Screen Free Week 2014

                                         


Last year, we participated in Screen Free Week, and I must say, I was a little nervous.  When the boys are starting to get  little out of control I tend to rely on some type of technology.  It is just so easy to turn on a movie and have them quiet down while I am trying to get some work done.  I thought it would be amazing living in Thailand where it is warm all year long.  We could be outdoors and play and not have to worry about the freezing temps and being locked inside for half the year, but that idea was quickly tossed out when we were faced with insanely high temps and deadly reptiles.  So, it is just easier to turn on the tv.

I thought it would be really difficult last year when we tried it out.  We didn't make it the whole week, but we did go for 5 days without any technology.  Guess what?  We all survived the week!  Honestly, it was a very calm and peaceful week for us. They were totally content to just play with each other and be creative. One thing I notice, is that when the boys start their day off by watching you tube videos about Minecraft, or watching tv show they tend to have a really rough day.  They argue and fight.  I lose my patience.  It just isn't good.  I have been trying really hard to keep them off the computer in the morning and they are not allowed to play video games during the week.  But, I still feel technology has taken over again in our house.  It's time for a detox!

Screen Free week does come with a lot of preparations.  I will have baking projects, sensory projects, games, and crafts all ready to go for our screen free week.  I will hopefully get a list up of all I hope to do while we are screen free.  Screen Free Week is run by Campaign for a Commercial- Free Childhood and their goal is to get kids to realize that being unplugged can be a really fun thing to do.  They have a great facebook page where they keep posting ideas and activities to keep the kids busy while they are unplugged.

Who wanted to join me and unplug for the week of May 5-11?  If you are interested, post some ideas to keep the kiddos active while we power down!