We, those who were born in 1990’s have literally seen the development of a whole new world. We have seen the turn of the millennium with the world being turned into a global village with the help of modern digital technology.

Being born in 90’s, I personally have came across the wonders and magic of digital technology of computers, gaming-consoles and now smartphones.

Being not only the observer but active participant in this development, I am at the unique advantage of being able to see the whole picture, including the harms and damages of the latest technology.

Whether one accept it or not, we are now living in a digital world and with world being a global village, this new change is impacting each one of us. Whether this impact is positive or negative, it is upto us to decide.

One of the best way to make this impact a positive one, is to parent our kids according to this world. (IF YOU ARE NOT A PARENT YET, CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE THE TIME AND OPPORTUNITY TO EDUCATE YOURSELF PRO-ACTIVELY IN THIS REGARD)

“Do not parent your kids according to your time, as they are born for their own time.” – Loose Translation of an arabic Proverb.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-rowan/technology-children-negative-impact_b_3343245.html

Adverse effects of technology on kids

With the arrival of technology, today kids don’t even know what ‘playing outside’ means and how it used to be one of the most integral part of our generation. Their time is spent glued to the screen. Parents prefer buying their kids  gadgets to keep them occupied. If a toddler is being cranky, we put him in front of a TV  that serves the purpose of ‘distraction’.If a kid bothers the parents by asking too many questions s/he gets told to, ‘go watch your show honey’. These responses have become so normal that we don’t find them odd anymore. Researches suggest the effects of such temporary fixes have serious repercussions. Here are some ideas for parents to get their kids engaged in positive and healthy activities.

 

FUN ACTIVITES YOU CAN DO WITH KIDS

Egg shell painting

 

Egg shell painting is a fun activitiy. You can use egg shells from the kitchen and paint them with kids.

Painting fosters creative growth,strengthens memory,builds problem-solving and motor

skills, offers stress relief,promotes an optimistic attitude

and it nurtures emotional growth.

 

READING WITH THEM 

 

Just buying good books for kids might not do the trick. Try reading those books with them. Here is one suggestion, https://www.fukkulaani.com/gallery/category?g=1&c=6

May be you can get activtiy books and do those activites with kids.

FOOD ART

Samantha Lee is one such amazing mother from China who cooks food for her two little girls that tell a story http://leesamantha.com/

Doing food Art can be a great way to engage kids. Such activities not only make the parent child bond strong but during such activities all good values can be transferred to kids.

 

ORIGAMI

Origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper folding,has many benefits like developing eye hand co-ordination, sequencing skills, attention skills, patience, temporal spatial skills, math reasoning and so much more. While improving children’s mind one fold at a time, you can nurture their creativity and engage them in a postive activity.

 

PAINTING

Researches suggest that painting fosters creative growth,strengthens memory,builds problem-solving and motor

skills, offers stress relief,promotes an optimistic attitude

and it nurtures emotional growth.

COLORING

Researches suggest that coloring improves handwriting. Children need hand strength to work a pencil on a paper. Coloring helps them in this regard. It also improves hand and eye coordination.
It helps them in relaxation ,developing patience, and teaches them how to focus while stimulating creativity.

 

CLAY ART

Researches suggest that playing with clay is therapeutic for kids.It’s an outstanding sensory development activity for little hands. Little ones are still working on fine motor skills and dexterity.Making balls out of clay, squishing, squeezing and forming the clay helps them in this area. Children actually create some form of a product at the end. While encouraging patience, it develops the child’s self-esteem.

 

STITCH ART

Researches suggest that by doing motor-skill activities like stitching, children actually create a product at the end. Kids develop patience and it develops kids’ self-esteem.

 

PLAY DOUGH

Play Dough is great for strengthening muscle tone in little hands – squishing, squashing, rolling, flattening play dough all develop children’s muscles. it develops sensory development and promotes a holistic left and right brain development. Young children are still working on fine motor skills and dexterity. Rolling, squeezing and forming the clay helps them in this area. Children actually create a product at the end. Kids develop patience and it develops kids’ self-esteem.Its therapeutic for kids.

 

SINGING ALONG

 

Singing encourages children to express their emotions . It sharpens their ability to communicate while exercising lip and tongue movement.One of the most important benefits of singing is the repeated use of ‘memory muscle’

 

WATCHING A GOOD AND MEANINGFUL FAMILY MOVIE

The importance of family and relationships can best be depicted through the most powerful medium of expressions: Cinema.

Watching some good movie with family could also be a great pass time.Discussion on them and can help kids gain perspective.Here are some recommendations. Free Willy and Persuit of Happyness

When a boy learns that a beloved killer whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free the whale.

A good movie about loyalty and love.

Free Willy  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106965/

 

 

When life throws every punch and kick on Chris Gardner’s face, it his resolute character and a positive perspective that drives him on to be successful in life, for himself and for Chris Jr.

If you want to make all this your family tradition, here’s a link http://bit.ly/2iklWEs where you can get a lot of activites you can do as family projects.

Edited by : Hamza Khurshid