This post was sponsored by Google in partnership with the Forward Influence Network. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Moderating screen time and setting family rules that work for everyone is a huge challenge for every mom I know. And for most of us, it’s completely new territory. We can’t simply go with whatever our parents did, because technology has evolved so drastically in the last two decades, the rules of our childhoods are entirely obsolete.
I’m always interested to see how other families are handling the technology/screen-time issue, but for many, it’s a touchy topic.
Google has recently released a digital wellbeing initiative to help families find the balance that feels right for them.
Check out the guide at wellbeing.google to get tips and tools to help start these conversations with your family.
This Family Guide helps parents address tough topics with kids, allowing them to be part of the conversation.
After reading through the guide and talking with my kids about their favorite things about being online and using digital devices, we also talked about the best parts about being offline.
This conversation ended with us making a list together of fun activities to do together with no screens.
I let the kids lead the way making this list so that they’d come u with things that they were really excited to do, even after the games and shows go off.
As we were talking, I realized what a smart idea (from Google!) this is. Since the kids are creating their list of things to do without screens, it gives me a great place to send them when I tell them game time is over.
Instead of having a negative experience when digital time is over for the day, it’s now turned into something positive, because they’re reminded of all the fun things to do without their screens!
Just check out their fun list of ideas:
From crafts, to games and even eating some favorite foods, this list can keep them busy for awhile!
I also love that this approach does not make technology out to be bad or entirely negative. The internet, and technology help so much. We learn together by watching documentaries, and watching educational videos. We have fun connecting over movies and online games, but like everything digital time comes in moderation.
Google is partnering with parents to help us navigate this new world of technology. I encourage you to check out the wellbeing.google site so you can see all the ways Google is helping empower parents to have these important conversations with their kids, and have a more balanced view about day-to-day technology use. You can even download the guide as a pdf so you can save it to your phone or print it out for easy use.
I’d love to hear from you – how does your family find balance when it comes to using technology and stepping away? I’d love to hear your ideas & how you’ve had these conversations with your kids.
Mabud says
Thank you for the tips this is a lovely idea.
Ray A. says
me and my wife love the article.. thanks for sharing..
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allnationalday says
You’re all tips help me to screen free time for my kids. Thank you so much.