Five Kid-Friendly Ideas for Screen-Free Week

Screen-Free Week, an international campaign designed to promote healthy alternatives to screen-based activities for children, will be celebrated from April 29 to May 5.

Screen time for children – whether it comes in the form of television, video games, computers, phones, or any of the many formats competing for their attention today – is ubiquitous, and for many experts, a matter of increasing concern. How much is healthy? What do children actually need to ‘know’ about technology in order to keep up at school?

The truth is: a lot less than we think. And studies increasingly show that large amounts of screen time – any screen time – inhibit children’s ability to engage in hands-on learning and play, while increasing the likelihood that they will be powerfully influenced by corporate marketers.

Screen-Free Week is probably the most famous initiative by the Campaign For a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), a group that has made reversing this trend its mission, with special emphasis placed on fighting marketing towards children.

Among their successful moves was to expose the Disney Company’s misleading claims regarding the benefits of the Baby Einstein videos, which forced Disney to issue refunds to customers.  The CCFC has also targeted advertising in schools and school buses, and works for policies to keep these “commercial-free zones.”

Because Screen-Free Week actively promotes other forms of recreation for children, including connecting with nature, reading, and spending more face-to-face time with caring adults, the Park Ridge Public Library is happy to offer up some ideas for activities that adults can enjoy with their children, or even by themselves. (Most adults, when pressed, will admit that they could probably use less screen time as well.)

Here are a few ideas you can try, using the Park Ridge Public Library as a starting point:

Get in the kitchen with your children. Check out a cookbook together, choose a tempting recipe, and have fun trying to make it together. Most kids love cooking if you let them do some of the work! (Hint to parents: Make sure you have extra eggs, just in case some miss the mixing bowl.)

Go on a nature hike. Late April and early May are among the best times for getting outside – the bugs are few and bird life is active. One of the best local spots for young naturalists? Try The Grove in Glenview (http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/the-grove/), which offers a variety of hands-on nature activities both indoors and out, as well as live snakes, fish, and raptors on display.

Read aloud to your loved ones. Do you know that most parents stop reading to their children soon after they learn how to read for themselves? Do you know that this has been tied to a drop in reading scores for older children?

Reading together helps to ensure that children remain avid readers. It’s also a wonderful way to spend time with a partner or elderly parent  – and something that people of all ages need to rediscover.

Create a special garden. The planting season is right around the corner! Whether you’re a seasoned gardener ready to try something new, or giving your children a patch of their own, it’s always a good idea to check out some books on plants and garden design and make a plan.

Why not have your children design a garden around a favorite book? For example, a Harry Potter garden might include . . . well, maybe you don’t want to grow things like wolfsbane, gillyweed, and Bubotuber, but you can take your children to a local plant nursery and let them pick out plants that can stand in for one of these exotic blooms. Here’s a personal blog from a mom and gardener who did just that: http://artofgardeningbuffalo.blogspot.com/2008/12/harry-potter-garden.html.

Visit a museum. By checking out a Museum Adventure Pass at the Library, you can receive special discounts or free admission to over a dozen local museums, including the Oriental Institute in Chicago, the Lake County Discovery Museum, and the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn. Many of the smaller museums outside Chicago are undiscovered gems for families! For more information visit www.museumadventure.org or talk to one of the librarians at the Children’s Services Desk.

Taking  time off from the usual screen-based activities and doing something different together often turns out to be a welcome respite from the pressures of everyday life. Why not give it a try?

For more information on Screen-Free Week and the Campaign For a Commercial-Free Childhood, please visit their website at www.commercialfreechildhood.org. For help on planning screen-free activities with your family, stop by the Library –our staff will be happy to help! You can also visit us online at www.parkridgelibrary.org.