Limiting screen time and dealing with rainy days

Concrete Strategies

Small guided project bins

Prepare bins now that will contain everything needed for a variety of engaging activities, obviously adapted to your children's age. Make sure, of course, to offer choices that match their interests, whether they are more artistic, scientific, musical, athletic, or culinary. Furthermore, allow your children to be autonomous in choosing the activity to do, in order to further spark their interest and foster their motivation. For these same reasons, the bins should also be regularly refreshed!

Before turning on a screen

If your children have the easy reflex of turning on screens as soon as boredom strikes, ask them to complete a checklist, which will allow them to ask themselves certain questions before turning on a screen: Have I completed all the requested tasks? Have I taken the time to read? Have I spent time outside? This approach encourages the child to take responsibility for their choices and to take the time to think before automatically using technology, in addition to allowing them to learn to self-regulate the total time spent in front of a screen.

Keep device passcodes secret

To maintain natural parental control over screen access and ensure you have a prior discussion with your children before they open them, make sure to keep access codes secret; your child will then be forced to ask for your permission before each use, allowing you to assess whether each step of the checklist has been completed and to avoid more impulsive and thoughtless screen use.

Specific management for difficult days

Are rainy days succeeding each other, much to your and your children's dismay, forcing them to stay indoors against their will? Make sure you have emergency strategies ready to be deployed as needed. Aim to alternate between free activity days and more guided ones, and make sure to involve the children in finding solutions to boredom and the consequences of repeated rainy days. Finally, even if the challenge may tempt you to relax the established structure, make sure to maintain it instead, to avoid disorganization in the house, and thus for the children! Take advantage of the situation to transform the constraints encountered into opportunities, an ideal way to develop everyone's creativity!

Special Summer Feature: The Conclusion

The four fundamental pillars of a successful family summer

For a relaxing and harmonious family summer, make sure to implement the following four points:

• A game plan for family chores

• Establishing effective routines

• A motivation and positive reinforcement system

• A screen time and rainy day management system

Remember that each system implemented must be effectively linked to the others to ensure synergy between them and thus ensure their success. Furthermore, allow yourself to begin their implementation gradually and with kindness; leave room for possible errors and for the adjustments often necessary along the way. Finally, always keep in mind a long-term vision of the benefits generated by your current efforts and remember that summer is the perfect laboratory for the new school year to come in a few weeks!