Jul232008
Alternatives to watching TV for children
Filed under Uncategorized by Beck at 12:38 pm on Jul 23 2008
Creative drawing while giving Mum some quiet time
I read an article in the Zen Habits Blog yesterday called ‘How to be a great mom: 12 awesome tips”. It offers some very practical down to earth advice… one that I could relate to, and want to discuss here, is the guilt Mum’s (and Dad’s) feel when sitting the kids in front of the TV so they can have some quiet time. The article says that it is okay to do this (and I agree - but to an extend).
I find that sometimes this is a self-defeating action as my children can get quite overactive after watching too much TV or the wrong sort of TV. Recently my guilt at sitting them in front of the TV has led me to plot alternative action. I have been experimenting with what other activities will keep my kids entertained for long enough for me to have some quiet time. Here is my list so far (please add a comment to the end if you can add to this):
- Bubbles: I find that my children love to blow the bubbles and then chase and pop them. I have a normal bubble wand for my five year old and bubble pipe for my three year old (as he blows the standard bubble wand too hard).
- Climbing Trees: So I normally supervise when my five year old, Cooper, climbs but I can sit on the ground and do some work. He doesn’t need my attention when he is climbing (Cooper is a bit of a monkey - this may not be for all kids). The other day Cooper said to me ‘Can I please climb the tree instead of watching TV?’
- Drawing with chalk on the footpath/pavers: I give my kids some big thick chalk and they sit outside and draw for an hour or so, peacefully working together. When it rains their art washes away and they can start again.
- Collecting rocks and garden treasures: I give both of my boys a bucket and they go in search of hidden treasure in the garden. Tomas, my three year old, will collect everything he finds; while Cooper takes care and finds the smooth rocks or items based on colour. Sometimes they pick flowers and put them into some small vases I have for them. Leaves and sticks are also sometimes glued to bits of paper to make pictures or collages.
- Sandpit: The sandpit is one of my boys favorite play spots, it contains a few kitchen utensils, a sieve, buckets, spade and a number of cars (and sand).
- Playing with a ball: They can throw, kick, catch and shoot goals with these. It does help if you have two kids.
- A tent: An old tent put up in the backyard has provided my kids with hours of enjoyment, they pretend they are camping, play house or just see how much they can fit in. I purchased ours for a couple of dollars from the thrift shop and althought it has numerous holes that would not allow it to be camped in- it is perfect for the backyard.
- Colouring in: Cooper can sit down for hours colouring in while Tomas (at three) will not sit for more than 10 minutes. Quite useful for when Tomas is having a nap.
- Lego: Tomas will play with lego for hours, building and rebuilding houses - sometimes I have trouble putting him to sleep as he is in the middle of building. Cooper also loves lego but will happily colour in while Tomas plays.
And well I do resort to TV in the late afternoons when their attention span decreases because they are tired and grumpy (and so am I) - but I try to set a limit to this time.
