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Kick the habit! Easy ways to break kids' screen addiction

Nowadays, even a baby knows how to operate a mobile phone. No matter if it is being used for learning, entertainment or by parents wanting to calm their children down, all rely on this "electronic pacifier" and over time, children will develop an addiction to it. As we all know, young children need to interact with people to enhance all aspects of their development. Becoming accustomed to such sensory stimulation, they may not even be interested in static activity, and this will impact their future learning. In fact, children are most hunger for their parents’ love and attention. So let’s learn about two games that ask parents to put away tablets and smartphones and make some DIY toys with their children. It’s educational and also allows you to enjoy some fun parent-child time together!

  • Using a few small snack containers, choose some different-themed patterns with your child and then make them into dice (each representing, for example, people, actions, fruits). After shaking the dice, have your child make a sentence with the pictures that are shown, eg. “Daddy rolls a watermelon like a bowling ball”. This game nurtures children’s thought processes and creativity, plus the arts and craft part trains their fine-motor skills.
  • Make a few small cuts into the end of a paper towel tube and fold out the sections so that you have made some “feet”. Tape these feet to the floor so that the tube is standing upright. Next, cut out the centre of some paper plates to make rings. The children can then decorate the rings and then have a ring toss competition! This type of game helps to improve their hand-eye coordination and is lots of fun!

Now let’s listen to some advice from a Children Fitness Instructor about how to help kids quit their addiction to electronics!

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