It’s the middle of the school holidays, and the lazy days are giving us a chance to rest and restore ourselves both physically and emotionally. With all that down time, however, children can get lost in screens for hours on end. Below are some tips for setting limits and balancing screen time with other fun activities.
- Set Clear Limits. While normal routines will be relaxed over the holidays, it is still a good idea to talk to your child and agree reasonable amounts of screen time. Whole days devoted to screens will ultimately leave them grumpy and unsettled.
- Get stuck in to those Christmas books (or get to the library!). The holiday period is a great time to read more to small children and to encourage older children to get engrossed in a favourite series of books. Holiday stories usually go down well. If you are going to relax bed time, let them stay up late reading as a treat rather than on the phone or tablet.
- Make sure they stay connected with friends in real life. Instead of constantly messaging friends on social media, support your children to spend time with their friends over the holidays. Plan a special party at your house with your child or offer to drop older children and their friends to a special activity.
- Get outside. We might all be fantasising about long duvet days where we don’t have to be anywhere, but more than a day or so of this will start to wear on even the laziest soul. Build in some outside time and exercise every day. Encourage your child to head out for a neighbourhood soccer game or go to the forest for a family hike.
