How to wean your child off a tablet. How to wean your child off a tablet without hysterics. Rules for using gadgets in families with small children

“Can you imagine,” says the mother of five-year-old Alesya indignantly, “you came to a New Year’s matinee at the puppet theater, and one of the boys never looked at the stage during the performance. All this time he looked at the screen of the electronic toy that was in his hands. He didn’t lead round dances, didn’t sing songs, why did his parents bring him to the holiday?” And indeed, now tablets and phones have replaced our children’s parents, friends, girlfriends, and ordinary human communication.

Who is to blame and what to do - these are the questions that many mothers and fathers ask today. Why dolls and cars are now gathering dust on the shelves and how you can interest a child, read the AP material.

Phone and tablet are my friends

— I bring my son home from kindergarten, give him a tablet, he plays, but I don’t hear or see him. On the one hand, it’s good - I can go about my business, cook something, but on the other hand, he hardly talks to me, and he doesn’t recognize other toys,” sighs Anna Gorlova, mother of six-year-old Daniil.

“And my daughter knows where the games are on the phone, she presses a button and plays,” Olga Spiridonova, mother of two-year-old Alina, proudly says. “In our time there were completely different toys, any baby doll was happy.”

And indeed, if 10 years ago, for example, in a clinic or store, children were calmed down with dolls, teddy bears and cars, now mainly with cell phones. If you want your child not to cry, give him a mobile phone. As they say, the children are happy, the parents are calm.

— Of course, my parents are happy: I’m such a good guy - I’ve passed the third level. But we must understand that in this game the child is only a passive spectator. He just presses buttons and watches what’s happening, but by and large does nothing,” comments Elena Ulkina, head of the “Superkids” early development children’s club, on examples from our lives. “This is how our parental attention is replaced by electronic toys. The child took the phone, pokes at the buttons, does not bother the parents - and can play like this for hours.

You won't be spoiled in kindergarten

You can’t play like this only in kindergarten, if your children go there, of course. Sometimes real battles for toys take place here. Moreover, a child may ask his groupmate not for him at all, but for his own car or turtle brought from home. However, a compromise can still be found, says Svetlana Pasyada, a teacher of the junior group of one of the kindergartens in Blagoveshchensk.

— Our boys can play with dolls with pleasure, and one girl drives all the cars into the garage, listens to fairy tales with interest - I read them myself or put on an audio recording. They learn to assemble construction sets, and in creative classes we sculpt and draw.

According to the teacher, there is no TV in the group. By the way, the children don’t even remember about him. But the child may refuse to perform creative tasks. No one will force him. But there are no such children in Svetlana Viktorovna’s group. True, one kid made a snowman out of plasticine instead of a stool, and they didn’t scold him for such a flight of fancy.

“Kids love to set the table for dinner, lay out spoons, arrange plates, mugs, and we don’t stop them from doing this either,” continues Svetlana Pasyada. - This is the child’s social adaptation, parents later say that children even at home ask for an apron with a headscarf - they play little cooks.

Show by example

Elena Ulkina also advises playing role-playing games with your child.

— Play in the same store, daughters and mothers, build some kind of parking lot for cars. After all, such activities have not been canceled; they give the child development, understanding of the environment, and social contacts.

The teacher-psychologist advises: in order to turn children towards toys, they need to be interested. And it is advisable to spend as much time as possible with the child. If your baby wants to tell you something or sits you down next to a doll and asks you to become the toy’s mother, don’t refuse. Perhaps five to ten minutes spent with your child will help solve many problems in the future. Now you will hear him - in a few years he will hear you.

— If parents paid at least a little attention to their children and showed their interest, it would be easier to raise them. You can build and cut houses from cardboard boxes with your child. But many parents do this: they brought a beautiful box with a toy, put it in front of the child - play, he opened it, turned it over and also put it on the table. Buy a construction set so that the item can be assembled, and therefore think about.

You can distract your child from cartoons and the computer not only with the help of games. If you want to show your child that you care about him, that you are ready to spend time with him, listen and talk, call him to the kitchen. Let him wash vegetables, lay out bread, help prepare dinner, for example. Useful work will give respite to eyes sore in the evening and a tired brain. In the evening, try to find a quiet activity for your son or daughter - let him sculpt or draw. A child, like an adult, gets tired during the day, and he also needs a break from busy events.

Limit your child's time watching TV or playing computer games. Try to explain that this is harmful, not with tedious notations, but with examples. You can go for a consultation with an ophthalmologist. The doctor will tell your child how much time to spend on entertainment and how this will affect his health. This way, the baby will hear the opinion of an authoritative person.

How to interest your child:

— play role-playing games

— from the many toys, buy the one that encourages creativity, action, movement

— choose themed toys (house, kitchen, garden, flowerbed)

— play board and outdoor games

— spend more time with children

OPINION

Elena Ulkina, educational psychologist: Toys are no longer a surprise

— Another problem that adults face, in addition to tablets and phones, is the abundance of toys. In children's goods supermarkets, parents' eyes run wild - we don't know how to please the child and what to buy. For some reason, everyone thinks that kids need to be filled with toys. Huge elephants and tigers, Barbie in different dresses, with cosmetics and jewelry, Spider-Man, a robot - these are just a small part that is now kept in almost every child’s nursery. We ourselves spoil our children. Toys used to be a surprise, a surprise. Now they are given every day by mothers, fathers, and grandparents. Sometimes there are so many dolls and blocks that you can only walk with obstacles in the nursery. Our sons and daughters are fed up with toys; it’s almost impossible to surprise them with anything. Construction sets, cars, entire houses and kitchens - all of this simply depreciates: the more toys, the less attention they receive.

My advice: Give toys to your child in small portions. Today he plays with cars, tomorrow he runs the railway. Everything must be dosed. In general: not a single most expensive toy can replace live communication, love and affection.

HOW TO DISTRACT YOUR CHILD FROM THE COMPUTER

Advice from the mother of 12-year-old Georgy Natalia Maryina

Tip #1

There is no need to scold the computer and games so that the child does not see you as an enemy who is encroaching on the sacred.

Tip #2

Offer an adequate replacement for the computer. Is he more successful in games than in real life? This means that we need to create situations of success in life and praise more. If he plays, because then you can discuss the game with friends, then you need to take the boys to the skating rink or bowling.

Tip #3

Offer your child real activities that seem more exciting than computer games. It all depends on what he likes. If he loves pizza, bake it together.

Tip #4

Sit next to each other and play together or take turns. The main thing is that you both come to the conclusion that playing together is cool. This, by the way, is a good motivational tool: “If you do your homework, we’ll play together.” Or: “You go to the store with me, I’ll go through one level in your game.”

Tip #5

Enter a rule: if friends come to visit, the computer definitely turns off. For the first 10 minutes they are offended and wander around the apartment in bewilderment, but then they will definitely get carried away with something. Accustom your child to the idea that people come to visit to communicate.

Children and gadgets. My three-year-old daughter will not part with her gadgets and throws tantrums when she tries to pick up her tablet. Modern children's fascination with gadgets causes concern among parents, psychologists and ophthalmologists.

The problem of a child’s excessive enthusiasm for a tablet has not escaped me either. Modern children and gadgets are on the same wavelength almost from birth, and this should be used wisely for the development of the child. In the first days after the purchase, I myself uploaded several applications for the development of fine motor skills. The first day I was very pleased, seeing only the pros in this, I understood the cons of gadgets for children literally after a couple of days.

Gadgets and small children: what are the advantages?

• Various educational applications
• Speed ​​reaction
• Perseverance
• Logics
• You can teach something that you yourself are not fluent in (English for kids)
• Parents have free time

To give you an idea of ​​the picture, I will describe some of the downloaded applications. The purpose of the purchase was for my daughter to develop fine motor skills not only by modeling from plasticine. I really liked it
"Puzzles" presentation. It was sorted: animals, numbers, cars, people's faces.

The point is that some image appears on the screen in the center, and on four sides there are various recesses-silhouettes and you need to not only guess, but also send this image to the right place by moving your finger.

The first day there were even “crazy people” if something didn’t work out, and I helped, of course, admiring the picture with emotion. The second app worthy of attention is called “Smart Baby,” although by the age of 3 almost everything is already familiar there. I really liked the version of the “drawing for kids” application where the contours of the animals that the child has chosen for drawing are gradually highlighted. The program does not allow you to go beyond the fields. At the end, a drawn animal makes sounds and jumps.

Coming home from work at almost half past seven, there was always plenty of household chores: dinner, washing the floor, ironing things for kindergarten in the morning, bathing my treasure. And this time, my daughter didn’t bother me. In the first two days I was extremely pleased. On the third day, obvious disadvantages appeared.

Gadgets and small children: what are the disadvantages

As soon as I left the field of view, my baby was literally glued to the tablet with her nose, and even while lying down. The game has begun: “move the tablet away.” A clear dependence appeared already on day 4. When I went to bed, my stretched-out little one now wanted to sleep not with a teddy bear, but only with a tablet. Any sane mother understands that it is harmful for children to sleep even near televisions; there should be no mobile phones within a radius of at least 3 meters, but here they sleep cuddled with a tablet. The first hysteria took its toll. As soon as my daughter fell asleep, I pulled out a new toy and hid it away.

It was Friday. Saturday morning started for me at 5 am with tears through sleep...tablet. All attempts to say that he was sleeping, it was too early, to give him another toy in return and to somehow distract him, did not yield results. I gave up and turned on cartoons. She can watch Fixies endlessly. Having turned the volume to minimum and placing the tablet on the back of the sofa, I hoped that this way she would fall asleep instantly. Naive mother. At first, my daughter sat down, and then she even took him in her arms and lay down with him to watch cartoons at a distance of 10 cm. To my shame, I simply fell asleep next to him. I woke up at 6.20 and saw that my little one was not sleeping, but was calmly lying next to him, continuing to watch cartoons.

It didn’t work out to pick up the subject of my new hobby. Tears again. In general, after a couple of hours I had a discharged tablet and a crying child. Another week flew by quickly. My daughter has already developed the habit of watching videos about children and cartoons, about a monkey with kids for hours. I came home from work and found her already using her tablet. Sitting down next to me, I asked her about how the day went in kindergarten, and my daughter even looked away for a short time when she saw me. All of the following, of course, does not happen to all children, but these are my personal conclusions.

Disadvantages of gadgets that I noticed:

• Addiction sets in quickly
• It is difficult to explain to a small child that it is harmful
• Vision decreases rapidly
• Letting players play strictly according to the clock doesn’t work.
• The baby loses the desire to engage in other activities: reading, sculpting
• A child left unattended while watching cartoons may accidentally end up on an “adult” channel.
• Live communication with mom is replaced by watching cartoons, so the connection is lost
• Irradiation for hours doesn't do any good either.

How to wean a small child from a gadget

So 3 weeks flew by, and another Friday arrived. For some, half past 9 is early in the morning, but I had time to “brainstorm” on the topic: “How to wean a child off a tablet.” Due to the fact that children quickly get used to gadgets, they wean them just as quickly. I managed this literally in 2 weekends. After reading a sea of ​​literature, I was determined, and this is probably the main secret of success. On Friday morning, I hid it safely and, calling home from work, warned that no one would take it out of kindergarten when the child arrived.

I must pay tribute to my family members that on this issue our views coincided 100%. Having picked up my daughter from kindergarten, they didn’t take her straight home, but went for a ride on the swing.

In the evening they went to meet me and go to the grocery store with the obligatory trolley ride. As soon as I crossed the threshold of the house, requests began to let me watch videos about children (I bookmarked a couple of funny videos and a whole series of educational ones).

Options for answers that I couldn’t find, where the tablet caused tears, I began to get angry at her for these tears, and at myself for my weak character. Then putting it aside absolutely everything is done, I took my daughter in my arms and began to explain that I missed her very much and wanted to play with her. She refused to draw, read books, sculpt, or do anything at all, constantly whining and even throwing a tantrum on the floor. I felt very sorry for her, I wanted to give in to the temptation to give the child the desired reassurance in the form of a gadget, but the mood to end this addiction took over.

In the middle of the night, my treasure woke up twice in tears demanding a tablet and cartoons. 4.30 am and tears again. Angry at her, I again calmly take her in my arms and go to the next room - pace back and forth, calming and lulling her, saying that the tablet was given to my older sister Nastyushka to play for a while (now she lives separately) and she will soon get it will return. During the day we washed the floor, vacuumed, and read together. Then I asked my eldest daughter to take the princess to her place for a couple of hours. Because the plans were for a grandiose capping of eggplants for the winter.

Before going to bed, I gave her a tablet that had 6% charge left, explaining that he would soon go to bed too, and noticing that my little one was rubbing his eyes as hard as he could, I said that it was the tablet that made his eyes very tired and began to pinch and hurt. You need to spare your eyes and go to bed. First victory! The princess calmly handed over the gadget to charge it. In the morning, I didn’t even give her a chance to remember him, putting her out of sight, and early in the morning I took the dolls and bears and went to read fairy tales with them. In the afternoon I let her play again for literally an hour. Imagine my surprise when Anechka gave it to me herself with the words: “He has become hot, let him sleep.” When she woke up, she wanted to watch the video again. But my persistence prevailed, and whining a little, we went outside. In the evening she fell asleep without the tablet, and on Sunday morning she didn’t even remember about it.

Rules for using gadgets in families with small children:

• A child receives a tablet only in exceptional cases (her vision is dear to me)
• only on weekends (on other days there is a kindergarten and a nanny who takes care of the child)
• No longer than an hour

Gradually she stopped being capricious, accepting the “rules”. I hope that my experience on how to wean a small child from a gadget will be useful to many mothers. I specifically contacted the same mothers on social networks and became convinced that many families have a problem called “Children and gadgets.” And finally, do not start the process until you have 100% confidence that this is necessary and unshakable determination. Be prepared that it just won't happen, but the victory will be worth it. There is nothing more valuable than the health of our children.

Experts have long been sounding the alarm about young children’s excessive interest in modern gadgets. If you are concerned that you cannot calmly and without hysterics take the tablet from your baby, our article will help you.

Children's fascination with modern gadgets surprises few people. Even one-year-old babies enjoy watching cartoons right in their crib; slightly older children use the Internet without any problems, turn on music, and play games. And while parents are touched by the fact that the child is growing by leaps and bounds, experts are sounding the alarm - gadget hobbies affect the baby’s health, communication skills and socialization. We have selected 5 ways to help wean your child off a tablet and other gadgets.

1. Pay attention to yourself.

A child, especially in childhood, first of all pays attention to his parents. And if you spend all day with your phone and tablet in your hands, and look at the screen at every opportunity, then don’t expect any different behavior from your child.

Take a break from gadgets, read more and play with your children. Please note that a child can even be involved in “adult activities.”

It is not uncommon that by the age of 3-4 a child can wash the dishes or sweep the floor remarkably well if he has been doing this since he learned to walk.

Next time you want to turn on your tablet and go cook dinner for your beloved husband, think about it!

2. Come up with something more interesting to do

Try to leave the house more often and communicate with peers. We doubt that between playing with a tablet and going to the park, a child will choose a tablet. In summer you can go to the park or swim, and in winter you can go ice skating or big snow slides.

Play is a universal way to learn new knowledge and skills, and since it is not possible to live outside society, it is necessary to teach a child communication skills and the peculiarities of interaction with others from childhood.

3. Take your child’s free time/enroll your child in sports or creative activities

It has been proven that a child’s hands reach for a tablet only when he is bored. If you occupy most of your baby’s free time, the problem will disappear by itself. After the child goes to dance after kindergarten and returns home in the evening, he still needs to eat, talk with his parents, and play with his favorite toys. There simply won't be any time left for the tablet.

4. Say a firm no or set a time for computer games.

Don't forget that a parent can impose a complete and unconditional ban on the use of gadgets! Do not buy your child a cell phone where you can access the Internet or play games.

But if you are afraid that in the future the forbidden fruit will be sweet, you can set a time limit for using the tablet 915, 20,30,60 minutes a day). You can also indicate a ban on combined use during certain activities - when guests arrive, eat, communicate with other family members, etc.

5. Set a password for the programs you want to restrict.

Pay attention to the programs your child uses. You can set a password to access the Internet, remove entertainment applications and block YouTube.