CCFC had another excellent screen turn-off week May 5-11, 2014.
http://www.screenfree.org/
The emphasis was on families going screen free for a week (or at least going low-screen for a week).
My favorite write-up was by Traci McGrath. She described how her children have already gone low-TV, watching only about 1 hour per day, and how she was dreading losing that hour per day of uninterrupted time to get things done. But as it happened, things turned out much better than she anticipated:
Also Metro Parent has an excellent write-up of 3 families going screen-free for the week:“I try to make it a habit not to ‘entertain’ the kids all the time. I believe in giving them lots of opportunities to solve their own boredom with creativity – but during Screen Free Week, I hardly had the opportunity to push this little soap box of mine at all. They were so tapped into their own creativity, they were no longer coming to me to ask me what they could do, and they completely forgot to ask if they could “watch a show” (a question I’m used to fielding 2 or 3 times a day.) We still made a point to play together, but it was almost always the case that I was simply invited in to join a game they had invented or go on a scavenger hunt they had created.”
http://www.simplicityparenting.com/the- ... fe-easier/
http://www.metroparent.com/Metro-Parent ... e=0#artanc
For parents (and kids) looking for things to do instead of TV there are many excellent resources such as:
http://www.insteadoftv.com/
http://unplugyourkids.com/
Who Needs Screens: 70 Ideas for Family Fun!
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/ ... family-fun
For towns or school districts looking for ways to encourage a low-screen lifestyle, checkout:
http://weplayunplugged.com/hebervalley/
And various organizations had setup a number of programs, including:
- United Way of Muscatine: “ Events are planned for every day of the week including family art projects, fitness fun, a book giveaway, and more.”
- Irving Public Library: “...including sidewalk chalk art, a bubble bonanza, a science experiment, and more.”
- Cambridge’s Healthy Children Task Force: “... including cooking from the garden, sketching plants and trees, a Mother’s Day bike ride, and more.”
Thanks to CCFC for this year's screen-free week and all the excellent work they do throughout the year.
And here is the excellent Dr. Victoria L. Dunckley's article on why Screen-Free week is so important:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/men ... the-corner