With summer coming up, I am looking for ways to track and/or monitor the amount screen time my kids. They are 8 and 11. I have tried setting timers but it is difficult to keep track of the total amount during the day. I am not able to entertain them (nor do I feel I need to at this age) all the time. Plus, they both have Nooks now so "technically" they could be using it for reading but sometimes will play games on it too and unless I'm hovering over them every minute I don't always know which. Do any of you have some tried & true methods for keeping limits on screen time? In the summer we allow about 1 1/2-2 hours a day--up from what they get in the school year. TIA for your help!
Try http://www.timesupkidz.com/?af=wxgd You can try it for free for a month. There is only a one time fee if you choose to buy it but they don't start charging you automatically. They just send you a reminder at the end of the free month that it is about to expire. I find it helpful.
With my boys, I always said they could watch the equivalent of one movie (1.5-2 hours) of tv. It was the same time every day during summer from 2-4, which also kept them out of the worst of the day's heat.
As for the handheld "reading" devices, I would recommend setting a time every day during which you all read, including you. First, you'll be around to monitor to situation. Two, this sets a great example regarding the value of reading. Three, it will give you a much needed break! In my home, we call them read fests. They were a struggle to start but now the shout of "READ FEST" never fails to bring my boys running! And if they break the sanctity of read fest by playing illicit games, the device gets locked away and they can read the old fashioned way with a book from the library. Simple.
As for playing the devices the rest of the day, I would limit it to an hour a day. I know with my boys, any more than an hour a day was the equivalent of giving them a stupid pill and I had to deal with their inability to think, process and act appropriately for the rest of the day. No, thank you!
I would also encourage you to get a ton of board games. Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk, Clue, Battleship, Apples to Apples, Sorry, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit (jr. level, if available). My boys spent many a summer happily playing these games with all the neighborhood kids. There were days where I had 8 or 9 kids yelling and screaming (in a good way) about who was going to buy Boardwalk or take over some continent in Risk. It was truly awesome to see all the games of my childhood entertain the next generation.
I know this was more than you asked for, but I hope it helps. This summer, I have one son getting ready to go to college and they other involved in all sorts of activities from soccer to golf to horseback riding. TV time won't be our issue; finding time to watch it will be!
Happy summer.
Check out SafeEyes.com (I think its .com). My pastor and his family use it for their 5 boys. I will be adding it to our family computer, even tho it sits in our family room and we can see what the kids are doing. Good luck.
I don't think it's necessary to "set a limit" as much as it is to just have common sense. If your children have an opportunity to be doing ANYTHING else, they ought to be. We reserve TV and video games for when we're in the middle of a blizzard, school work is done, and we've already read for two hours...or when it's 100 degrees out and the pool isn't open yet, and again, we've played with toys and read and done other things first.
Maybe one day they want to watch a movie and that day, two hours is fine...but the next day they have a chance to swim/go to the park/play with friends, etc...that day, they may play a video game for five or ten minutes and that's it. We don't have any set "rules" about screen time, but I just know when enough is enough. :)
I think the key is having other activities available and planned and of course keeping track. Our computer is in our family room so its always visible and that helps. I have lots of art supplies and come up with some specific ideas for projects. We go do a feild trip each week. And I make them play outside most of the day. Sprinkler, park, sand box, bikes. I don't care just pick one kids!
fabulous question. We just finished Chores finally so they are relaxing in front of the tube right now.
I struggle too, I think what i'm going to try to do is say every day from like 4-5 will be screen time, or 6-8 whatever. I have to look over our schedule a bit better and see where it will fit.
It's hard because alot of times, they do get into something and a half hour just isn't enough to advance in the game.
I also will admit, i'm bad about being consistent and if i need to make a bunch of phone calls or something it is so much easier to even now at 7 and 9 yo to plop them infront of a movie. where i know they won't be hollering for me for a bit.
Maybe keep the nook in the kitchen and that is where they have to stay to use it so you have a better idea of what they are doing???
I'' be waiting to see what others say. I'm horrible with reward charts and marbel jars so i hate trying to have them earn screen time, even though that makes sense.
Our computers are in the living room and they are not turned on all the time.
Our son has to ask (and for the tv, too) and sometimes the answer is no.
When we say yes, right up front we say what time it must be turned off again and if it runs over badly he doesn't get any time the next day.
He's pretty good, though and he likes reading more than anything else.
He has a book with him at all times (in the car, on the bus, everywhere at home) in case he gets a few minutes to read.
He's a read-a-holic! and we love it that he has this love for reading.
He has chores (and some he's doing without us having to tell him all the time), he helps pick blueberries and helps with the garden, and plays with the neighbors dog and we just found an albino frog in the back yard.
When my sister and I were little, picking dandelion flowers in the yard was our job.
(Besides helping to control the weeds in the yard, our baby sitter (an elderly retired lady) used the flowers to make dandelion wine. There were no chemicals on the lawn.)
My son is 6 years old and he has an IPad that he plays on. I let him play with it for about a half hour to an hour depending on how he has been for the day. I do let him take it to his room and play. He has books, his age type of games as well as the PBS kids to watch videos on and he knows that when I say it is time to put it up he takes it back to my room where it stays. I say set a time limit and stick with it. It maybe hard in the beginning but just stick with it.
Just this morning I told my boys that there was NO screen time before 10:30 am. This is when it is cool outside and they should be out playing! My 7yo was NOT happy! They can have screen time until lunch. After lunch, we have quiet time where they can read or play quietly in their rooms, or I make them do some workbook pages over the summer- they can do those. If they don't do their pages during quiet time, then they get no screen time until they are done.
After that, then they can have time until dinner. After dinner, it's shower and family time, and maybe some computer games with Dad. It amounts to 3-5 hours a day. The older ones will have sports practice over the summer as well.
Do you have some projects around the house that they would like to be involved with? Painting a bedroom, building a deck, building a fort in a tree, rearranging some furniture, finishing an attic, adding shelves to a closet or garage, refinishing or painting some old furniture, etc. Ask them if they have a project they would like to do.
