4 Strategies for Making Screen Time Educational For Your Preschooler

In today’s world, parents often find themselves surrounded by technology. Children often ask permission to use games, apps, and watch videos. Studies show that children under eight years old spend about 2 hours and 15 minutes a day on screens. So, how can we help kids use technology in a smart way while avoiding excessive screen time? The Osceola Reads team has some ideas to make screen time a more educational experience!

Combine Screen Time with Daily Reading

Adding digital books to your reading routine can make screen time exciting! This allows your little one to feel like they are still using devices while you have control over it. You can teach your child how to choose books to listen to or read together. When kids know that story time means screen time, they’ll look forward to it and won’t ask for devices during the day as often. You can even use MarcoPolo and access over 800 educational videos in English and Spanish. This mix of traditional and digital learning can enhance their experience.

Watch Your Child Play Games and Talk About Them

Implementing the use of a smartphone or tablet is also a great way to spend time together! With MarcoPolo, you can go over letters, sounds, or rhymes! There are many benefits to watching and then talking with your child about their learning on MarcoPolo. It will help you create bonds, learn about their interests, and expand on what they learned. Talking about the letters and sounds they learn shows them that reading can be fun and that you care about it, too. This makes game screen time more impactful for both of you!

Don’t Force It

Sometimes, being too strict about something can cause it to backfire. Try to limit how much you say, “Screens are bad.”  Instead, encourage your kids to use devices for learning-based activities. There are a few ways to get your kids excited about learning with a device. You can challenge them by saying, “I bet you can’t read four books today!” This playful challenge will most likely get them excited about reading right away! This way, you’re using technology in a positive way with fewer conflicts about screen time.

Set a Good Example

Managing our child’s screen time is hard enough but we also have to manage our own!  Since children watch our every move, we must be good models of how to use devices in a responsible way. Try setting time apart without screens every day to do fun activities as a family. Encouraging positive device use for activities like reading is also an excellent option. 

Screens are everywhere we go today, so finding the best way to manage them is difficult. But MarcoPolo encourages your kids to improve their reading level through fun videos and games. So, you use screentime to make it educational.