"Movie or not TV"

[ruthanne777]

Hi
anyone have ideas to kick the habit of going first to a movie for relaxation? Thats what our family did growing up and Id like to teach the kiddos a bit differently so that when they need an emotional refill they will turn to more wholesome activities, more often.
It may be an age thing too, since entertaining themselves is harder when they are younger...but when I have hung out with then and then need to get stuff done, all they want is a movie most of the time or either I turn it on becuase I don't want to deal with the bickering/interuptions...help

[Palerider]

I am not sure if this suggestion is what you are looking for....try to find the DVD's the church has...if the children are younger them maybe Book of Mormon stories on DVD or the Bible stories geared towards children....if there older look for the Church produced DVD's....The Singles Ward....The Hometeacher.....Other Side of Heaven....

[a-train]

Bowling
Miniature Golf
Build a Half-Pipe in your yard
A painting area in the basement
teach knitting
put a rope swing in the youngest's room

[ruthanne777]

thx guys!!

[utcowboy]

I see that reading was not mentioned... seems to be a lost or disappearing pastime

[VisionOfLehi]

A good old-fashioned trip to the park.

Loved them as a kid, especially the playgrounds.

Now they're pretty peaceful and I feel like I should go walking through them.

[connerific]

This is something my husband and i have struggled with as well. We have found getting the television set out of the way really helps. We currently have it in the garage. When we feel like we can try again, we bring it back in. And when it becomes too much, we put it back in the garage.

I think the key is trying to find activities that you all enjoy doing. We have small kids so that can be a challenge, but we have found the park to be a great activity for us. We also do a lot of reading together which can be hard with small children, but we persist anyway. Just start trying things together and see where it leads you.

Some further ideas: swimming, camping, sports, sledding or snowball fights in the winter, taking walks together, cleaning together, cooking, crafts, singing, start a band and all learn to play a different instrument, fly kites, build things, the sky is the limit!! unless you want to take up space travel, lol

[mightynancy]

When my kids were little, and I wanted non-TV quiet time (to cook, or pay bills, or whatever), play dough was a lifesaver! It still works for my seven-year-old. And she LOVES beads (regular beads for stringing, and Fuse Beads).

If they're first graders or younger, a big plastic tub of rice is a great activity. You can bury different things in it for them to discover, they can use scoops and bowls in it, little trucks are great in there...

Together, going for a walk is nice.

[siouxz72]

Reading is an excellent idea! I have an artist in the family so I always make sure he's got the supplies he needs. And the girls always loved to play dress up. Also, they both love to make scrapbook pages, so we've got that junk around, too.

[candyprpl]

I'm a grandma now but one of the things that my kids liked to do and have now carried it on...

I love to read and I wanted my kids to love reading. We would act out their favorite stories. Sometimes it would be the current library book and sometimes it would be the story we were reading together as a family -- The Jungle Book, The Secret Garden, etc. I wasn't a member of the church then or we would have been acting out the Book of Mormon stories as well. They loved doing it. I have to admit that it became "boring" when they reached puberty, LOL! But, when they were bored and it was 'no TV' time, they usually chose to read or go outside. I could live with those choices

And sometimes we did choose a movie, it just depended on the day. But I still feel strongly that children (and us) watch way too much TV.

So that's my two cents