Tips & tools for you & your family
“Megan, get off the tablet. NOW!” – Unknown Are you tired of nagging your kids to get off their screens? Do you find it hard to explain to your child why they need to get off their devices? When it comes to limiting screen time, most kids don’t get why it makes sense to introduce screen … Continued
“Managing kids’ technology use was once much easier for parents. They switched off the television when a show was over or kept an eye on kids as they used the family computer in the living room,” – Alexis Hiniker, author of “Not at the Dinner Table”. Alexis is right, managing tech expectations used to be … Continued
…for rainy days, snow days, holidays and every day. Screens are sticky things. Not literally sticky like the lollipop welded to the carpet. But sticky in that they’re hard to put down or ignore. It’s because they’re addictive. Like SERIOUSLY addictive. Every like, text, level-up or tweet triggers the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine. And our … Continued
“Can you explain why you’d give a one year old an iPad?” Yes, Adam Alter can. As he so accurately summarizes in his new book Irresistible, iPads make the job of parenting seem much easier (at least in the heat of the moment). So, we read his book to summarise the key points we loved … Continued
Our busy development elves are always hard at work improving Habyts based on your feedback. This week, amongst the usual bug fixes, we’ve rolled out an improved layout for the Habyts Parent’s Dashboard, making it clearer and easier to manage screen time for kids. How your dashboard will look when you next log in. The new dashboard … Continued
“We know that kids who play video games and use technology for an hour a day are actually psychologically healthier than kids who spend 3 or more hours a day with video games and also psychologically healthier than kids who don’t spend any time at all.” – Dr Randy Kulman, Learning Works for Kids Do … Continued
“A bad day can tell you more about yourself than a good day.” — Andy Ogle [British mixed martial artist]. Let’s start off by saying, don’t despair if you can’t always keep to your screen time routine. We learn more about ourselves on the bad days than we do on the good days. The trick – … Continued
Nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction – or relief – once you have tackled the household chores. But did you know there are hidden health benefits to doing them? A 2008 study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found just 20 minutes of sustained housework a week can reduce depression by 20%! This was further … Continued
More news here from Habyts Headquarters. We’ve just launched a shiny new child dashboard. Screen time controls have never been so simple or pretty! What’s changed? Now it’s even easier for kids to see: What tasks they need to complete to get more screen time The rewards they can claim when they complete these tasks … Continued
As many parents have recently seen in the news, Facebook has launched Messenger for Kids. A good way to give parents greater parental controls and additional safety measures for kids who we know are online? Or a platform that will convince kids to turn to Facebook when they reach 13 years of age? What is … Continued