With summer vacations on, keeping children away from the TV sets is not easy. They have their set of excuses—the weather is too hot to play outside, we are bored, what to do—for watching TV continuously for hours. But before your house becomes a battleground, we get you some strategies that will help you keep your child occupied and hence limit his TV watching.
1) Start the day early: Wake them early and take them outdoors while the sun is still bearable. Let them play on the swings, run around, get their hands dirty in the mud, or collect knick-knacks etc. This will tire them out and will get them to sleep through the hot afternoons. Evenings again can be planned on the terrace/balcony or at a friend’s house.
2) Set a timetable: Set a time table for your child. Look around for activities, classes, camps, sports coachings etc that she is interested in and get her enrolled. But do not force her. The time table should be relaxed and the child shouldn’t feel stressed out with it. Give them a choice on what they would like to do: try their hands at cooking or photography?
3) Keep them involved: Look for fun activities that will keep child engrossed. Paper machie, origami, clay, painting etc are some options. Get them board games, science kit sets or a large jigsaw that they can play with a friend or a sibling.
4) Plan an activity a day: Think of age appropriate activities for children and allot them according to days. One can be a room cleaning day, garden tending day, taking care of the pet day, cooking for family day. Start on the chore yourself and have them pitch in. Even three days a week will suffice.
5) Organize play dates: Organize play dates for children in the afternoon when they can’t go out. Have a themed play date, a fancy dress play date, a story telling session, or organize games for them such as making a tent out of an old bedsheet (tie it around furniture legs) and let them imagine it to be an army camp!
6) Let them enjoy: If she likes playing with water, set up a splash pool for her; if mud is what they like, let them get their hands and clothes dirty. Let the children have fun. These activities will keep the children busy for hours. Take necessary safety measures though such as keeping the pool in a shaded area or a bathroom.
7) Restrict family TV: It is not fair on the child that the mother or grandmother is watching TV while he is not allowed to. Communicate to the whole family that TV watching has to be controlled in the house. Be firm about it. And no meals in front of the TV. Let children make an effort to get up and eat food when hungry.
8) Include more family time: Make a conscious effort to provide the child with more family time. Go out together to a friend’s house, sit down for a meal together, ask them to help you arrange the table for lunch, go on a walk together. She will definitely prefer this to TV.
9) Have them watch programs and not just TV: Limit the mind-numbing content of cartoons. Instead, sit down together to watch a documentary or short film that is of his interest such as something on animals, space, machines, medical science etc. Or exchange rhymes and educational CDs with friends. Make a treat of this sort of TV watching. Sit down with popcorns and a shake.
10) Loosen your grip: Don’t make it a battle. Let him watch TV for sometime—maybe an hour. Keep a clock next to the TV to remind him when the hour is over. Also, do not let TV run in the background. Switch it off when not needed or the child will be tempted.
11) Be available to the children: House chores and cleaning can wait. This is more serious issue. Make an attempt to participate yourself or at least start them off on an activity such as a board game or a puzzle etc. Children require company.
12) Talk to them: Explain to them without exaggeration or threats, the disadvantage of excessive TV watching and how it will isolate them. Keep the tone level and understanding.
These tips though may sound difficult, once applied will eventually help you keep the child away from TV. But remember, most importantly the initiation has to come from you, the parent. You will have to become your child’s company—after all isn’t that better than she finding a friend in the idiot-box.
1) Start the day early: Wake them early and take them outdoors while the sun is still bearable. Let them play on the swings, run around, get their hands dirty in the mud, or collect knick-knacks etc. This will tire them out and will get them to sleep through the hot afternoons. Evenings again can be planned on the terrace/balcony or at a friend’s house.
2) Set a timetable: Set a time table for your child. Look around for activities, classes, camps, sports coachings etc that she is interested in and get her enrolled. But do not force her. The time table should be relaxed and the child shouldn’t feel stressed out with it. Give them a choice on what they would like to do: try their hands at cooking or photography?
3) Keep them involved: Look for fun activities that will keep child engrossed. Paper machie, origami, clay, painting etc are some options. Get them board games, science kit sets or a large jigsaw that they can play with a friend or a sibling.
4) Plan an activity a day: Think of age appropriate activities for children and allot them according to days. One can be a room cleaning day, garden tending day, taking care of the pet day, cooking for family day. Start on the chore yourself and have them pitch in. Even three days a week will suffice.
5) Organize play dates: Organize play dates for children in the afternoon when they can’t go out. Have a themed play date, a fancy dress play date, a story telling session, or organize games for them such as making a tent out of an old bedsheet (tie it around furniture legs) and let them imagine it to be an army camp!
6) Let them enjoy: If she likes playing with water, set up a splash pool for her; if mud is what they like, let them get their hands and clothes dirty. Let the children have fun. These activities will keep the children busy for hours. Take necessary safety measures though such as keeping the pool in a shaded area or a bathroom.
7) Restrict family TV: It is not fair on the child that the mother or grandmother is watching TV while he is not allowed to. Communicate to the whole family that TV watching has to be controlled in the house. Be firm about it. And no meals in front of the TV. Let children make an effort to get up and eat food when hungry.
8) Include more family time: Make a conscious effort to provide the child with more family time. Go out together to a friend’s house, sit down for a meal together, ask them to help you arrange the table for lunch, go on a walk together. She will definitely prefer this to TV.
9) Have them watch programs and not just TV: Limit the mind-numbing content of cartoons. Instead, sit down together to watch a documentary or short film that is of his interest such as something on animals, space, machines, medical science etc. Or exchange rhymes and educational CDs with friends. Make a treat of this sort of TV watching. Sit down with popcorns and a shake.
10) Loosen your grip: Don’t make it a battle. Let him watch TV for sometime—maybe an hour. Keep a clock next to the TV to remind him when the hour is over. Also, do not let TV run in the background. Switch it off when not needed or the child will be tempted.
11) Be available to the children: House chores and cleaning can wait. This is more serious issue. Make an attempt to participate yourself or at least start them off on an activity such as a board game or a puzzle etc. Children require company.
12) Talk to them: Explain to them without exaggeration or threats, the disadvantage of excessive TV watching and how it will isolate them. Keep the tone level and understanding.
These tips though may sound difficult, once applied will eventually help you keep the child away from TV. But remember, most importantly the initiation has to come from you, the parent. You will have to become your child’s company—after all isn’t that better than she finding a friend in the idiot-box.
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