My kids have gotten a little carried away with their Nintendo DS's and Playstation and watching TV this summer. SO. We started something new at our house that I remembered reading about a while back. Tickets for play time. I just made these and printed them, stuck them on construction paper and put tape on the back. Julian and Kathryn each get 5 tickets each day. Each ticket is worth up to 30 minutes of time on the TV, computer, Playstation or their DS. Once they run out of tickets, there is no more electronic play.
Of course they were not big fans when I first told them about it. We have been doing this for about a week, and there has only been one day when they both ran out of tickets. It just has helped them be more aware of how much time they're spending doing electronic things. And! They have been playing with actual toys! I could hardly believe it!
So, I think we'll keep it. I will likely reduce the number of tickets they have once school starts next month, but for the summer when we're home most of the day, I thought 2 1/2 hours was good, and they seem to kind of like moving their tickets to the "used up" spot. I knew they would get used to it!
4 comments:
I need to have these for myself!
That's funny! I can always send my graphics to you, but I doubt you have much trouble with playing your wii or anything :)
That's an awesome idea! We might have to try it with David (6) - he's getting a little more, uh, "persistent" (read: whiny) about wanting to be on the Wii. You're one smart mom! :)
I wish I could take credit for the idea, but really, I read it about it somewhere at some time...just can't remember where! Kathryn is a TV junkie and would watch all day every day if I let her, and she whines too... this gives them some power/control over it, so it cuts back on the whining a bit. They can spend their tickets in any combination they want. It has really been working well for us!! (And by the way, it's great to hear from you Ashley!!!)
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