Instead of screens, try…inviting in the creative process

While our children navigate the ever-evolving world of technology, it’s become a struggle to create a healthy routine of limiting screens at home as a parent.

Recently, I’ve been doing a deep dive into Dr. Becky Kennedy’s approach to parenting, especially ways to limit screen time. Although she is a parenting guru and clinical psychologist, she has admitted her own struggles to maintain healthy screen time boundaries for her children.

However, she has developed several helpful rules for parents to implement at home to establish healthy boundaries.

Implementing parental controls allows autonomy for your children during screen time, while establishing safety and security. It also may be helpful to install apps that can control time limits on their device.

Setting clear expectations and boundaries with your children involves reviewing screen time limitations, to help children understand your expectations.

Then, brace yourself for your kids’ reactions! The more we can prepare ourselves and reflect on these moments, the more we become models for how to respond to unwelcome changes. It may be helpful to have prepared a list of responses to these reactions, or to use helpful mantras to build frustration tolerance. These tools help to focus on what we can control and may ease the transition.

As alternatives to screen time, offer ways to be creative and innovative. I love when kids get “lost” in their creative process. As a mom and creative educator, I’m always repurposing materials and exploring authentic, skill-based tools with children, as I model the endless possibilities.

Here are basic home materials to extend play, and invite children to be innovative and explorative:

Packing boxes

Cardboard boxes are so play-worthy, they have been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame. My 5-year-old twins love seeing a box delivered not because of what’s inside, but rather how they can repurpose the box. They love to paint, draw, and tape the boxes, transforming them into something meaningful. This fosters their problem-solving skills while also being innovative.

Our delivery boxes have become houses, boats, and other spaces in their imaginative play. Children gain a sense of mastery through this process as they notice their creative abilities to reconstruct.

Flashlights

On a gloomy day, I’ll bring out some mini flashlights that are easy for kids to turn on and off, especially with playdates. Bringing these into their play has elevated moments as they feel “powerful” with these authentic tools. My daughters love to use flashlights to play “camping,” read their library books, guide scavenger hunts around the house, or build with transparent tiles.

Wallpaper

When I studied art therapy, I was constantly investigating and researching all sorts of materials and how they are beneficial to promoting the creative process. One of my favorite painting surfaces is wallpaper. It’s durable and heavy, and can withstand layers of wet materials like paint. It also allows for children to “work big” in their drawings and paintings, using their whole bodies in their creative process, to create large-scale pieces of art.

Other ideas

A few other materials to play with at home include painters’ tape and paint sticks, and modeling clay or Play-Doh. Other non-branded toys in the Toy Hall of Fame include sticks, blankets, pots and pans, paper airplanes, sand, and soap bubbles.

The more exposure to basic and simple materials, the more children learn how to invite them into their daily play, expanding on their creativity and imaginations. Repetition is beneficial as well, as it helps to build comfort with the materials and supplies. This familiarity ultimately redirects the kids from seeking screen time.

Rena Grosser–a Judaic Atelierista and mother of three–is an Early Childhood Educator at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School and has a background in art therapy.