It’s official, summer is finally here! I’ve been dreaming about these days since January. I had these wonderful plans in my head to limit screen time, engage my kids in amazing active learning opportunities, and essentially, be mom of the year. Well, I’ve found out why the phrase “Lazy days of summer” exists; it’s because this mom is tired and admittedly lazy. The learning opportunities for my kids have turned into learning about what cartoons are available on the TV and the activity is unfortunately limited to how fast they can move their fingers on their video games.
While I’m sure this is incredibly fun for my kids who are normally very limited on these activities, it has to get old after a while. At a loss as to what to do with them (after all, I do still have to do some work this summer), I did what I often suggest in my professional life, I interviewed them. The answers from my not-so-scientific survey of a 3-year-old and 6-year-old are below:
- What is your favorite thing to do without video games or TV? Go places together like the park, play in the sandbox
- If you have to be outside, what are your favorite things to do? Play kickball, play in dirt, take the dog for a walk
- If given the choice to watch TV while mom cooks or help mom cook, which do you choose? (I was holding my breath on this one) Help mom cook!
- What is one thing you would like to learn how to do this summer? Jump rope, ride a bike
- If you had a choice to play with video games/watch TV all day or play with friends, which would you chose? Play with friends
So there you have it! My little lab rats have confirmed my suspicions! If given the choice, they prefer an experience over TV or (gasp) video games. Screen time is really a reflection of my laziness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all screen time is bad, but when possible, I like to follow Nemours’ 5-2-1-Almost None guidance which suggests two hours or less of screen time per day. After all, from my scientific research, they would prefer “to do” than “to watch” anyways!
Today we feature OWG guest blogger and childhood obesity consultant, Melodie Griffin. Melodie’s passion lies in the prevention of childhood obesity through the school and early learning settings. All programs Melodie promotes are fully approved by her home based lab rats, five year old son, Howie, and two year old daughter, Hope. You can connect with Melodie on her Facebook page, WellConnect LLC.
