I was reading an interesting article today about turning off your TV and just letting your kids be bored. There was a recent report on NPR about how kids are no longer using imaginative play. We don't do TV. we don't even have one in the house. we watch the occasional DVD on the computer but that's it. I often leave my children to just play alone. I don't spend the majority of the day entertaining them and most of the time the results are pretty good. They make up tons of stories. They play church, doctor, have a concert, mommy and daddy, animals, and a ton more. sometimes i feel bad about not having enough activities for them to do but now i feel a lot better because what i knew has been confirmed.
of course they still love TV and when we are at friends houses they can't get enough. Even so they are really good at home most of the time. I've had people ask me, "what do you do with them all day?" I never really knew what to say because the true answer always sounded so lame, "oh nothing."
I don't want to make it sound like i do nothing with my kids because i do. We do art projects a few times a week, read books, go out, but the majority of their time is spent on imaginative play all on there own.
My kids are very young so i know this may get harder as they get older but i think starting now is a great start.
Thinking back my mother really didn't entertain us and we had some great time just playing together (brothers and I) we would create a whole other world in our back yard.
About Me
- shanna
- I am a mother of 6 great kids and wife to a wonderful husband. I am a "homemaker" which seems like a silly word but it really means a lot. I take care of my family and love doing it.And am trying to raise these kids in the best way possible. I also attempt to craft and create whatever i can when i can. love gardening and chickens!
3 comments:
I remember!
I have to admit, I am very bad about TV. But I only let them watch it for a certain amount of time, and the rest of the timeit is off. They have a great time playing pet shop, two jasmines (don't ask, but it involves Jaden cross dressing! lol)
Baby, and house. I love hearing them play, it just cracks me up sometimes, and brings back all the memories.
I also feel inadequate sometimes, especially when I hear about people and their two year olds already reading and stuff! lol, I am like, how do you have the patience to sit down and teach them all this info?
Anyway, I am glad you finally blogged again, I love hearing about your life, and someone else I actually know in real life who has as many kids as I do and is a SAHM like me!
Hey Shanna you are definitely doing it right. I wouldn't have doubted it in the first place since you are the best Mama I know : ) That is completely what my preschool program is about and what they want to emphasize to get kids ready to read. 4-5 year olds are suppose to be living a story. Continually acting out what they see in life and what they hear from books. You would be sad to know how many 4 year olds I get in my class that don't have a clue how to pretend. They just wander my room bored to death and it's full of useful stuff to pretend with. They are the ones you know watch TV all day because they can't think for themselves!!
it's a smart thing to do, not exposing them to tv. Especially at such young ages!
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