Most Montessori parents will tell you that screen time is a no-no until your child reaches at least the age of 3. Prior to this, children go through rapid brain development – discovering how to use their hand-eye co-ordination, how to walk, talk, and play. They explore the world using their hands and through investigating new things, and excessive time spent watching screens can hinder this development.
These days, it’s hard to avoid screens altogether and personally I don’t mind if Jamila participates in a video call with family, or occasionally clicks away on the keyboard in my husbands home office. What we want to avoid is passive screen time. That is, time spent watching mindless TV or playing games on an iPad. But with so many battery operated toys and child-oriented marketing around, how can we foster a screen-free environment? Here are five simple ideas to keep your little ones busy in a way that encourages brain development and exploration.
1. Take Them Outside
This one simple, but very effective. I take Jamila out for a walk almost every day, and she loves to look around and interact with the people, animals and things that we see on the way. If walking isn’t your thing, try having a picnic in your back garden, taking them to a park with swings and slides, or doing some gardening with them. The fresh air will do you and your little one a world of good.
2. Let Them Participate
This is one of Jamila’s favourites. I offer Jamila the opportunity to participate in whatever it is that I’m doing – as long as it’s safe, of course. Children learn by doing and love to experience the things that they see us do every day. Jamila loves helping me to organise the laundry, wiping surfaces, and even chooses her own outfit each morning! By observing your child you can learn what they’re interested in, and what they’d like to try out.
3. Choose Toys Wisely
I choose which toys will populate Jamila’s shelf based on her current habits. Toddlers tend to want to master one thing at a time – for example putting shapes into holes, counting, or pulling. Just like adults, they rarely want to do everything all at once. The same concept applies to toys. Give them toys which stimulate the skills that they are currently mastering, and they are much more likely to keep themselves occupied with them for a longer period of time. When you find that they’re not interacting with a certain toy as much, swap it out for something more catered to their current interests.
4. Give Them Interactive Books
Books are a great way to keep toddlers busy, and can really aid their development. Jamila loves reading and being read to, but that doesn’t mean that we as parents need to sit with her and read aloud for hours. By giving her interactive books with flaps, textures and sliders, we can encourage independence as well as interactive play. Some of my favourite books are listed in this previous post.
5. Structure Your Day
I love a plan, and I usually know roughly what I’ll be doing before each day starts. By planning activities and structuring your day, you can limit your child’s screen time as you’ll have less of those ’empty’ spaces in your day to fill. I try to make loose plans around what Jamila will be doing – for example, we go out for a walk at roughly the same time each day, we dedicate some time to independent play, story time, and she has a wind-down routine for an hour before bed. You don’t need to be super rigid with the timings, as toddler’s moods can be quite temperamental(!), but use it more as a guideline of activities to do each day.
By using these methods we’ve managed to avoid passive screen time, and hope that you and your families will also benefit from these, InshaAllah.
Montessori Muslim 