Trick to limit Screen Time – Our little Secret.
Inside: With the motive to limit Screen Time I started following this simple trick. Bonus: Happier kids
I let my daughters sit in front of the computer or any other gadget, that’s because I choose to teach my girls how to balance spending time in front of a gadget in a healthy way in their life.
We must accept that technology is definitely here to stay.
It has opened a world of educational opportunities that didn’t exist a few years back. An active technology and screen time helps in a child’s development and improves his/her learning when used appropriately. It’s a parents job to intentionally teach kids the difference between it’s risks and benefits.
To help your child take full advantage of the new forms of digital learning, it’s important to give them an access to appropriate technology.
I personally feel the responsibility to address the growing issue of digital exclusion. When we believe in learning through technology, we ensure the development of a more inclusive society where the children develop age appropriate 21st century skills.
However at the same time I also acknowledge that the technology doesn’t replace the conventional learning completely.
Here’s why you must limit the screen time:
The truth is that screen Time if not monitored could shut a child’s brain, which is big enough reason to creep out a parent.
I realised quite early that my big muffin wasn’t fun to be around when she would get too much screen time.
I must confess that I did get a little panicky thinking about going cold turkey with screen time for my girls because I did understand that there is a truck load of information out there on the web which will definitely help my girls.
It’s was high time to get creative with limiting the screen time.
So if you ask me how I Teach my girls to balance, here’s the answer:
One find day when I sat down with the Tablet I realised that the poor little innocuous tablet was loaded with over a hundred Children’s Apps.
That was enough to wake me up and take an action.
I decided to do three things:
1. Set a limit
2. Clean up the mess
3. Give a valid explanation
Check out the conversation I had with my elder one (when she was almost 3 yr old), to know how she helped me in setting a limit to her screen time.
I called my big muffin.
Mumma Muffin: “Baby I need to clean up our Tablet a little. I realise we have so many apps installed in this, I’m afraid that the tablet will soon get overtired and stop working.”
I made her sit next to me and asked her pointing at each app if it was fun. If not I made her delete it.
Our Tablet was much lighter, but I wasn’t done yet.
Next day I again called my girl and asked her to help me organise the apps we were left with.
Mumma Muffin: “Have you noticed that some of these Apps use your brain more, like if you read a story or solve math problems?”
She nodded. I was relieved that we were on the same page now.
Mumma Muffin: “So now we would be putting those brain teasing apps in a folder called ‘Smarty Brain Food’. We would put all other apps in another folder and name it ‘Silly Junk Food’. So can you tell me what you know about Junk Food?”
MyBigMuffin: “We aren’t supposed to have it often.” (I’m glad she had the perfect answer to this).
Mumma Muffin: “Yes you are right. Because it isn’t good for your body, right?”
She nodded in agreement, though she for sure looked worried about where we were going with this.
Mumma Muffin: “Apps can be classified similarly. The ones in the Smarty Brain Food folder are good exercise for your brain muscles. However you must not use the Silly Junk Food apps very often because they aren’t good enough for your brain.”
Moment on Truth:
We made two folders in the Tablet: Smarty Brain Food and Silly Junk Food. I then handed over the tablet to my daughter.
Mumma Muffin: “Please tell me now which folder should each app go in, and we will see and discuss if I have a different opinion on this”
After a few hits and misses, by girl got a hang of it.
My little pony? Silly Junk Food
Math for kids? Smarty Brain Food
Subway Surfer? Silly Junk Food
Learning words? Smarty Brain Food
Next Step:
Now we needed to set a Time limit and I needed to explain her why?
Mumma Muffin: “You know right, sometimes after you use the tablet for a while you feel cranky and grumpy?”
MyBigMuffin: “Yes” (Said looking down with a smirk)
Mumma Muffin: “I feel this happens because you get too much Silly Junk Food. Let’s make a rule for when you use these Silly Junk Food apps. Let’s decide on a special time that shouldn’t happen often.”
Mumma Muffin: “Let me show you one trick on this tablet”. I showed her how to use the time app and set it to Twenty minutes.
Did this trick work for us?
My girl no longer is in a grumpy mood post her screen time. Infact she now spends most of her time solving the brain ticklers in her activity book.
You can now download a free printable to help you and your child analyse the apps. This printable can be used to discuss and pen down the brain food and Junk Food apps.
Make sure you let your child analyse the apps first and then you can take over and help her differentiate between the two kinds.
Please remember that Technology is beneficial if we choose to use it to enhance learning and not use it merely for entertainment. If used wisely, it could help create opportunities for some meaningful learning experiences.
I hope this little trick helps you.
How do you limit the screen Time? Share your tip below in the comments section.
If you want to know how I limit the screen time for my girl when she was younger, please do leave a comment down.
Get on a discovery session With Life Coach Preet and discover new horizons. Reach me on Instagram to book one to one session or a group session.
Much love,
Preetjyot Kaur
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Thanks for sharing. Very useful and helpful post. ?
Thanks for stopping by Riddhima. I reallybhope this helps you too.
Great idea dear, would implement this with my lo
Thanks Noopur. I’m would be on cloud nine if this trick helps you dear. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow This is an amazing idea to deal with screen time issue. I too follow an alarm system at my home 30mins each one get on tab and once the time is finished alarm rang and i take the tab from them. I personally believe parenting in today’s Era
Parenting needs to be tweaked to what suits our child and us. Glad that the alarm system worked for you too.
I hope you saw above how we analyse and reason why and how we follow this trick.
Balance is definitely the key. There are so many advantages and so many things kids can learn a lot more easily with phones / tablets. But over abusing takes away their interest to do other things.
True
Its so important to limit screen time and also you are right going cold turkey is really impossible but I love the way your mum handled and explained the situation. Lovely!
Thanks Rajshree
Great way Preet, you involved your girl in sorting and in that process she learnt the concept of brainy and junk apps. Great trick.
Thanks Jhilmil
That is an amazing idea. My daughter is still too young…And I have so far managed to keep her off phone. But I know things will change soon. Hope this comes in handy then.
Hope this helps!
It’s a very sad reality that kids are glued to the mobile and tablets. Many parents don’t understand the negatives associated to it . These are some excellent tips shared by you
True Hema.
This is much needed. Limiting screen time is really important. We have a strict no weekday policy and restricted weekend policy.
True that!
Wow that’s awesome, I would surely save this post and try these tricks.
Glad to hear that
Now this is really amazing! Tricking them into understanding what you actually want which otherwise would have gone unnoticed if you told them directly that don’t do that! I loved your idea!
Thanks
Screen time is something that must be controlled! I have recently reviewed one app that helps me combat the ill effects of excessive screen time. I guess parents themselves should be less on gadgets!
I totally agree
I love how simple these ideas are. And they use built in features instead of requiring yet another app purchase. Thank you!
Thanks
That’s a smart way of including screen time in kid’s daily life. Reducing and timing the inculcation is the best way, we cannot expect kids to stay off from gadgets in today’s scenario.
Thanks
Ohh i really loved your Trick to limit the use of gadgets. Kids are too much addicted to phones and tablets and is necessary for them to have limit. Your article is must share.
That’s such a nice way to deal with kids. Kids are really logical these days. If we involve them in their decision making , they feel responsible and also abide by the decision. Will do the same with my kids
Thanks. I really hope this helps you.
Kids really needed to get controlled and these tips and tricks are really good to get it controlled.
Thanks
I was struggling with excessive screen time thinking of doing some solution like this in the best interest of my little one.
I hope this helps you.
Wow, that’s something I should do with my son . He is not much into gadgets but the ideas seems awesome to me.
Glad to hear that .
this is really going to help me as my kid is always with mobile…
Thanks Simi?. I really hope this trick helps you.
Yes. I did find thus post extremely helpful and doable. These tips and tricks can be easily done to reduce screen time. Hence I shared with my sister too.
I’m glad to hear that you found the post helpful and that you shared it with your sister! It’s always great to share useful information with others. Limiting screen time can be a challenge, but with some strategies and creativity, it can be done. Hopefully, the tips and tricks provided in the post will help your family find a better balance with screen time.
I liked your way of handling things. Instead of making it a rule you made it her own choice and that’s hard to break out of. Kids must have limited screen time for their own benefit.
Thank you for your comment! I agree that giving kids ownership and choice in their own screen time is a great way to make sure they understand the importance of balance and develop good habits. It can be challenging at times, but ultimately it’s worth it for their health and well-being.
I have limited screen time for both my kids of different ages. Sometimes I don’t even let one watch TV if the other one hasn’t finished their work. But they are slowly learning how bad it is for their health especially brain.
That’s great to hear that you have limited screen time for your kids and that they are learning about the negative effects of excessive screen time on their health. It’s important to teach children about responsible technology use from a young age so that they can develop healthy habits and avoid potential problems in the future. Keep up the good work!
This is such a helpful post in current situation. Screen time has gone up considerably
Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you found the post helpful. With so much of our lives taking place online now, it’s important to be mindful of how much screen time we and our children are getting.
Wow! That’s such a cool and inclusive way to limit screen time. Love the Smarty Brain Food and Silly Junk Food Folders. Great going, Preetjyot!
I’m glad you found the idea of Smarty Brain Food and Silly Junk Food Folders helpful! It’s always great to have fun and creative ways to help limit screen time for kids.
Thanks for sharing this with me as taking care of screen time is really important now as kids are doing most of the studies online..your tips are really helpful
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found the tips helpful. It can definitely be a challenge to manage screen time in today’s digital age, especially with so many activities now being online. But with a little effort and creativity, it’s definitely possible to strike a healthy balance.
Wow loved this trick and I agree completely that technology is a boon if we used it wisely. It is our responsibility to teach our kids how to use it in limit and for increasing our knowledge.
Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you found the trick and post helpful. Teaching kids how to use technology responsibly is indeed an important aspect of parenting in the digital age.
Thats such an insightful post. I am in love with these tips on cutting down screen time in our kids lives.
I’m glad to hear that you found the post insightful and helpful in terms of cutting down screen time for kids. It’s important to find a healthy balance between technology use and other activities for the well-being of our children.
We can’t deny the screen time to kids anymore. They have to attend school to entertainment everything staying at home. Do to the pandemic. However I completely agree with you that balance is the key. Loved your conversations with little ones.
Thank you for your comment! I’m glad you found the conversation with the little ones helpful. It can definitely be challenging to find the right balance with screen time, especially during the pandemic, but it’s important to prioritize other activities and limit excessive use to promote healthy development and well-being.
I see almost every kid with a gadget stuck to their hands and eyes always into it! These are some really good steps which can be implemented! Loved the post!
Thank you for your positive feedback! I’m glad you found the post helpful. It’s definitely important to find a balance with screen time and encourage other activities for kids.
I believe technology is a blessing in it’s own way when used the right way. My kids also demanded a lot of screen time specially in lockdown when they were bored and I too busy to give them time. But I knew I had to minimize it anyhow. I got them into lot of painting and activities. And also on phone I made them do a lot of art and painting related games and activites instead of just YouTube.
Great to hear that you found a way to balance your children’s screen time with other activities and hobbies. Technology can definitely be a useful tool, but as you said, it’s important to use it in a way that promotes creativity and learning rather than just mindless entertainment. Incorporating art and other hands-on activities is a great way to keep children engaged and learning. Well done!
Really loved your three pointers..I am very much against too much screen time.. thankfully my son limits it for my grandsons
You are truly blessed