Balancing screen and outdoors

[smom]

I would love to hear how other parents create balance between screen time and sports time. I think screens are here to stay .. they are only shrinking in size ;-) but increasing in volume :-). Kids today are much more aligned and attached to their screens and it is sometimes challenging for them to get out and participate in sports. We have 2 DDs and would love for them both to pick and to actively involve themselves in a particular sport. Right now they are both enrolled in swimming and gymanstics.

 

Appreciate parents sharing their experience on how to create this balance and get them interested in a particular sport.

 

TIA to all !!!

[Karen in CO]

We have a "No Screen" rule during the school week.   Neither of my girls are allowed any screen time from Sunday after dinner until Friday after school.   We've gone through various sports and other activities over the years, but cutting out screens on school nights has been one of the best choices we've made.

 

[SKL]

1.  On school days, we simply don't turn on the TV.  We only enter that room to practice piano.  On weekends, TV screen (movie or sports) time is earned and can be lost for bad behavior.

 

(But I should note that they go to aftercare, which allows them to watch TV for an hour or so each afternoon.)

 

2. They don't have a lot of tech stuff.  Each has a DS, but they don't play them every day.  Currently the DSs are in time out in my bedroom due to recent school results.  I rarely let them play around with my iphone - it bugs me, but sometimes it's a good distraction.  We don't own an ipad or kindle (though they have been trying to talk me into buying these).  Their nanny lets them play on hers, but that's only on Saturdays.

 

3.  If they want to do anything with a computer, they have to butter me up.  ;)  My laptop is occasionally used for them to play Math Blaster or look something up on the internet.

 

4.  Most evenings, we have something physical to do after school, followed by school work / piano / chores / therapy, and then if they are lucky, they get a little time to play.  There just isn't an extended period of idleness that would lead them to turn to a screen.  They're pretty busy on the weekends, too.

[PhotoGal]

During the school week, our kids can earn DS time after school is over for the day. They can earn 10 minutes at a time for practicing piano, listening to an audio book chapter, going through their Chinese flashcards or other school-related things, up to 30 minutes per day.

 

On Fridays we have movie night together. On Mondays they have an hour of computer time. On the weekends they have an hour of wii time. They also play/watch in the car, which actually adds up to more than I would like.

 

The kids are pretty active naturally, but I try to make sure we have some kind of planned exercise every day (a class, park day, or we do something together). They really need this or they start getting a little looney. :)

[DoppeltGemoppelt]

We have a no-screen-time during the week rule. This includes car rides and wait times. On the weekend they get about 1hour Fri, Sat, Sun. The weekend rule started causing problems when it came to going to sports events though, since the kids wanted to watch right in the morning. We wound up changing it to screen time after dinner only. This works out pretty well. The kids are always excited to go to their sports, which is only swimming twice a week currently. We do require them to pick one sport and stick with it for at least the season. They've done as many as three sports at once.

[ondreeuh]

Mine watch virtually no TV, but they LOVE the computer and iPad. I know they use screens too much. We don't have a system of keeping track of time or earning privileges. Basic rules are no games until schoolwork is done (but they can do something educational in our morning down-time), and no screens after 7.

 

I need to delete a couple of apps that my kindergartener is obsessed with. Playmobil Pirates (one of those dumb games that you have to visit often to cash in and invest in your village) is the worst offender. He loves lots of educational apps too, and since he is learning something, I'm not as concerned.

 

It is kind of funny to me that when I take back the iPad, my kindergartener will whine about having nothing to do and turn down play-doh, Netflix, a game, Legos, etc. But if I offer math, he gets all excited and runs to the table. So at least he ranks math up there with insipid games.

 

On school days, he has a 30 minute recess as long as it's above -10 degrees Fahrenheit. On weekends, I don't make him go out in that weather! Today it is almost 30 degrees so I did send the boys out for about a half hour. That lasted until the first snowball to the face. So for us it's not a balance between screens & outdoors, but between screens & reading or creative play. He does soccer 1x week and swimming 2x a week, and is happy to go to those (though he asks to use the iPad in the car, lol).

[beishan]

We have no screen time Monday to Friday. My son stays in after care and once in a while, they get to computer room to play some free games for half hour (1-2 times per week). He has walking club at school recess time twice per week, basketball class at aftercare once a week, gym class at school twice a week, and swimming class on Saturday evening. He also has Saturday Chinese school from 12:30 to 2:30. After that, he needs to go grocery shopping with me so basically he has only Saturday evening to Sunday night to have screen time. My tablet only has wifi so he cannot use it on the go.

[SKL]

As for sports interest, I pretty much tell my kids (ages 6 and 7) what they are going to do in that department.  They do a variety of stuff and have not really landed on specific ones that are greatly preferred over others.  If anything, the horse riding is a hit, but that is way more expensive than all the others, so I'm not pushing it.  ;)  Our schedule doesn't accommodate team sport commitments, but I believe they will be able to play those at school beginning in 4th grade (or is it 5th) and I will encourage that.  They have gym 2x per week at school, and can play in the gym in aftercare when it's too foul outdoors, so they can practice stuff like basketball at those times. 

 

Outside of school, they have classes 1x or 2x per week in gymnastics, Tae Kwon Do, dance, swimming, and horse riding.  They have a few things at home that they can use for exercise / practice, and they have bikes, which will probably hibernate until summer, now that the snow has arrived.  As they have expressed an interest in archery, I plan on getting them started with that (just within our family) come Christmas.

[mathnerd]

We do not allow any screentime. That also includes no screentime for the parents. I don't give my child the option and I keep him so busy to find time for screen devices. My child is ignorant of popular social culture and that is fine with us.  We don't allow minecraft or even angry birds. We only listen to the local classical music station on the car radio or some carschooling CDs. We have been this way for the past 4 years and our life is all the better because of it.

 

Though we have a ton of small and big screen devices at home because of our job requirements, we have ensured that our DS does not use them. I feel that they are young only once (and compliant at this age) - so I use this time to help him explore options that are available outside school in sports and arts - I drive him from pick up to an afterschool activity - piano, swimming, martial arts, chess school, Little league when in season - some of them are multiple times a week and some are back to back classes. We head home and finish homework, test review and any book reports/projects. We afterschool for a short time. Then it is mom's turn to read a literature classic aloud. Then bedtime. We do not do anything on saturday - my DS gets to do Dreambox math and EPGY classes online on that day. On Sunday, he works on Scratch programming for his own fun and plays Sudoku or Chess on his ipad for a short time. My DH watches major sporting events like NBA, NFL regularly - that is the only time my son watches any TV - because my son loves sports, it is hard to put a stop to it - but looking at all the adult content in the advertising that goes on during those events, I am tempted to cut that out too.

 

ETA: My son is a Lego fiend and spends all his downtime building with legos or blocks.

 

[beishan]

My son and his friends are in to rainbow loom recently and they spend more time on that in after school.

[Uff Da!]

nm

[2squared]

Well, it all boils down to I give them permission to use their screens and I tell them to turn them off when I think they've had too much.  With five kids, I do a lot of expectation setting.  I end the day with laying out a rough timeline for the next day, and I start the day with more specific timeline instructions. 

 

My kids love sports naturally, so we don't have to bribe or force that on them at all.  We have fewer screens when dh & I are active with the kids, whether that's chores or having fun.  On weekends I try to have at least one non-screen day, and the kids love it.