Say No to Screen Time!

You heard it right! There are tons of ways to keep kids occupied without TV or other electronics. As parents no matter how hard you try you cannot sit down and read to your kid or draw a picture with them 24/7. You have to make dinner, make important phone calls, do laundry, clean up, use the bathroom and so on...There are many things parents have to do. How many of you just flip on the tv to occupy them while you make dinner or fold laundry? Did you know that to much screen time can cause behavior problems, aggression, inattention, trouble sleeping, nightmares, and can negatively affect language, cognitive development not to mention eye health risks. If you have a child with ADHD like I do these effects are much worse. I have noticed Lily and Seth's behavior changes drastically after screen time. I had to do something it was literally crazy. Here are some things I did with each of my kids to help occupy them without screen time.

Seth had the worst behavior issues after screen time. He is naturally my wild child. Incase you didn't see my introduction blog post Seth was diagnosed with DDMD (disruptive mood dysregulation disorder). I have been told by quite a few people that these disorders are a cop out to bad behavior that these disorders do not really exist. I am not going into that any further at this time but I can a sure that these disorders are very real. I did not believe they were real until God decided to give me special needs kids. With that being said Seth does not do very well with change. This makes occupying him extremely difficult. Screen time made his behavior way worse. Since he always liked moving I had to come up with something that kept him moving. I tried coloring or some similar things. He did it for a few minutes then he stopped and started acting wild again. He loved doing puzzles but would eventually lose interest then start flinging the pieces everywhere. This may work if I was there to stop this but not when I need to be making dinner or something. I finally got some floor puzzles he could do. He loved those and it was much harder to lose the pieces cause they were bigger. A big thing that helped with him and all my kids a timer. He loses interest pretty quickly so that's where a timer comes in super handy. I set a timer and told him it was book time, puzzle time or coloring time and he couldn't get up till it went off unless he had to use the bathroom or something. I had to do it a few times before I got the perfect time for him. To much time and he would just give up thinking it would never end if it was to little time I would still have to come in to often. Sometimes he has to much energy to sit down for a timer activity. If this is the case we have exercise time! I usually have him do jumping jacks, jumping in place, running outside, or different moving exercise. If you can't be in there to do exercise time make pictures of what exercises need to be done and have the child do them. He loves doing this. He has fun and then after he is ready for a timer activity.

Emma is very different she can occupy herself very easily. The only issue is that she actually continues something to long. One of the things she is always doing is reading which isn't a bad thing but It can be if you don't make time for anything else. This is another good reason to use the timer method. Since she doesn't really like changing activities the timer method is so she engages in different activities and not just one. Emma loves reading so much that she asks to do Lucy and Seth's Kindergarten lessons for me all the time. This helps her memorize stuff even better and for some reason they both listen to her better than me. So this is one thing I let her do when she asks. She also loves reading to Lucy and Seth so a lot of times during book time I catch her reading to them. This keeps them occupied quite some time. Emma also loves acting things out. She plans shows the kids do for mommy and daddy sometimes. Emma loves crocheting too. This is very good for fine motor skills. It is a good activity to help focus.

Lucy is still pretty little so she is everywhere. She is another one that doesn't sit for very long. Like Seth she doesn't do very good with change either. By using the timer method you can tell them ahead of time what your doing so they have more time to prepare for the change. Lucy tends to occupy her self the wrong way. She is very very sneaky. Like I made banana muffins for breakfast tomorrow. I set them out on the counter for a bit. While I was doing school with the older kids today Lucy said she had to go potty. I allowed her to go by herself like she usually does. I didn't notice she grabbed the muffins off the counter quickly on the way to the bathroom. I noticed she was taking extra long so I went to check on her. She had eaten or bit into all but one. I am sure I'm not the only one with a sneaky kid. So how do you occupy a sneaky kid when you have to be busy? You have to find something very engaging and fun they wont want to leave. You should probably make sure they use the bathroom before then set the timer.

Lily gets tired really easily so I have to keep her moving so she doesn't get weaker. She also can't do to much then be tired the rest of the day. For her I have to mix in activities to keep her moving but not make her tired. She loves floor puzzles like Seth also. The floor puzzles keep her moving because they are big and it helps with focus. It gives her a goal to reach also. Lily loves coloring you can print coloring pages or buy coloring books. If you want kids to stay occupied longer find color by number coloring pages. They also have addition and subtraction color by number pages for older kids. Lily is starting to like reading more than she did before. Books are always a must for every kid. For Lily I had to get easier books for her to get interested in reading. Now she is reading her choice chapter books. Lily loves crocheting too but her muscles are to weak to do to much at one time. She got discouraged not being able to complete projects. I didn't want her to be discouraged and not do it at all so I found a bracelet loom for her. She loved this and felt accomplished when she completed her first bracelet. This was perfect for her. Its helped her complete a project without getting to tired. This also helps with fine motor skills and strengthens her finger muscles.

7 No Screen Activities

1.Floor Puzzles and Building Activities

As I mentioned before all my kids love

These are good for moving and cognitive function, motor skills. They also improve visual-spatial reasoning, and problem solving skills. This is a much better activity than turning on the tv. Blocks and other building toys also have the same benefits as these floor puzzles and it gives the kids something different to do. There are so many types of building toys .

2. Coloring

Another thing my kids love is coloring. Now if your like our family we can't always afford coloring books or paper. The dollar store has tons of coloring books and like I mentioned before you can print coloring pages from online places for free. I have found some at yards sales too. If you get packages you can save boxes and they can color things on boxes or even make something with them like a car. If you want to improve your child's fine motor skills make sure to get regular size crayons don't get the fat ones unless they are 3 or under.

3. Imaginative Play

This is a wide range of activities. Kids can have a dramatic play area where they can be a princess or fireman. They can pretend to go shopping at the grocery store, have a tea party, make a puppet show, pretend they are cooking. The ideas are endless! My kids love making a tent and pretend they are camping. This allows the child to use their imagination and also helps them discover their personal interest. Every kid loves imaginative play this keeps them busy for a while and helps them with tons of life skills.

4. Crafts

This is another thing to get kids using their imagination. You can give them googly eyes to make a monster or construction paper to make a mosaic. If your kids are like mine they love making a mess. When we do something like this I have to get out just enough supplies for each of them to use so they do not make a huge mess. They could paint also but I do not trust my kids to paint without me watching them. So this doesn't really work for us but it could for some. Crafts or any kind of activity like this needs some planning ahead. Plan the craft(s) they are going to do ahead of time and have some back up ideas incase they finish early.

5. Activity Books/Word Puzzles

Do your kids like word finds or crossword puzzles? This is a great way to keep older kids occupied. Set the timer and have them do it for a certain amount of time. This will help you get done what you need to do for a while. Younger kids can color during this time or trace lines and shapes. They also have I spy activity books or maze books for younger kids that can't read.

6. Books Time

Even if you have younger kids that can't read just yet you can have book time. They can pick out books to look at them and older kids can read them. Again setting the timer helps you have time to get some stuff done.

7. Chores

Yes even little ones can have chores. This not only makes your work load a little bit easier but teaches lots of important life skills also. I mean really they have to learn to do chores. Every kid I know has 1 thing in common, they all make messes whether it was on purpose or an accident. How many of these kids actually clean up their messes? I mean parents including me make the mistake of cleaning up all your kids messes to keep them happy, but what does that do? It just makes your job a lot harder I came to realize. When I started making them clean up their own messes accident or not less messes were made. Besides cleaning up after themselves there is always chores like dishes or sweeping. Yes even my 4 year old sweeps. With that being said do not be to particular starting off just let them learn as they do it more. You can find age appropriate chore charts online if you need some ideas. To make things easier set a time to clean. Make sure everyone has a job to do. Then everyone including parents can get done what you need to.

Helpful Resources For You

As I mentioned before a timer is a must have. This will help your kids stay occupied for a while longer than just trying to get them to do something. This helps them complete tasks when they are suppose to and helps them with time management. Now Since Steven works at night he sleeps during the day I can't have a timer that is super loud. Also I have kids with sensory issues so the ticking bothered them. I found this

This timer does not make a loud buzzing noise when it goes off and does not have annoying ticking sound. It also has a different color when its going so you and the child can see how much time is left. Here are some helpful things for you and your kids can use to "say no to screen time" That have helped my kids other than books of course. Their reading level always changes so always have books at least the next reading level available.

These are not must haves but very helpful especially if you have more than one kid.