As the days continue indoors, your kids might be turning to you for something to stay occupied. Being ordered to quarantine is new to just about everyone and after a while, it can get hard to find things to do.
If you’re expected to supply much of the family fun and ideas, it can get tiring after spending so many consecutive days in your home. If you’re looking for a way to occupy your children without having to keep a close eye on them, you can grant them access to your streaming services after you set all of the parental guidance features.
With popular streaming services available, it can be easy to let your kids watch as they please. However, we all know children often get curious and could begin exploring things they don’t normally watch, especially when they have so much time on their hands.
So, for those stepdads who want to keep their kids occupied for an hour or two without having to monitor them too closely, use these tips to create a healthy TV time for kids.
1. Set a Time Frame
You must let your kids watch age-appropriate shows so they can learn and express creativity through channels they enjoy. It’s also important your children don’t spend all day in front of a screen.
Encourage and join your kids in some outdoor time and socialization after you allow them their TV time. This will help to boost your children’s mental and physical health so they don’t get too sluggish during the stay at home period.
2. Use Wi-Fi Restrictions
You can use your internet provider’s built-in services to restrict internet access from your children. Doing this will allow you to block them from accessing specific websites that might be inappropriate.
You can also set time frames for internet usage that prevents your children from using the internet after a certain time. This will help you set healthy kid’s TV time and get them to bed at a reasonable hour.
Go through the services you subscribe to and edit the parental guidance settings to your preference. At this point, almost any service you subscribe to will have some kind of measure to stop children from watching mature content.
You can do this by going into settings and depending on the service, you can block certain types of content, or use a pin to block specific shows.
4. Check New Show Reviews
Reading reviews can be helpful because people who write them often like to give their full opinion. This is especially true if people like or dislike something.
So, be sure you go through both the good and bad reviews for the new shows your children are interested in. This way, you get an idea of the content and learn about inappropriate details the previews might leave out.
5. Turn the TV Off
If you just can’t get your kid’s eyes off the screen, the best thing to do might be to just turn off the TV altogether. This will give you bonding time and a chance to learn more about your children.
Take time to find a game or a puzzle you can all enjoy rather than tuning each other out.
6. Find a Family Show
Sit down and stream a show you all think will be interesting. This will allow your family to look forward to new episodes or your weekly viewing.
Use this as something your family can talk about and get excited for together.
7. Monitor Streams
If you don’t trust your kids are watching what they say they are, you always can check what they watch. Most streaming services allow multiple viewers at once, so this will allow you to kick them off if they are watching something you don’t approve of.
8. Practice Your Boundaries
Your children must understand you know what is best for them. As their parent, it’s your job to guide them down a path you’ll be proud of. Allowing them to watch things they are not ready for can damage their growth and perception of things.
All you must do is explain why they cannot watch certain shows, what shows they can watch instead, and how they will be disciplined if they don’t listen.
Remember, it’s your choice what your children watch and your duty to create healthy kids TV time. You can do so in almost any streaming service that you subscribe to very easily. This will allow you to get some much needed personal time without having to worry about your kids viewing movies and shows they shouldn’t.
