Here are some activity ideas for kids to help prevent too much screen time when kids are at home.
John Medina on his book Brain Rules for Baby (How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five) says: "There is general agreement that a child's exposure to television of any time should be limited".
Some advice based on John Medina's book and on research in Early Brain Development:
- Try to turn the TV off when kids aren't watching and limit their exposure to the screen.
- Help them choose what they will watch. Watch it together, help them interact with the media (it's recommended to watch shows that allow intelligent interaction and are educational), help them analyze and talk about what they have experienced.
- Try to avoid having a TV in their rooms.
List of kids activities at home instead of screen-time
This list is of activities that kids can do at home instead of watching the screen of a TV, phone or tablet all day long.
- Board games
- Coloring and Drawing / Pictionary
- Sing songs
- Read a book
- Let your kids create a story
- Paint
- Decorate a cardboard box and/or toilet roll tubes
- Kids can help making their beds and set the table
- Ask your kids for help with laundry and teach them how they can help (putting the clothes in the basket, etc.)
- Puzzles
- Memo-test
- Cook together
- Some guided meditation or yoga for kids
- Clean up toys in a bucket of water and soap
- Act different characters
- Dress up as a character from a book or movie
- Build paper planes or a model car
- Write a letter to someone (friend, relative, sibling, etc.)
- See photos together, create a photo album
- Imitate different postures
- Dance
- Tickle war
- Play hide and seek
- Build a tower of something (pillows, cubes, legos, boxes, etc)
- Kick a soft ball to each other back and forth
- Clean up the room
- Treasure hunt: you can hide toys and different things around the house and help them find them by telling them "hot" (you're close) or "cold" (you're far from the hidden object).
- Check this other post about great Instagram accounts that have Arts & Crafts Ideas for Kids.
Have fun and learn :)
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Jess
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