Do you remember when you were little, and your parents told you how TV is bad for you, and you shouldn’t watch too much? Now, having the possibility to watch TV or videos on phones, tablets, and other devices makes it harder for parents to limit their kids’ screen time.
However, even though the time your kid spends in front of the screen should be indeed limited, this doesn’t mean that TV is not good at all. Watching TV as a family can actually be the perfect bonding time. Keep reading to find out why.
Can watching TV be good for a family bonding activity?
As a parent, you surely have a very busy daily life, and sometimes it is hard to find a way to spend quality time with your kids. There are only 24 hours in the day, some of which you should use for sleeping. After a long day at work, you are probably exhausted, and you are not in the mood for very tiring games, and you might prefer not such an active way to spend time with your child. Watching TV can be such an activity.
By watching TV together, we don’t mean for you to just put the TV on for your kid and you sitting on the couch doing something else. You should actively watch together and share this experience. There are a number of free platforms that offer you a lot of entertaining and engaging content. By finding an exciting movie to watch, you can find discussion topics you might haven’t even thought of before. Kids are full of questions, and something million more can come to their minds when they watch. Discussing them together will help them understand the world better and bond with you simultaneously.
These moments will become great memories for you and your kid. You might have laughed together or even cried together when something terrible happened to a favorite character of yours. Sharing those emotions and going through them together will stick in your mind. Here are a couple of tips on making watching TV together a fun bonding experience.
Tips for watching TV as a family
When watching TV together, don’t just sit together on the couch and put whatever you find first. If you need to have a really quality bonding time, then check the recommendations below.
Find something good to watch
It is not that easy to find an exciting TV show or a movie that is also age-appropriate. There is some content that kids TV channels put on just to fill time or others that are constantly repairing. This is why you need to put some effort into dinging the right content to watch.
If your kid is a toddler, there are many TV shows or Youtube channels that you can watch together. They will teach your kid the basics of everything they need to know, and you can start discussions based on that to teach them even more. There are great Disney movies for a bit older kids that will entertain you and them together.
Interact while watching
Take the chance to make watching TV a learning experience. Try to discuss everything that is happening on the screen and even connect it with something from real life. If the characters of the TV show you are watching are playing some game or drawing, maybe you can try to recreate this activity with your kid. Talking and explaining things to your little one will make watching TV much more interactive for both of you.
Make clear rules
You should put clear rules for screen time from the beginning. How much time your kid can spend watching TV, and what they can watch. Try to explain why you are imposing those rules clearly and calmly. Of course, your kid will try to abuse those rules from time to time because they will want to watch just one more episode. However, in those cases, don’t get angry. Explain to them again why they need to follow the rules and distract them with another activity or just discuss what you just watch.
Make a discussion
Sometimes kids don’t know what to ask or how to explain what they want. This is why you should help them by asking questions as well. Ask them if they understood the more complicated parts of the show or a movie. Explain to them everything that they might haven’t understood. Discuss what new words they learned or what they liked the most.
Conclusion
Watching TV can be fun and a perfect bonding experience for you and your family. Find something interesting to watch, make some popcorn and enjoy quality time together. Try to make this experience amusing and at the same time teach your kid a thing or two. There are many shows and movies that you will equally enjoy because of the content and because you will share it with your kid.
