our children our young, we still have some power to teach them appropriate habits. Let’s get them out from in front of the screen and into activities that make them what they’ll want to be—active, creative, minds in healthy bodies—just the sort of people they see on TV.
Learn more about Paige
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