Best Ways To Reduce Your Kid's On-screen Time

Nowadays, individuals are more concerned about healthy living and pursuing an active lifestyle than ever before. The recent public health campaign instigated by the Los Angeles for families with kids five years old and younger is a good example to quote. The main objective of this drive is to encourage the kids to take part in more indoor and outdoor pursuits and to restrict the tot’s screen time – be it TV, smartphone or even laptops. The obesity rates among the infants are growing at an alarming rate, and the recent research has proved that kids are spending nearly 6 hours or more daily for on-screen activities. Parents should also be keen in making healthy food choices even if you are eating-out. The intake of sugary drinks should also be decreased for a healthy-living.

So how could you ensure healthy living for your kids? You can consider engaging the kids in the following activities so that the kids can stay healthy and smarter.

1. Outdoor activities: Encouraging the kids to take up an outdoor activity of their interest helps them to stay healthy, enhance fitness levels and improve the self-esteem. If the school is nearby, encourage your kid to walk to school instead of depending on school bus. It is also a good idea to send your kid to playground or park so that they can play with vigor. Depending on the age, kids can take part in different outdoor activities like walking, running, swimming, tennis, ice-skating etc. Activities need to have an efficient blend of both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities for overall development.
2. Say NO to TV during meals time: Make sure that your kids don’t watch TV during meals time. If your kid views TV during eating food, the tot may actually end up binge eating. Moreover, meals time should be considered as a means to bolster the communication between family members.
3. Say NO to TV inside the bedroom: Try avoiding the usage of TV, laptops, and smartphones in your tot’s bedroom. This will help your kid to get a sound sleep.
4. Use timers: You may consider installing timer apps in the smartphone, and set caps for the toddler on daily screen-time.
5. Indoor activities: If you are a work at home professional, and have to stay in home for most of the time, consider engaging your kid in indoor activities.

Kids can involve in a slew of indoor activities as listed below:

1. Puzzles: rational and problem-solving puzzles can increase the IQ of your kids and enhance the attention-span. You may buy a rack of Jigsaw puzzle cards from the store and encourage the kids to play Jigsaw puzzles.
2. Coloring activity: Kids can also be encouraged to take part in coloring activity, which also improves their motor skills and neural development.
3. Hide and seek: This game continues to be the favorite indoor game of kids for ages. To ensure the safety of your kids, ensure that there are no wobbly objects on the floor.

Sitting in front of the screen for prolonged hours is not beneficial for the kids. Kids need to be encouraged to take part in productive activities instead so they can stay fit and healthy.