How to Keep Your Kids Away From Smartphones
Smartphone, tablet and co. – The new media not only determines our everyday lives but also those of our children. It is ok for you to play Bet22 once in a while Bet22 but here is what you can do with your children.
Children sitting still for hours and keeping themselves busy? It’s easy to do, thanks to smartphones. It may be convenient for parents, but it’s not a meaningful pastime.
According to a recent study, it even harms children: According to the study, intensive use of digital media can lead to a wide range of developmental disorders. This starts with feeding and sleep disturbances in babies, continues with language development disorders in toddlers, and ends with concentration disorders in elementary school children.
The problem is that smartphones, in particular, have become as much a part of our everyday lives as the oven is part of the kitchen. If you want to get your kids away from their screens despite the constant presence of smartphones, you have to come up with alternatives that are at least as entertaining as the devices with fascinating screens.
We’ll show you a few such alternatives. Most of them probably cause more mess, noise and effort than simply putting kids in front of a screen. However, they also make kids behave the way you’d expect them to Happy, messy and imaginative.
Instead of keeping kids quiet with their smartphones, there are plenty of ways to keep little ones busy in a meaningful way: With watercolours or finger paints, plasticine (you can also make your own), crayons and other craft materials, they can be creative and create something on their own.
Older children in particular enjoy doing handicrafts. For knitting and crocheting, you only need a few materials: wool and suitable needles.
On the Internet, you can find countless do-it-yourself blogs with craft instructions.
The classic way to keep kids busy still works in the age of smartphones, Gameboys and Nintendo: analog toys. It’s not the number of toys that matters, but their quality, educational value and versatility.
With building blocks, for example, children can build their own little world, restructure it and put it together again, all without a screen.
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Stories are also still told in analog form – in books. Providing children with access to good books and reading to them regularly encourages their passion for reading.
Keeping kids busy in a meaningful way: playing in nature. Another way to keep kids busy indoors is to involve them in everyday tasks. The older kids get, the more they can help around the house. Whether it’s cleaning out the dishwasher, setting the table, or helping with baking and cooking, little ones often even enjoy such tasks.
The best strategies for keeping children busy are useless if the parents themselves are constantly glued to their smartphones or tablets. If you’re sitting at the breakfast table checking the news or on Facebook in the subway, you can’t ban your kids from using their smartphones.
Experts advise against a radical ban anyway. It’s not necessarily the fact that children spend time in front of a screen that’s harmful, but how they spend it. Experts don’t see a problem with children spending 20 minutes on Skype with grandma, researching for school on the Internet or reading an e-book.