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Five things better than watching TV
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Playing board games is a great alternative to television.
Whatever your opinion of the value or lack thereof of television I’d like to suggest that there are many ways to spend an enjoyable evening with your children that don’t involve the television. And the younger your children are when you begin offering alternatives the more they will accept and enjoy them.
Perhaps instead of focusing on the take away by calling it “Turn off the TV” Night, you can focus on the rewards associated with the alternatives by calling it a family adventure or mystery activity night.
Instilling the values of spending time engaged with each other is one of the most valuable lessons associated with these activity nights. We have been holding these activities nights for several years so I polled my two daughters,one a pre-teen, the other a young teen-ager and asked them for a few of their favorite activities.
1. Reading: no surprise they suggested this one first. They’ve grown up with little television and the joy of reading naturally took its place. I would suggest reading in a variety of ways:
- Choosing a child-friendly novel and reading it aloud
- Being together in the same room when reading individually
- Listening to books on tape, either together or separately
2. Board games: this is a popular alternative. It doesn’t have to be a group experience sometimes splitting up and playing games that are one-on-one such as Cribbage or Backgammon are fun. Put together a round-robin tournament.
3. Field trips: your local library branch, the new St. Cloud Library, a local lake or park are great free options. You could just take a scenic drive and listen to a favorite CD or radio station.
4. Music night: listen to favorite music; introduce your kids to music from a different era, the 50s, 60s, your favorite songs when you were in high school. Teach them some dance steps or have everyone make up their own dance steps. Buy some easy-to-play instruments such as tin flutes, drums and harmonicas and have fun playing them.
5. Enjoy nature: Winter or summer, walk the trails of the arboretum at St. John’s University or the Lake Wobegon Trail. In most cities it is okay to have small contained campfires on your property but check local ordinances. Pull out the lawn chairs and listen to the sounds of the city. See who can identify the most different sounds. Bring a pair of binoculars and see how many birds you can spot.
One caveat, if your goal is to reduce the amount of time your family spends in front of the television don’t become the TV Warden. Simply offer fun alternatives and soon television will no longer be the first choice. Also, be a positive role model by finding other ways to enjoy your own time, other than TV.
For more info:
Backgammon
Cribbage
Lake Wobegon trail
St. Cloud Library
St. John's Arboretum
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