The Secret to a Screen-Free Summer

By: Arena

This summer, help your kids to develop healthy screen habits with our new secret weapon — a hardware charging station that doubles as a screen time management system called The Den.

Without the schedule and routines of school, it is easy to fall into the trap of unstructured screen time. And before you know it, your kids have wasted away their summer on their devices.

For my family, it’s not enough to just say no. With notifications going off constantly, my son’s attention seems to return to his device all the time. It’s like it was always there calling to him. I needed a way to track his screen usage, but also to keep the devices put up and out of sight while they were not in use.

I was so excited when TechDen asked us to try out The Den. It seemed like exactly what I was looking for! And it was.

We set up The Den in our front hallway, near where we hang coats and backpacks. It fit easily on the table there and blended right into the decor.

The TechDen app allows parents to connect their child’s device to The Den, and set schedules to remotely lock and unlock the doors, depending on when the device is available for use. Kids can push the button at the top of The Den to see if their device is available.

And if a device is removed from The Den outside of a scheduled time, the parent gets a notification on their phone or watch.

The inner charging ports mean that the devices are charged and ready to go when it is time for use — no more asking to use YOUR phone because theirs isn’t charged!

And you can even set goals for your child, so that once they return their device, on time (that’s right without you having to ask them for the tenth time!) to The Den a certain number of times, they receive a prize. The number of returns and prize is based on what works best for your family; for your kid. So it might be less on-time rewards for the younger ones. This helps them develop the habit of taking the device back to The Den when their allotted screen time is over.

With The Den in our arsenal, I set out to create a structured screen time for the summer.

Our Summer Screen Time checklist is the perfect way to make sure that your child balances their screen time with productive activities. For every 30 minutes a child spends completing one of the activities, they earn 15 minutes of screen time so in my example they earn a max screen time of 1 hour each day.

For you this may be more or may be less based on what you’ve decided as the parent. The key in setting and establishing the rules and creating boundaries that encourage healthy habits. And TechDen does just that.

With TechDen, you can set available hours for your child to redeem their screen time minutes, and then plug in exactly how much they’ve earned.

It makes it so easy to put the devices away and go enjoy your screen-free summer! You can learn more about how and why TechDen works at techden.com. The Den is is available for purchase on Amazon.

Source: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/124356/screen-free-summer/

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