Make your child play more, less screen time

WHILE being a parent can be rewarding it doesn’t come without its challenges. One of those challenges is finding the right way to keep your child entertained.

When we were growing up, it was the norm to go outside and play in the sand, in the yard, get dirty and play with all manner of things.

It was the best way to socialise, keep busy, and stay out of your parent’s hair for a few hours. It was a time when it was still safe for kids to in fact be outside playing with their friends without parental supervision.

With so many children disappearing these days, parents are rightly afraid to let their children out of their sight.

This is just of one of the many reasons why our children no longer simply go outside and play, especially if you don’t have the luxury of a big backyard. As a result, many kids don’t even have the option to play outside in their own homes.

In an increasingly urban and expensive world, many people cannot afford the three bedroom house with a big yard, a driveway and the double garage. As a result, many people opt to live in cheaper sectional title properties such as complexes, which often have no backyards and strict rules that don’t allow children to play outside unsupervised.

This means that parents have to find other ways to entertain their kids.

In most instances, parents are now forced to physically interact with their children. Especially if they don’t have more than one child.

It’s easier when little ones have their siblings to play with.

In most households, both parents have to work which means parents have even less time to spend with their children.

When parents come home from work, they are often tired and there are other duties that take priority over having to sit down and play with their children.

From having to prepare meals to assisting older children with homework, there isn’t much time for playing.

This is one reason why it’s become so easy for parents to simply turn on the television and put their children in front of it to keep them quiet and entertained. And if its not the TV, there are always other electronic devices such as phones, tablets and computers to keep kids entertained.

It’s no longer unusual to see children as young as two sitting with an electronic device.

These devices so quickly become pacifiers, babysitters, or used to stop tantrums.

There are apps and games available especially for that age group to keep them entertained.

Of course, some apps are educational but most of the time little ones are more interested in watching their favourite shows or playing non-educational games.

Because parents are constantly busy, children are left to play on these devices for more time than they should.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children between the ages of two and five should be limited to about one hour per weekday and three hours on weekends. - IOL Lifestyle