How to Manage Your Child’s Screen Time
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Screen time is a concern amongst many parents. Research estimates that the average 3- to 4-year-old spends approximately 3 hours a day in front of a screen. Unsurprisingly, this can have serious health consequences for children. Too much screen time can amplify anxiety and the blue light disrupts sleep routines by tricking the body into thinking it’s daytime.
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The Benefits of Screen Time for Children
Despite this however, access can be highly beneficial for children in their learning and development. The internet offers a wealth of knowledge and resources. Reports even go so far as to say that children with access to computers within the home perform better academically than those who don’t.
The Solution
It’s about striking a balance. Experts reveal that it’s less about how much time they spend and more about what they spend it on. They suggest that parents should take a “goldilocks” approach to managing their child’s screen time – making sure that they do not have too much or too little.
How to Manage Your Child’s Screen Time
To help you in manage your child’s screen time, here are some ideas that we’ve put together:
Device Restrictions
Devices have a great set of tools for monitoring and managing screen time. They allow you to keep a tab of what your child’s been up to whilst online and limit what they can spend their time on. This can usually be done in the settings of a device, including games consoles.
Time to Save What They’re Doing
For your child to stick to their screen time limits, you should also provide them plenty of notice. This will allow them to finish up by saving or pausing what they need to and stop what they are doing.
Set Up Tech Free Zones
You can also create a space that’s dedicated to unstructured, “unplugged” play. Keeping their devices out of sight will encourage your child to find other means of play.
Introduce Educational Games
As the experts highlight, it’s less about how long children spend on their devices and it’s what they do on them that counts. There is a plethora of educational games that can be found online which you can introduce to your child and use to replace their old screen time habits.
Spend Time Outdoors
There is plenty for children to explore outdoors. It promotes the development of gross motor skills and helps them to develop a connection with nature whilst disconnecting them from the digital world.
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