Hey moms, do you sometimes feel like you’ve been replaced? That the #1 person in your kids’ lives is… not actually a person, but the TV?! Yes, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol have taken over and… we kinda feel left out. But hey, as busy moms, it’s so easy to let our kids watch TV. It distracts them long enough to let us do what we need to do, and it keeps them entertained too. But before we know it, our kids are glued to the TV screens, their eyes glassy from staring at the screen, and we have long been forgotten. (If you want to know the telltale signs that your kids are watching too much TV, check this out!) The TV habit is one of the hardest habits to break. (Even we have a hard time controlling our TV time. Ahem, binge watching!) So how do we help our kids minimize TV time? Here are some tips.
Moderation is key. Place a timer in your TV room and let your kids know that when they hear the alarm, TV time is up.
Let them play with their toys, go outdoors, or even do crafts. These activities will not only divert their attention from the TV screen, but can also encourage creative play. If you’ve run out of things to do, have an idea jar to help beat boredom. Write ideas on pieces of paper and place them in a jar. Then every time your kids are bored, have them pull out something from the jar.
Maybe one reason why your kids watch a lot of TV is that the TV is just so accessible to them. Try putting your TV in a cabinet with doors you can close and lock. Or you can also place it up on a shelf so it will be difficult for your kids to reach it. You can also opt to put it in the basement so it’s not the first thing your kids see when they enter the living room.
Let your kids know that some parts of the house like the bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen are places they cannot use their gadgets. Mealtimes and night time can also be tech-free times, so that they can focus on things like eating, participating in conversations, and preparing for bed.
You can install apps on your kids devices that can control the amount of time they use the device. There are some that can also filter what your kids watch too. Apps like TimeAway and ESet Parental Control for Android, and ParentKit and TimeLock for iOS are easy to use–and all you have to do is download them!
There’s no better way to really supervise what your kids are watching than by watching with them. Not only will you be able to say that they’ve had enough TV, but you can also help your kids become critical viewers by having a discussion about what they watched afterwards.
As always, you have to be a role model. You can’t expect your kids to limit their TV time if you’re always on your phone watching videos. Try to limit your own screen time, and maybe take a piece of paper out of the idea jar and have some fun with your kids!