Don’t let screens steal your summer fun
Summer is here! And depending on how you plan, it will either be fantastic or a flop. Luckily, Andrea Davis of Better Screen Time has the answers to our burning questions in Episode 7 of the Screen Less Play More podcast!
Ask your kids 4 questions
Before you wake up on Day 1 of summer in a cold sweat, Andrea has some amazing resources and downloads to help you plan your family’s down time. Here’s the 4 questions to discuss as a family that will really help give structure to those long school-less days.
1. What are you excited for this summer?
Which memories do you want to make? What will make you say “That was the best part of summer!”
Andrea notes, “it might be things that are so simple, like just eating popsicles on the back porch. This doesn’t have to be a huge trip or anything like that. It can be something really simple.”
2. What’s one thing you want to accomplish this summer?
Learn how to do a wheelie on your bike? Grow your own tomatoes? Solve a Rubik’s cube?
Andrea tells our podcast, “Let them make the list. But then pick one thing, because honestly, between trips and whatever, summer goes by really fast and you’ve just got a couple of months. But if they have a goal they want to accomplish, it really helps them.”
3. How could you serve someone?
Pick up trash in the neighborhood? Make cookies for a friend? Send a card to a service member? If you have really little ones, Good Samari-tots is a fun place to start.
Andrea says that service, “helps all of us to get outside of ourselves, to get to know our neighbors or just help our community.”
“And I think that when we’re bored or we’re lonely or we’re sad,
Andrea davis
that service is one of the best ways to forget about that.”
better screen time
4. How can you keep your hands busy this summer?
Legos? Drawing? Origami? Piano? Playing catch? Gardening?
Andrea suggests, “Have kids make a big list and then they can kind of zero-in on a couple of things. Do they want to learn how to crochet this summer or do they want to learn how to play an instrument? And then you can come up with some resources, whether that’s from the library, or a friend, or a family member that can help them learn that skill.”
Listen to Episode 7 of Screen Less Play More for more summer suggestions, tips on whether your child is ready for a phone, and ways to discuss pornography with your kids.
And definitely check out Andrea’s amazing website Better Screen Time!
More resources
Games for kids to play outside
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