How to Create a Healthy Tech-Life Balance for Kids
Let’s face it – technology is shaping our kids childhood in a different way than when we were young.
Did you know…..studies show that kids are spending 60 hours per week consuming media and less than 60 minutes playing outside? With 40% of families with children age 8 and under owning tablet devices children have more access to TV, games, and media than ever before.
Technology can have tremendous benefits for kids like improved cognitive function and motor skills. Unfortunately, most technology use is a sedentary, indoor experience. And many parents struggle with how to balance technology use with other activities.
Check out these tips to help create a healthy tech-life balance for kids:
Set Guidelines for Media Use
A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that two-thirds of children and teenagers report that their parents have “no rule” about time spent with media. Be clear with your kids on how much screen time they get a day. It is easier to control their exposure to media when you (and the kids) know the limits.
Common Sense Media suggests creating a schedule. This can include weekly screen time limits, limits of the types of screen they can use, and guidelines on the activities they can do or programs they can watch. This will help you monitor the time they are spending and how productive their screen time is.
Know the Quality of Media
Not all screen time is equal. Watching TV is not the same thing as video-chatting with Grandma, learning math skills, or active gaming on the trampoline. Active technology and screen time can help kids develop key skills like hand-eye coordination, language and social skills, memory, and critical thinking when used in moderation. Springfree Trampoline featuring tgoma, the first digital gaming system designed for a trampoline, combines gaming with activity. And shows like Sesame Street can teach children number and letters and media can also help kids learn about empathy, racial and ethnic tolerance, and a variety of interpersonal skills.
Make sure to balance out the time spent on social media and TV with active technology and educational programming.
Make Screen Time Active Time
Any busy parent knows how tempting it can be to put on the TV or hand over the iPad for a few moments of quiet to clean the house, make dinner, or unwind after a busy day. Instead, of using technology in a sedentary way – on the couch – turn screen time into outdoor active time.
Using the body as the controller, Springfree featuring tgoma allows kids to actively jump around while they try to stomp aliens and squish fruit. It takes their screen time outside and makes it active giving kids all the benefits of physical activity.
Turn Screen Time into Family Time
There are plenty of ways to make screen time something you do together as a family. Having a family movie night can be a great way to spend time together. The American Academy of Pediatrics even suggests playing video games with your kids to help teach them good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette. For example, using tgoma on your Springfree you can create family challenges like who can do the most jumps in 15 minutes or get the highest score on Alien Stomp. It gives kids their screen time, makes it active, and even gives you a workout too!
Be a Role Model
As digital adults we are frequently on devices at home. It’s hard to limit screen time for kids when you may need to be on a device for work, to shop or just for entertainment purposes. Kids learn behavior from watching their parents so modeling how you want them to use technology is a good way to create balance. They will have better technology habits if you help show them what moderation looks like while they learn to navigate their technology-enhanced life.
Find out more about our tgoma system here: (link to TGOMA video)