A new study has revealed that, by age 7, children will have spent 2 years and 3 months of their lives in front of a screen. More than half of that time is ‘mindless’ screen time – spent without family or friends, in solitary, screen-based activities. The study, conducted by Persil amongst parents in the UK and Ireland highlighted that time spent in front of a screen dwarfs time spent outside. Parents reported that their children spend more than twice as much time in front of screens than playing outside – equating to 456 days of alone screen time by age of 7 versus 182 days of outdoor free play. This latest research also shows that children now spend much less time on “real play” than ever before. One reason is the unprecedented amount of time they spend indoors looking at screens.
"If you’re an adult now, how much time did you spend as a child playing outdoors, making up games on your own or with friends, dashing around, taking tumbles, all for the sheer fun of it? Until recently, children spent many hours every week on this sort of physical, imaginative, social play. “Real play” like this is not only enjoyable: it is vitally important in young lives. Research has long shown that it has essential roles in the balanced development of all children and young people.
Here are five simple tips on how to balance your kid's screen time and outdoor play this half term week based on the idea and recommendations by Sir Ken Robinson.
1. Find an engaging way to limit screen time:
Create a brightly coloured rewards chart to allocate time slots on how much time is allowed behind a screen and to help plan outdoor activity for your kids on a daily basis. This is a fun and creative way to reward your kids with well-done stickers when they stick to the plan every day! By using reward charts and coloured stickers your kids will see the change as a positive one!
2. Encourage fun and creative activities with your kids:
Don’t be afraid to get messy – indoors or out. Find an activity your child really loves and enjoy the fun together! It could be as simple as making music out of garden twigs, or starting an arts and crafts session using conkers, pine cones and leaves you found in the park, or playing team games such as rounders’ or a treasure hunt. It is also a great way to bond together and encourage creativity. Inspiring your kids to be creative can stimulate their imagination and also reduce stress and anxiety.
3. Embrace the British weather, even in the winter:
We all know splashing in puddles, climbing up tree houses, swinging on swings and getting really muddy is a child’s dream of having fun! On a rainy day grab your wellies, a waterproof coat and go on an adventure with your kids at your nearest park.
4. Try incorporating 'real play' into your child’s daily routine:
Real play is unsupervised and self-initiated. Some ideas to get you started are playing with sand, painting, chasing games, role play, juggling, and hiding games. Giving your kids opportunities for active, physical, imaginative, and social play can have such positive benefits in kid’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.
5. You don’t have to spend loads of cash:
Real play doesn’t have to be expensive. Sometimes it’s nice to just be with your kids so, join in with any outdoor activities, go for a stroll together and have a conversation about their interests or be imaginative and have an exciting bake-off competition together. The main resources are time, energy, companionship and laughter.
Persil, along with parents and experts recognise the importance of children playing and embracing dirt, and have been promoting the benefits of outdoor play for over a decade. Persil is commitment to addressing the play imbalance that so clearly exists. As part of that commitment, they have collaborated with a series of initiatives to provide parents with practical solutions to addressing this play imbalance.
There are several ways you can get involved:
Outdoor Classroom Day – Taking place on 1st November 2018, this initiative challenges schools to get children to take at least one lesson outdoors that day and celebrates the importance of playtime. In 2017 alone, 2.3 million children took part around the world in over 100 countries, including over 580,000 in the UK where the campaign is led by Learning through Landscapes. Parents and teachers can sign up atwww.outdoorclassroomday.org.uk
Parkrun – it is easier than ever to get the whole family enjoying the great outdoors with parkrun. As an official sponsor, Persil is helping to ensure there are hundreds of free events that take place every weekend across the UK, go online atwww.parkrun.org.uk to find your local one
Real Play Coalition – Persil, alongside IKEA, National Geographic and The LEGO Foundation created the Real Play Coalition – a movement that prioritises the importance of ‘real play’. Join us in our mission to make the world a more playful place by visiting www.realplaycoalition.com and signing up for more information
