Sylmar Neighborhood Council's Education Committee - Have a Plan to Watch and Play Together.

Have a Plan to Watch and Play Together

By Erin Wilkey Oh

Content Director, 

Family and Community Engagement

Kids are about to go home for winter break. They're going to watch a ton of TV, play hours of video games, LOL at dozens (hundreds?) of ridiculous TikToks, and group text with friends about how bored they are.  What are families to do?! 

I think, to a certain extent, we should embrace it. Wait. What?!  Seriously. Hear me out.

It hinges on togetherness.  I still remember the laughter-fueled Nintendo marathons with my stepsisters and special outings to see the latest holiday blockbuster in the theater with my parents and extended family. It's true that not all kids are surrounded by family during school holidays. But many are, and they can share these experiences with others. They can watch TV with grandma, play video games with mom, and LOL at TikToks with their cousins. This also makes the holidays a great time for adults to check in with kids about what they’re watching, playing, or doing online.

A great tool for sparking these conversations with kids are our new Family Tech Planners. 

These templates can help families define what healthy tech use looks like for them. Parents and caregivers can walk through the templates with kids, or simply pull a few key talking points to seed informal conversations. They're also a great tool for families when introducing a new device into the home (What's on your wish list?)

Of course, this isn't to swipe past the good times to be had in a board game, puzzle, or round of charades. Families can also print out these Winter Break Activities  (in Spanish, too), cut them out, drop them in a jar, and do one a day until the new year. A couple that I'm hoping to introduce this winter break are "Rose, Bud, Thorn" and "Family Newsletter.”

Whether we're educators or parents, we all want the best for kids. This winter break, let's embrace their love of entertainment and tech. Let's sit next to them, ask them what they're watching, and find out what they like about it. Let's let go of our anxieties about whether they're watching or playing too much and instead try to enjoy how it can bring us together. 

Happy Holidays!!!

Erin

 • LINKS •

Common Sense Education -

https://www.commonsense.org/education?j=9176846&sfmc_sub=171581702&l=2048712_HTML&u=208313954&mid=6409703&jb=6010&utm_source=edu_nl_2022.12.13&utm_medium=email

Family Tech Planners -

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/family-tech-planners?j=9176846&sfmc_sub=171581702&l=2048712_HTML&u=208313955&mid=6409703&jb=6010&utm_source=edu_nl_2022.12.13&utm_medium=email

Winter Break Activities - 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15u--crgRvzMy7i0b_gmm30CxueeXtw5V/view?j=9176846&sfmc_sub=171581702&l=2048712_HTML&u=208313956&mid=6409703&jb=6010

 Spanish -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KOJ4I_OWSBRH_uvVEGqsR0gHttd1P3L1/view?j=9176846&sfmc_sub=171581702&l=2048712_HTML&u=208313957&mid=6409703&jb=6010