I’m not going to go on and on in this post telling about how terrible it is for our children to spend so much time in front of a screen. You’ve all read the articles telling you that it’s not good for them. I know it’s not good for me, I’m sure it’s even worse for my kids! I’ve been there though, when I resort to turning on a movie or letting my kids play their electronic games when I don’t want to do anything but read a book on the couch or scroll Instagram. It’s hard as a parent to always try to come up with stuff for your kids to be doing when there’s something that can entertain them without you having to lift a finger. The sad thing is, playtime is disappearing at home, in school, and in communities. 70% of moms played outside when they were kids, 31% of their kids play outside today.
Since I homeschool my kids get a lot more playtime than kids that go to school 8 hours a day. They are lucky that their school only takes up about 4-5 hours of their day. While I love homeschooling, the rest of the day can drag on once the kids are done with their “school” stuff. It’s always tempting to turn on a movie for them, but I have found if I inspire them to play most of the day, they stop asking for shows and they start coming up with creative ways to play. Balanced and active play lays the foundation for a skilled, healthy, resilient, and successful society.
How to Help Inspire Your Kids to Have Creative Playtime
Make Rules – Having a little screen time isn’t all that bad, but a lot of it is. We have made a rule in our family that my kids can have an hour of electronic games twice a week. One of the hours sn during the school day once a week where they can play educational games. The weekend hour they get to play other games. They also get to watch about 2 movies a week. We don’t have TV so that is their TV watching.
Our Library does a Reading to Service Dogs Day once a month that my kids love to go to!
Come up with a schedule – I have done this more in the summer time than I do in the winter. Soon it will be little colder (thankfully in St. George it doesn’t get that cold) but for you that live where winter hits hard, your kids are going to need scheduled time to be active. Maybe each day you schedule different things to do after school is over. For example, Monday could be Park Day, you can do that whens it’s cold. Be creative, put warm clothes on and get out and play in the snow. Tuesday could be sports day, Wednesday friend day, Thursday at home day where you play at home and have more creative indoor (in the winter) play, Friday family day, and Saturday yard work and adventure day. We love to play on Saturdays and my kids seem to help more in the yard if they know we are going to have an adventure after. Even in the winter you can go cool places indoor or outdoor.
Get out of the house – Sometimes the first step you need to take when your kids are start to act bored is to get out of the house. Since we homeschool we have to do that daily or we get grumpy. Even if you don’t know what to do, but just get out of the house. Go on a walk, take drive, meet friends at a play area, go do a service, or go get a treat!
Encourage Imaginative Play – My older kids are pretty good at finding things to do when they get bored, but my 5 and 3 year old are the ones begging for a movie. If I pull down a bin of toys, even if they say they don’t want to play with the toys in it, whiten minutes they are playing, using their imaginations and having fun. Sometimes they want me to play with them, other times they don’t interact with me at all and I slip away to do the dishes! Sometimes my house ends up being a mess after they play, but my kids know they have to clean up when they are done. The don’t always do it with a happy attitude, but they know it’s a family rule!
Lave and Icebergs (Not sure how that goes together, but they had so much fun!)
Play a Sport – No matter what season it is there is usually always some sort of city sport going on. If you don’t want to get involved in city sports, find a place you can take your kids to play a sport. Lots of times you can find a recreation center where you don’t have to pay very much for your kids to play on their basketball court. You can also get a group of friends and take your children to your church gym and have playtime there playing basketball, indoor soccer or even having a nerf war, which is what we are into right now!
Play a Board Game– My 5 year old is amazing at games. He loves all sorts of board games and games that say ages 10+ he plays and can beat me! We love family games especially interactive ones. Some of our favorite are Quelf, 10 Days, Sleeping Queens, Monopoly and Life!
Always Have a Snack – Food always makes my kids happy during playtime. Sometimes kids get tired and grumpy and just need a stack to get their energy back. We have a lot of favorite snacks like fruits, veggies or crackers. I try stick to snacks that don’t have too much sugar in them because then my kids have a little too much energy. For the last 6 months our favorite snack has been the CLIF Kids Zbars. We buy them in bulk at Costco and my kids love them! Ok I do also! While this post is sponsored by CLIFF I can honestly say we LOVE these bars and will always buy them. I have two children that don’t eat white sugar right now and I love that these don’t have any in them. They are made with Cane Syrup. Here are a few other reason why we love them. CLIF Kid Zbars are made with organic ingredients, and are Non-GMO. They have important nutrients for active kids and they have no high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors (or synthetic preservatives)!
So get up off the couch, turn off your phone and inspire your kids to get creative with their playtime!! I love this video HERE that CLIF made to help promote play and to let your kids be kids and go outside! Get your kids outside, feed their adventures, allow them the time to have free-play, and watch their healthy habits grow!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
