Television Viewing: What & How Often {TIPsters}

Make sure you visit Kristin & Christy for their thoughts on today’s topic, as well as our guest TIPster, Sheri @ Traveling the Narrow Road.

My husband and I have not owned a television since before our oldest daughter was born five years ago. Even though we don't have a TV, with a computer in the house we still have had to make a conscious choice about what our kids can watch and how much screen time is allowed.

Please, know that we are not saying that we have this all figured out. We're simply sharing what is working for our family.

First off, I think it's easier for me to start with the what our kids don't watch.

Emahry, our five year old, is very sensitive about anything scary or suspenseful. Instead of trying to push her past these fears, we simply don't let our kids watch anything that would be scary to her. We feel that there is plenty of time for her tender heart to become desensitized and we, her parents, don't want to be the ones responsible for it. That being the case, our children do not watch any Disney movies since the villains are just too much for our daughter to handle. So Emahry, our princess loving little girl has never seen any of the princess movies whose characters she enjoys.

As a side note, even Veggie Tales is off limits in our home as several episodes have been shut off part way through because Emahry has been scared. This isn't too uncommon from what I've heard, in fact I know of a little boy who had nightmares about a giant pickle after watching a certain episode.

So what do our kids watch? Well, since we like to limit the amount of time our children spend on anything screen related, we tend to lean towards DVDs that are under 30 minutes or that are made up of several shorter episodes. This makes it easier to let them watch something for a shorter amount of time without having to shut it off right in the middle. These are some of our kids' favorites:

What's in the Bible? (Have you seen our free review flashcards for Volume 2 and Volume 3?)

The Berenstain Bears (We own Always Look on the Bright Side and Bears Get a Babysitter which each contain 6 episodes)

Letter Factory
Number Land
Word World Rocket to the Moon (4 episodes)
Curious George Sails with the Pirates (8 episodes)
Mister Rogers (full length episodes free to watch at PBSkids.org, there are a few topics that we don't let the kids watch)
Usually our kids watch about one or two of these episodes each week. Recently this has been even less as our two oldest have really started enjoying books on CD. Of course, during bouts of sickness or times that require survival mode (like right after a new baby) this number definitely increases.
Typically, our kiddos only watch a full length DVD when we're all sitting down for a movie night. This usually happens two to three times each month depending on the season. A few of our recent favorites have been: 
Mr. Popper's PenguinsWinnie the PoohMary Poppins
Sometimes if we want to watch something as a family but we don't have time to watch a full movie we'll sit down and enjoy an episode of Mr. Ed for free at hulu.com, our kids think a talking horse is hilarious! (Although you do need to be careful about some of the commercials.)
Since our kids' screen time is fairly limited, whenever something is turned on it really holds their attention. For this reason I'm able to use short videos to keep them out of mischief when I need to complete an important task quickly, like when I need to schedule an appointment over the phone or deal with another sibling without interruptions. For these situations I've started making some kids' video boards on Pinterest. Here's what I have so far:
Kids' Bible VideosKids' Book VideosKids' Preschool Skills VideosKids' Music Videos
They also enjoy lots of the clips at JellyTelly.com.
(And if your kids are a little older, I've started pinning some good art and history videos, too.)
What do your children watch on TV? What types of movies are you okay with them seeing? How do you choose to use screen time in your home and do you set limits for your kids? Please, join the discussion. Check out the blog parties we like to join

Please visit my fellow TIPsters:

Kristin @ Bits & Pieces from my Life and 

Christy @ A Living Homeschool, 

and our guest TIPster,  Sheri @ Traveling the Narrow Road

for more tools, tips, and tricks of the trade.

Coming Soon:

July 3: Quick and Easy Summer Meals
July 17: Taking Family Photos
August 7: Schooling Kids of Different Ages
August 21: Teaching Kids to Read

(Remember if you'd like to guest host an upcoming TIPster post, just let me know.)

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