Here’s the truth: our family has gotten a little out of hand when it comes to letting our 2-year-old watch TV. Before I became a Work at Home Mom, it was less of a concern. He got to go to his grandparents’ house a few times a week and played with cars and G.I. Joes and did lots of fun stuff. Then I was on maternity leave and learning how to take care of a 2-year-old and a newborn simultaneously while my husband worked extra to make up for my decrease in income. Once I started getting more sleep and had a bit more energy, the realization that my toddler spent the majority of the day planted in front of the TV set in. I didn’t like it.
Less TV Time
Being at home with my babies all day is new to me. Although I am not anti-TV, I do think that there is a limit that needs to be recognized. Why? Even though the majority of the shows my son watches have an educational element to them, I want him to be able to have other experiences and understand that he doesn’t need the TV to entertain himself. He can do activities to improve hand-eye coordination, develop a sense of creativity, and improve logical thinking.
Since deciding that he should watch less TV, I’ve been noticing things. He goes to sleep easier because he is more worn out – especially at nap time. Naps used to happen just when he fell asleep while watching Masha and the Bear. Now he has a scheduled nap time. Sometimes he falls asleep a bit before what was scheduled and I’m totally okay with that.
I have also found that a lot of times he asks to do some of the things that we’ve done in the past few days. Where he used to beg to watch a specific show (which, full disclosure, does still happen on occasion), he now asks to play ball or paint a picture. He’s learning faster because of the way we incorporate counting into the activities – count the crayons as we put them away, how many baskets can you score in a row, etc.
Not Perfect
Despite the awesome results I’m seeing from less TV, we do still spend some time on the couch in front of the screen. On an average weekday, Clark gets an hour to an hour and a half of TV time before his nap. He gets to pick what he watches, but once it’s nap time the TV is turned off. He gets another hour before we start our bedtime routine some nights as well.
We aren’t perfect, but we are doing so much better than we used to! Improvement is the short term goal here. There are some days we consider “lazy days,” where we watch more than we should. There are some days the TV is never turned on.
We are having so much fun discovering what other activities we like doing together.
Other Activities
Clark has always been interested in basketball. For his first Christmas, he got a child size basketball hoop and balls. We’ve spent hours playing ball in his room. For a 2-year-old, he’s really good! Usually, we work on shooting, passing, and catching. We talk about when it’s appropriate to throw a ball inside and when we aren’t supposed to (this one is a challenge sometimes!). Sometimes we even count his basketballs and how many points he can score in a row. This is one of the activities he’s been asking for most lately – and I love it!
He’s also a big fan of a board game he got for Christmas this year. It’s a version of Chutes and Ladders called Climb & Slide. It’s simple and doesn’t require any kind of strategizing, as it is all based on the roll of the dice. Clark loves to roll and then we count together to make sure we move the right amount of spaces. He asks to play this game a few times a week.
Crafty Activities
The activity that has occupied him alone for the longest period of time was one I grabbed off a Pinterest pin. Since Clark has never been one to put stuff in his mouth, I was really excited to see how he liked a sticky mural. I bought a roll of contact paper, craft buttons, pipe cleaners, pompoms, and foam stars. Since painter’s tape is a staple in my house I was ready to go. I showed Clark how a button would stick to the contact paper that I’d taped to the wall, and that was that. He was completely fascinated for nearly an hour and a half!
Another one he loves is water painting. I saw this one scrolling Pinterest and didn’t think he would love it as much as he did. I gave him some construction paper, an artist’s paintbrush, and a shallow dish of water. He went to town. This one kept him busy for a little more than a half an hour while I made lunch, then for another half an hour while I made dinner. The second time around he actually asked for it! “Mommy, paint!”
Keeping it Up
I plan to spend plenty of time browsing Pinterest to find other crafts Clark will love and different ways to keep his attention. I’ve learned that TV is definitely the easy way out – and occasionally there is nothing wrong with that. I just want to do better than the easy way out.
Have you had a similar experience with your kid? What activities did you do instead of TV? Let’s talk about it in the comments section!