How to support children with their mental health by reducing screen time
Reducing screen time
Welcome back to another blog, wishing everyone here a very Happy Easter. This week I’ll be exploring how to support child mental health by reducing screen time. Here I’ll be sharing some of my favourite ideas that will help keep children stimulated as well as supporting their mental health.
Negative impact of Screen time
Last week I touched upon some of the negative side to social media. In particular TikTok and some of the very concerning profiles that troll others and sell prohibited items. Whatever screen time your child enjoys, it’s always good to be mindful that platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat are becoming seemingly more accessible to tweens and teens. Whilst many of us may be convinced that they’re spending their time focused on games, it could be that they have social media profiles we are not aware of.
Reasons to reduce screen time
Reducing screen time has been proven to:
Reduce emotional stress
Naturally improve energy levels
Allow children to become more creative
Encourage precious family time
Encourage creative thinking
Encourage a healthy eating pattern
What can I replace screen time with?
Screen time can be replaced with a number of things, check out the list below for some of my suggestions.
Crafting activities
Crafting activities promote creativity and help to develop motor skills, and can also have a soothing impact and encourage relaxation.
Outside play
Playing at the park or even in the garden will improve energy levels and promote natural exercise. Being in nature and in the fresh air helps to ground children and allow them to let off steam in a safe environment, whilst also encouraging them to still be children!
Cooking and baking
Cooking with children can be the perfect homely activity to do together. Why not let them cook a meal? Taking them to the supermarket can seem like a chore but allowing them to choose their ingredients and price up items is an excellent way for them to appreciate spending budgets and also allows them freedom to be creative whilst also developing core life skills – with safe food preparation and knife control. It also encourages independence and can give them a sense of pride, which will naturally boost feelings of anxiety and low mood. Baking together can also provide a safe and comforting environment for children to open up to us and often as parents and guardians we can feel more connected and in tune with their emotions.
Family games
Whilst even the thought of playing Monopoly for most of us can naturally increase blood pressure, playing family games can bring us all together, making all of us feel more emotionally connected. It gives everyone a break from screen time and allows everyone to partake in a bit of light-hearted fun.
Exercise
There’s nothing better than getting outside in the fresh air for a good bike ride, and if biking isn’t their thing then maybe scootering or rollerskating might be?!
Burning calories in the fresh air is a natural mood enhancer and is also proven to promote good sleeping patterns.
Get out in the fresh air, let off some steam and then head home and make hot chocolate together.
I hope this blog has helped give you some ideas of how to reduce screen time, come back later this week for some more ideas.
In the meantime, feel free to check out my new book ‘Shipwrecked SOS’ which targets child mental health via the following website;
Have a lovely week,
Sabrina x