How do you keep your kids occupied without resorting to using technology?

1. 74

   Sniff It Outposted 10 years ago

   How do you keep your kids occupied without resorting to using technology?
   
   We rely too much on technology these days, TV and video games do very little to encourage kids to play, use their imagination and develop their social and other skills. So how would you keep your kids occupied and entertained without the use of technology?

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2. 71

   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   A lot would depend on the ages of the children. All you really have to do is think back to what you did assuming you yourself did not have access to today's technology.
   In my day we went outside!
   We played in our backyards or on playgrounds and in the park. Competed in pickup games (basketball, tag football, and soft ball). When I was little we used to have spinning tops you launched from your hand with a string,  yo-yos, marbles, water pistols, boxing robots, race car track sets, played badminton, volley ball, dodge ball, hide & seek, board games like "Operation", "Clue" or "Twister", hide and seek, rode our bikes, put on fake talent shows, play charades, tic tac toe, or card games like "Go Fish" and "Crazy Eights".
   Girls sometimes played with jumping ropes as they shouted out rhymes, some played Hopscotch on the sidewalks, or they baked cookies and cakes in their Easy-Bake Oven. If there was a Boys & Girls Club nearby we'd play pool or ping pong in their facility. If we were really young we used to color in our coloring books.
   Sometimes my mother would load us in the car just to go for a ride. Oftentimes we'd stop by Dairy Queen to get some ice cream cones and take a stroll along the beach.
   The best way to encourage kids to play, use their imagination and develop their social and other skills is for parents to invest time participating and showing them how to. Most parents are only too happy to give their children something that will keep them out of their hair for a few hours. Technology is their babysitter!
   Most kids never had to ask their parents for TVs, DVDs, or Video Games. They were given them before they could walk or talk.

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   1. 74

      Sniff It Outposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Same in my day dashingscorpio... I read a lot, went cycling, played board games, colored and painted and did jigsaw puzzles etc!
      I  embrace technology but I don't think it should be used as a primary means of keeping our kids occupied.

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