Does anyone find it hard to entertain your kids all day long with stuff to do other than watching the tube? Well I certainly do! I have heard a few of you blog and comment on this before, but I guess it's been on my mind a lot more lately. Maybe it's because we have been indoors more, since it has been getting colder outside...already! (It's going to be a long winter!) I try and only have the TV on for a few hours a day. I can't stand having the TV on all the time and having my kids, (mostly Madi) be hypnotized by it. But sometimes those 2 hours turn into a few more, as I am not sure how to keep her entertained. And those few hours that it is on I still feel guilty, even though the shows that she loves to watch are pretty educational: Sesame Street, Caillou and of course the infamous purple DINOSAUR, and that well-known animated song, that always seems to get stuck chanting in my head, "I love you, you love me..," Barney.
I heard a report a month ago on the news here in Pocatello that said, kids that watch TV are not developing skills they need to know and that TV slows down brain development.... Yikes! I have heard this many times in varying degrees, but it really worries me. At first I heard that over two hours is not good, now I am hearing that kids under two shouldn't be watching TV at all! So I might be making this into a bigger deal then it is, but yet sometimes I don't feel that way. After hearing this report and other articles online about it, I still wonder if even the few hours a day that the TV is on, is still too much for them to be watching. Do any of you feel that way or am I worrying about nothing? But then if no TV, I ask myself, how do I keep them happy and entertained AND me out of an insane asylum?!
There are many websites that talk about the affects on kids watching TV, but if any of you wanted to read more about this article the website is:
I really want to treat TV as a privilege that my kids need to earn. I think it will make them more responsible and help them to understand that it is not something they are entitled to, as is many other things. I am not very good at doing this yet, but I want to be. Ryan and I sometimes joke around saying that we will officially be the meanest parents around when our children are in school....elementary school, junior high AND high school, because we will be the parents that will not buy them cell phones or put TV's in their room. We still have a few years until that time comes-hopefully more, but when it does, someone by then (possibly a child that spend few hours in front of the tube...haha jk.) will have probably developed some kind of electronic chip that you embed in your ear. And texting will be long out of style followed by a device that will make communication between people unnecessary as everyone will just be able to read each other's thoughts... Now that could be scary! Who knows! At least for now, while our kids are young they think we are pretty cool...I hope.
Sorry, back to my question ...(when I get going on a subject my mind starts to run marathons in my head. Too bad my body can't keep up and do the same thing, then maybe I could lose some weight!) My point for this whole blog was to share ideas with you and get ideas from you-ways that you entertain your kids. Because like I said, it's hard to find things to do with my girls all day long when going outside much will not be an option soon. The TV at times has become my life saver, as sad as that is to say, because I don't have the energy or a clue on how to entertain them all day long. And when I do try, by the end of the day we are all so crabby that only chocolate chip cookies can help cheer us up! (and we all know that cookies aren't going to help me lose the weight either!)
BUT in effort to keep the TV off more, (and I really have to make a conscious effort) I tried doing some fun activities with them that would keep them and myself happy and entertained. So this week we spent a lot more time doing projects. We made dinosaur puppets, a dinosaur coloring book, acted out different dinosaurs, and played ballerina dinosaurs. There are some great websites on the side of our blog for doing crafts with kids. But I would love to get more suggestions from you!
These are pictures of Madi with her coloring book. It only took a few hours to make and color, but it was less hours in front of the tube and more hours having fun and learning! And just look at that SMILE!!
She was pretty excited about her book, and even woke up at 4 in the morning asking for it. I was happy that she was so proud of herself and all, but I wasn't happy getting up at 4 in the morning!
7 comments:
DOes computer time slow down their learning, too? Cause Emma plays a lot of educational games. THat's my sanity.
I bet the comupter games are great because they are interactive and kids have to use their brains...unlike TV. Madi used to play on the laptop all the time, we have several games for it, but there is something wrong with the CD drive-sometimes it works, sometimes is doesn't! And since our computer is windows vista, it won't play the older games. I am almost tempted just to buy a cheap laptop just so she can play again! Thanks for your comment Cristi! I really struggle with Madi sometimes keeping her entertained. She used to be so good at entertaining herself, but not anymore!
Hey! Sadie used to watch a lot of tv-mostly Dora which is educational but I started to panic like you and now I only let her watch one show a day. But, her and tyson play really well together so I really don't have to entertain her that much. One thing my kids love to play with is playdough. Tyson loves to make snakes out of it :). That keeps them entertained for a good hour. You could try kids games like Memory or Candyland-Sadie loves to play those! You are a great mom and I am sure your girls will turn out just fine!!!
Hey Christy
I think you are one step ahead of most parents by even thinking and noticing and trying to keep her away from the T.V. She looks so happy with her dinosaur book, you are such a good mom-I think having her in ballet will help!! Sometimes I look on the lds website and use lessons from the Nursery manual to come up with ideas-they at least have some fun topics to focus on for the day ;)-Like I said you are a great mom, Sometimes just making them play in their room for an hour can get them to use their imaginations-Kids are good at that :)-and bonus you can have a little time to yourself (hehe) Can't wait to see ya kimberly
This has been my own dilemma now for almost 8 years! I used to be good at it when I just had one kid, but things got more complicated the more kids I had, and now my own imagination is so neglected that I have a hard time thinking of things to do with my kids. I do not want my children to be dependent on me for entertainment either, however, so I am constantly trying to wrack my brain for ways to get them to use their imaginations and develop their own ways to play. If you come upon any ideas for THAT, let me know, cause I don't know how to accomplish it - it's just a fond dream of mine.
Hi Christy! Sorry it is so sporadic between me getting on here to comment. I am not very consistent in checking other peoples blogs and keep trying to figure out how to be notified when someone's blog has a new post. That would help me to do it, I think. My lack of commenting is def not a sign of not caring, but I also understand your craze about commenting!lol! I feel the same way sometimes, too! I am glad to see you do a post on this! I keep thinking about that talk, "Mother's Who Know" by Julie B. Beck. She says a lot about mothers who know don't entertain their kids or keep them going from one thing to another, but allow time for talking, laughing, and being together. I tried wiping TV out all together like I used to do, but it was overwhelming for me. So I do one little bit at a time. I have them pick what they want to watch for the day and that's it! I plan for myself to sit with them for 30 minutes once or twice a day to do what they want. The rest of the time they can help with chores, cooking, have a friend over, or they can play together. They fight a lot when this happens, but they eventually work it out and are happier. I have also started asking them on Sundays what they want to do that week. They pick one friend to play with, one outing, and one activity each. I plug in their choices in the schedule plus what I need to do that week and I find that not much time is left over for me to fill with TV. (Somehow I still get on to blog every once in awhile, too!)I will admit, though, that there are days every three or four weeks that is an all-day TV day. I just relax or I make a blanket or make a craft for them. We watch old classic movies and eat all day. It's great!
oh yeah, I recently went to Wal-Mart and got some preschool work books for "school" time and we do a few pages. They store their stuff in their backpacks like school and they love it! Plus it gives me an educational way to spend time with them. I keep a school journal for each of them and comment on each page they do as to how well they comprehended or enjoyed it. I have to blog that some time!!! auuugh!
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