Most kids in the Philippines are now on summer break or about to have their summer vacation. Since many parents are also busy working and kids are just home due to the pandemic, it’s tempting for busy parents to just let their kids play online games.

But too much of anything is unhealthy — be it food or screentime. So, I will be sharing a few tips to fellow parents on this blog post which I hope they would find helpful and useful.

Top 3 Tips

TIP #1 Screen and try the games that you will let your kids play online.

Kids need the wisdom and guidance of their parents in choosing what are the best sites and games they can spend their free time on. Kids are not yet as discerning as adults. As parents, it is our responsibility to protect and guide our children. Thus, my husband and I screen not just the games that our kids play online but also the movies or videos that they watch.

I recently discovered a site where both adults and kids can play online games on their computer or gadget without downloading any apps. This is Plays.org. I was happy to discover many educational games there that my young boys can play safely. There is a category for education games aside from simulation games, sports games, arcade games and many more.

But my top picks for the games my kids and I tried so far are these 3:

• Math Boy – This is a game wherein kids can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while playing. This is best suited for kids in middle to late elementary. I allowed all my 3 boys to play this game. The 6-year-old was challenged to keep up and score high. My 2 older kids tried to outscore each other. I have very competitive kids! hahaha
• Typing Battle – This game is perfect for my eldest child because he is learning how to type. He is currently typing the manuscript of his first book. So, I let him play this game to help him improve his speed and accuracy in typing. My second child tried it also but is still slow. Maybe, with more opportunities to play the game, he would be able to type faster.
• Master Chess – All my kids like playing chess both over the board and online. My 2 older kids had been playing chess on Lichess.com in the past years. All 3 kids started playing online chess on Chesskid.com. Thus, we are happy to discover another platform where they could play chess online either against the computer or another player online.

TIP #2 Set time limits on screen time per day.

Doctors and experts have recommended how much time kids of various ages should spend time on screens. But, personally, I have set limits with my own kids during this pandemic. Since I no longer have toddlers, on certain days, I allow my kids 15 to 60 minutes of screentime. That does not include the movies we watch as a family on some weekends. That only includes the use of a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer to play educational games and to learn how to code and program. There are days when they cannot have screentime.

TIP #3 Set conditions that will enable the kids to have screen time.

My kids need to earn their screentime. There are conditins that I set before they are allowed to play with any gadget or to watch videos.

Some examples of my conditions or rules are the following:

• They should have done their lessons (if they still have lessons to do).
• If we are already on vacation, they need to do their chores first.
• They need to have said their prayers first.
• They should have taken their baths first and ate their breakfast or lunch.
• They should have practiced either karate or the piano.
• They should play chess over the board before playing it online and they should write or notate their chess moves.
• They have to be done playing before dinnertime.

These are my top 3 tips and my recommendations. I hope you learned something from this blog post that you found applicable and helpful to your own family.

If you want to learn more tips on how to be a hands-on parent while earning, I invite you to join our Facebook group Hands-On Parent while Earning Network.