Hey Mamas, raise your hands if your child loves their video games! Or blink if your eye if your kids can’t stop thinking of any other activities other than Video games or loves spending long hours playing games and cant seem to get enough?
You are not alone!
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Today, believe it or not, thousand of parents are going through this issue at this very moment.
My 11-year-old couldn’t seem to get enough of his games and at one point focused on only this one hobby.
And as a mother, this worried me so I set out to take action. I came up with a few ideas which could possibly wean him or possibly reduce his exposure to video games.
Set a Schedule
Having a schedule with a time limit is the easiest way in which a mom can possibly control your child’s video game activity.
From what I have seen in video games, whether it is educational or not , it can be quite addictive and so most of the time if not controlled one can play games all day long.
Having a set schedule which works for both you and your child will encourage discipline and your child will be more incline to follow i and abide to it.
For example, having a timer and setting a limit such as 2 hours, allowing games only on Saturday between 2 and 4pm, or video games allowed only after all homework is done are just a few examples that you can implement.
Plan outdoor activities
Mamas, here’s another trick- if you want to distract your child away from video games, keep them away from the gaming environment as much as possible.
Get a tent and go camping, take them to the grandparents, grab your bikes and hit a trail, or maybe dust off your roller blades ,any activity which will take their mind out of the house and off the games.
Out of mind-out of sight!
Grab a few ideas from my article that I have written on kids activities and use it. I find that kids indulge in video games when they’re bored! If they are occupied with doing something else ,then the time they spend on it decreases.
When we moved to our new home, my son made friends in the neighborhood and I found that he spent more time running around with them than sitting in front of his games! So, I’m really glad we made this move!
Choose the games
Here’s the thing mom, if you choose the age appropriate games that your kids play and you monitor them and provides some parental control chances are:
1. Your child may not even like the game that you pick and will simply wean off it
2. You will be able to at least control what types of activities are taking place with online gaming and with whom.
It’s a win-win for you and your child.
Use it as a disciplinary action.
Taking away screen time or video game time to discipline your child is entirely up to you and it may or may not work.
So instead of taking away their allowances, take away the video games or decrease on the time that they play.
Support them but control it.
Hey if you can’t beat them, join them! At times, it really not worth it to try to wean your kids off video games.
However you can control it.
You can try all the tricks in the world to get your child spending less time on playing games and it may or may not work. Their friends are into it, their neighbors are into it, their cousins are into it, chances are there is nothing that will keep them from it.
Video games are all around them. Sometimes I blame it on the era that we live in! (haha) Especially now during the Covid-19 pandemic, the kids need some sort of social interaction and the only way to get it is through playing games with their friend online.
And who knows- they may end up in one of those video games tournaments and win big one day or even turn it into a professional career. Hey- aren’t we the ones who encourage our kids to get into a career that they will love?
Have a conversation with your kids
Having a conversation with your kids to determine what other activities that he or she may be interested in,is useful to know.
We as moms can help in helping our kids actively pursue this other activity that they are interested in, thus taking the kids away from games You may be helping your child by exploring his options and finding his passion.
Introduce family activities at home
Introducing new and other fun activities into the home where all family members can partake in will get the kids thinking of something else besides playing video games.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with playing video games, but in my honest opinion, it tends to be a problem when 1. It consists of lots of violence 2. It is not age appropriate for your kids age 3. It seems as if your child is hooked to it and can’t get else anything done and 4. They spend long hours on it.
Introducing other fun activities such as Karaoke, backyard camping, biking and bar b cue will definitely help in weaning your child off the games for a bit.
Introduce Educational Video Games
In addition to introducing other family fun activities, moms you can introduce the educational video games where your child can challenge his mind and learn something new.
Educational games such as Trivial Pursuit and good old fashion monopoly and scrabbles also comes in the form of a carnival video games. Believe it or not, there are lots of educational video games out there. Games which can challenges the mind of how little ones. So Mama before you turn a blind eye to video games- rethink your strategy.
Change your mindset.
I have included this one on here for a reason. In this day and age, kids and even adults get bored quite easily and needs some form of entertainment to keep them busy.
Playing video games at home in an environment which is supervised by parents is safer than not knowing where your kids are especially if he or she is a teenager.
As a parent, it is comforting to know that your child is at home rather than being out there causing trouble out of boredom.
I’m not sure about you, but I’d rather having my kids at home possibly with friends where I can supervise him or her as opposed to not having a clue as to what he or she is doing out there.
What not to do
Moms- word of advice- Banning your kids from Video games may serve no justice and may only do more harm than good especially if they are already hooked to it.
They will find a way around it. Instead try slowly wean them from it. Keep in mind that games are all around them. Their friends have it, their neighbors have it, it is on their phones, tablets, school computer. They will find a way to get it, I repeat, they will find a way to get it!
So there you have it. A few ideas in how you can attempt to wean your child away from games if it is getting out of control. Keep in mind that not all these may work for everyone but it’s a start.
If you do have an idea which may have worked for you, let us know in the comment below.
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