Help your Kids have a more Screen Free Summer

Is a screen free summer something you really want for your children, but you don’t have the time or energy to go full crunchy mama?

For my family, screen free is probably not going to happen. But when our pediatrician asked about her daily screen time, I realized how digital this generation is.

According to CBS News, kids and teens spend more than 7 hours a day in front of a screen.

Our doctor was shocked when I mentioned that my 9 year old daughter generally gets less than 1 hour of screen time per day outside of family viewing.

She may get more here and there. Today we’re under a heat advisory and the pool is being refilled so I’m letting her watch a kids movie with her friend. If she visits a friend with a video game system, she will sometimes get to play for 30 minutes here and there.

But we really do try to keep her off her screens most of the time.

Why Limit Screen Time?

You can spend hours reading all the current research on screen time. Hint, none of it is good news. While the reports differ in focus, they all suggest that screens have many negative effects. They decrease our attention span, possibly affect neurotransmitters in our brains, make us lazy, are partially at fault for the obesity epidemic, disrupt sleep cycles, and impede human relationships.

Too much screen time has also been linked to mental and emotional health issues. I know screens haven’t helped my attention span and social media is linked to a lot of depression and anxiety.

And those are just the first Google search results. Without repeating all that research, we can agree healthier guidelines for a more screen free summer is important.

What works for our family?

Limit devices. 

She has a LeapPad, which is primarily for educational games, a second generation iPod for music, and an old iPhone without internet or service. She has a few games on the iPhone, but we don’t allow her to play on it very often.

In the van, she gets to watch Christian or family movies when we have to drive the 30-45 minutes to get to town. Also, we watch cooking shows together as a family for a half hour/hour several nights a week.

By limiting her devices, she doesn’t have as much drive to sit in front of a screen. We also keep the games she accesses educational. Most educational games don’t have the affect on our dopamine receptors that most video games do.

Limit access to devices.

We don’t have a television in her room. The television in the recreation room only plays DVDs, no cable access. She can only watch the movies we approved and purchased.

Many parents have put a television in their children’s room only to find that the kids are watching more tv or playing more video games than they realized.

Keeping televisions and video games in public places in our home helps us better monitor what she is watching or playing and for how long.

Another way to limit devices for children who already have phones or computers is to control their internet access. A product like Circle Home Plus allows you to set internet off-times for individual users or family time.

Join a reading program!

If you’re a parent, you’ve heard of the summer slide, the loss of academic skills during the summer months.

A reading program at the library or Barnes & Noble is a way to encourage your child to spend more time reading. Today, we ate breakfast and then I suggested she crack open a book. She read for a couple of hours.

Making more time for reading means less time in front of a screen.

If you don’t want to do something organized, make up your own program. Decide how many pages or books you want your children to read and prizes for completion. I’m leaning towards PIZZA because then we both enjoy it!

Make educational activities a priority

In addition to reading, focusing kids on something educational everyday will open their minds, ignite their interests, and give them something to do other than sit in front of a screen.

Since we homeschool, I also cracked open her 4th grade materials today. She spent a few minutes working on her math lessons for next year.  By starting this summer, she can get ahead in her least favorite subject. Just a few minutes a day will keep up the skills she has worked so hard to attain this school year.

Join a craft or educational subscription service. KiwiCo offers several different subscription boxes for all ages. Crates begin with Tadpole 0-2 years and go all the way up to Eureka from 14-104. Crates contain many different projects and will keep kids entertained. The Atlas crates are a recent addition to KiwiCo and perfect for inspiring a love of travel and cultural understanding. Doodle crates are more arts and crafts, but interesting projects and techniques. Tinker crates are for your budding STEM student.

Doodle Crate Save 30% On Your First Month’s Box

Keep them Busy

Summer is a great time to work on learning some new skills. We are working on housework and cooking. While no kid wants to clean, learning to adult is necessary and will keep them busy.

Plan some playdates with friends. Go fishing or to the beach. Organize travel. Join a class or camp. Sign up for VBS or two or three, LOL. And make them go outside.

My child used to be in front of a screen everyday for hours. It was just PBS, but wasn’t healthy for her. We gradually cut back over time and encouraged more outdoor play. Now, she is outside almost constantly if the weather (and we) permit. She is the kid standing under the street light claiming she didn’t notice it came on.

Stock up on sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and water balloons. Make outside the best place to be. If you can have a pool or get to one, swimming is excellent exercise for everyone. Even a wading pool in the backyard will keep kids happy without sitting in front of a screen.

With coloring books, cards, board games, and puzzles you can give your kids an old-fashioned summer full of fun. They won’t miss the screens.

Make the most of Screen time

MobyMax.com, ABCMouse.com or IXL.com are just a few sites that you can use to make what screen time they get be educational. The YouVersionBible Kids app is a favorite with us for our mobile devices. Also games that allow her to draw or think critically like Scrabble are screen time games that are good for her.

Make screen time a family affair. Play games together. Have a family movie night. Surf the net to discover a project together. Let your child direct a youtube search.

Taking the time to spend screen time together is a commitment. Sometimes, we get tired and the screen is a way of not being the center of their universe for a few minutes, but when we share these screen experiences with them, we get to speak about what we watched and pour into them good values and teach them to discern what’s worth watching and what isn’t. I’m learning a lot about how to do this better in Mama Bear Apologetics.

Screens aren’t awful, in moderation.

But a more screen free summer is possible, even if you have to slowly transition from some less healthy habits, as we did several years ago.

We love watching a good family movie or being able to access excellent videos and articles from around the world. But setting guidelines that help her be more screen free, will help her have a happier, healthier, more fun summer.