In today’s world kids often spend more time sitting in front of the home television set rather than playing outside with other kids of their age group. Watching television for a long time affects the child’s mental and physical health and it damages interaction skill of the kid. A recent study claims that the average time kids spend watching television is 6 to 8 hours. This is simply shocking that kids are wasting so much time every day with no physical activity at all. For a healthy upbringing for the kids, parents must take care of this problem though we all know it is not easy to stop children from watching television. Here are some tips on how to reduce screen time of your kids.
1. Give time to your child
Parents are often so busy with their work that they have no time for their children and the lonely kids glue themselves to the television set. This is a very common phenomena these days. It is highly advised to the parents to give their children the required attention and care they need while growing up. Parents should try to spend as much time as possible with their kids. But please don’t suffocate them by being over attentive. Play with them, enjoy a walk with your kids or have a small trip at the weekends, it will help the kids to spend less time in front of the television screen. Always be careful if you see any sudden change in your kids behavior. Don’t force them to do anything, always try to talk and solve problems. Being emotionally close to your kids is very important for their overall growth.
2. Encourage to play outdoor games
Playing outdoor games is very important for a child’s health. Every child should play for at least 3 to 4 hours per day. Encourage your children to play games like football, cricket, tennis, or basketball. This way they will have a lot of exercise, which is necessary for the physical and mental growth of a child. Playing games with the same age group helps the kids to bond with other kids and it also improves the interactive skill of the children.
3. Don’t buy too many computer games
Check out that your kids are not spending too much time on computer. Playing games on computer for hours is almost as bad as watching television. Don’t buy too many games and always make sure that they don’t get addicted to computer games. Don’t let them play too much of cellphone games too. Every cellphone comes with some games, so make sure that your kids aren’t using your cellphone to play games.
4. Fix television watching time
You can’t expect your kids to altogether stop watching TV, but you can fix a time for it. Make a note of that and just ensure that your kids aren’t spending more than that limited time in front of TV set. If you yourself watch too much television, that would set a bad example to your kids. So, if you have that habit then you need to change it immediately.
5. Check the program list of television
Always check the programs your kids are watching and make a restriction on inappropriate programs. Watching violent or sexual scenes on television doesn’t help your kid. Watching too much of cartoons is also unhealthy. Staring lazily on television makes the affects the intelligence of the child. Programs on nature or wild life could be helpful to the kids to learn new things. Innovative science programs are also quite useful.
6. Develop some healthy habits
Develop some healthy habits like having dinner with the family rather than sitting in front of the TV and eating alone. Let your kids join conversation, listen to what they have to say; these habits increase social interaction in your children. Ask for their opinion and discuss various things with them. Always encourage them to socialize with others.
7. Book reading
Try to develop the habit of reading in your children. If your children are too small then recite the stories to them but if your children can read, just let them read the books themselves. The habit of reading is always good for a child’s mental growth. Let them read books on every topics, fiction or non-fiction. Biographical books are also good for children.
