Almost every kid loves screen time. And, as a parent, it might be your only salvation to have a few minutes to yourself to prepare dinner or take a shower. Whether it be an iPad or your phone, finding the right apps and balance is important, and necessary, to your child’s development. Nevertheless, it’s something simple for quick spurts, but with everything being digital it’s a lot harder to find the happy medium between screen time normal time. Here are a few suggestions we have to help you with your screen time balance.
Set Up Parental Controls – It’s essential to set up parental controls on any device your child will be using. It’s not only for their safety from seeing something they shouldn’t be seeing, but it helps protect your bank account. A lot of mobile games have pop-ups to spend real money on gems or coins. Some kids may not know the difference and they’ll just click the button. When parental controls are set up stuff like that is disabled and the child can only access what the parent allows.
Make Sure All Apps Are Age Appropriate – Some apps are great to help a child practice their shapes, numbers, spelling, and more. You need to be aware of what they’re playing. If the game has any sort of pop-up, teach the child to hit the X button or better yet have them come to you so you can make sure everything is okay.
Kids Absorb Everything – Kids pay attention to everything, and anything. At such a young age it’s amazing how much they’re absorbing every single day. This also means that they’re picking up on everything you’re doing too. They want to be just like their parents. When using your phone or iPad in front of your child, ensure you limit your own time, focusing more on them and less on your screen. Lead by example and your child will follow.
Create A Set Schedule – Your child can have some screen time, but they can’t be stuck looking at a screen all day. Limiting it to a half an hour to an hour gives the child plenty of time to play a couple of educational games, or watch a show they’ve been fixated on. After that, it’s time to put away the device and move onto something else, like reading or playing outside. A countdown could be set up so they know the end is coming up, and it prevents some epic meltdowns when they have to turn the device off.
While Creative Learning Center does allow screen time for our students, we recognize how important it is for each child to be limited from the devices. We’re proud to offer an even balance of screen time and other forms of playtime and learning so your child can blossom. Book a tour with us today to see how our learning center is set up!
