When I was growing up, I remember being so excited to earn time on our Atari. Yes, I am dating myself. But I remember my brother and sister putting quarters down on the Atari machine so they could play before I did. That’s what happens when you are the youngest! But, I survived. And now we have the iPad. Times have changed, children still want to play with the latest and greatest. We used to avoid the iPad at all costs. Not sure why. But now, we realize there are amazing educational games on it as well as fun activities for the kiddos to play. I am definitely not trying to start a debate on kids and tech, but I do want to share how we handle the time on the iPad over here. I seriously think my kiddos could become addicted to it if we didn’t somehow manage this miraculous piece of technology. Here is what we do.
{sharing iPad time with grammy}
Remember the gems. I posted about them here. They saved our sanity. Lately, we started using them because the kids were asking to jump on the iPad way too much and it was driving us nuts. Now they earn their time. And when I say time, I mean only ten minutes! Yes, we are stingy with the minutes over here! But it’s become a great incentive program over here. Grady, our son, goes bananas when he has his two gems and can trade them in for ten minutes of iPad time.
Basically, when the kiddos do things without being asked {like setting the table or helping mommy or daddy with something } they earn a gem. We will simply tell them to go put a gem in their jar. When they want to play the iPad, they turn in two of their gems {we found only having one meant too much iPad time!}. They can save them up or use them. But when they are gone they are gone. Are there other times we let them use it because the dishwasher repair man is here for the third time and I have exhausted all other avenues of entertaining them . . .you bet your bottom dollar. And proud of it. But on a daily basis, if they want some iPad time. . . the have to earn it.
Here is a list of some of the ways the kiddos earn gems for iPad time:
- doing a good deed for a friend or sibling
- cleaning up their room or their toys without anyone asking
- folding laundry and putting it in their drawers
- clearing the table after breakfast
- following routines well {ie: putting backpacks away, etc} getting dressed and ready for soccer games ON TIME!
- any other genuine act that we want to reinforce ……
What about you? Do you have a way to manage tech time for young ones? Let’s share our tips!
Cute idea! My school is trying to get them for all the students to use in the classroom!
GREAT idea. I've been struggling lately with my almost 4 year old's iPad addiction. Any preschooler games you love?
What a fantastic mom you are! And as impressive as the (cutie pie!) gem system is (and I do love that and want to try to implement that, too), I especially love the skills that you are already teaching your young children. Way to go, Mama!
such a GREAT idea!
I think it's a great idea!! But don't you worry that they might grab more than one gem when you aren't looking? Although I bet you have them all counted! Haha
xx
OMG. Lilly is an ipad fanatic. I'm using this idea. So smart.
great idea C – my daughter is crazy for the iPad – she like to make videos – and they are HILARIOUS! Seriously – that kid cracks me up! My son, on the other hand, rarely wants to use the iPad – then again he has a DS. I have time limits but I like the idea of having them earn their time!
I need someone to monitor MY time on the iPad!! LOL
I remember the Atari!! I loved Pac Man but my parents were very strict about it. I am definitely the same way with the iPad and Wii…funny how we channel our parents, right?
I think that is such a great idea Courtney. Cute photo of the kids with Grammy. I'm with SavySurfer….I need someone to monitor my time, too! It's so easy to pick up the iPad and get distracted for hours when I need to get things done. Have a good day.
So great! I needed this. Going to start this asap!
Such a great idea! Love the fact that you are rewarding them for things done without asking. Such great positive reinforcement!!
I am a big fan of earning pretty much anything in our house…especially iPad time! I think my mom thought I was mean because I made my son earn money for a belt he wanted (yes, my five year-old was motivated by a belt…he's so metro (c:) It was only $7, but the way he beamed when he earned it confirmed that sticking to my guns was a good call. I think this is a phenomenal idea for iPad time, my kiddos would be *VERY* motivated (c;
Such a great idea! I love that they earn time by doing good tasks! I hope to be half as good a mom as you are someday!! 🙂
You would die if you knew how often James was on his iPad. In fact, he's watching Thomas the Train on it right now! That's cool that G is on board with the gems too. I bet James is at a good age to start that.
So smart. Need to save this for future reference!! 🙂
I love this idea! The kids I nanny for have recently started to have set restrictions on electronic time (iPad, Wii, and Kindle Fire) but it seems very arbitrary to me. I wish I could *subtly* hint that this might be a good idea. They're definitely at ages where they should have some responsibilities. Oh well, maybe I can implement this when I have my own kids someday. 🙂