Screen Free Week is Next Week!!!

So once again the Raising Z and Lil' C household is participating in "Screen Free Week".  Last year we ended up going almost two weeks before the television was turned on (Z had no concept of time back then) but this year I am getting a little resistance.  Z and C watch anywhere from 30-90 minutes of TV a day.  I try to keep it to 30 minutes of Curious George (while I make dinner) but sometimes I will turn a DVD on in the car to keep Lil' C from falling asleep or sometimes they watch 30 minutes of Dinosaur Train in the AM on our Home Days.   Z also has scheduled computer time (30 minutes) while I shower from working out.  He LOVES this time and I think he is most upset about giving that up.

After listening to Kim John Payne and Dr. Thomas Cooper on Monday night of the Feed Play Love Virtual Conference, I knew it was important for ALL of us to go on a "Media Fast" :)  I do not watch TV much at the moment but I am attached to my laptop!  My plan is to not be on the computer while the children are awake (that will be tough) and only go on after 8pm.  I also plan to keep my time to only an hour....we shall see.  S and I have vowed to not look at any screens in front of the children.

Z and I created a list of things we can do during our "Screen Free Week".  Like last year, this list will hang on the TV to help remind us of our mission.  Here is what we came up with :)

-Work on the Garden    -Do Puzzles       -Play Games      
-Build with Blocks      -Play Doh            -Bubbles          
-Clean Compost           -Work on Mimi's Birthday Party
-Dye Eggs                    -Bake                 -Exercise             
-Go to the park             -Read                 -Play Wall-e     
-Play Whales                -Celebrate Earth Day!!!
-Go to the Library       -Bubbles           -Go to the local Science Museum (again ;))

I understand that for some families, giving up Screens is very hard.  Perhaps you can use next week (April 18th-24th) to limit some of the time children are in front of a screen and remember that children really shouldn't watch more than 2 hours of any screen, Kim John Payne recommends no screens before the age of 7.  I am not sure that this family can do that but I do hope that this "fast" will help to inspire new habits, especially for me and the computer!

This was last years Sign :)