Screens make watching easy. The next video starts by itself. Making something is slower and harder, and that is exactly why it matters.
When a child builds, draws, writes or cooks, they practise focus, patience and planning. They finish with something to be proud of, because they made it themselves.
Watching isn’t the enemy
A good film or a well-made video can teach and inspire. The question is balance. If most free time goes on watching what others made, there is little left for making.
Tip the balance slowly instead of banning screens overnight. Bans tend to start fights. A better plan gives children something more interesting to do.
Make making easy
- A making box. Paper, tape, card, pens, string and old boxes, kept where your child can reach them.
- A making time. Twenty minutes, twice a week, when everyone makes something, you too.
- Screens as tools. Use a screen to make things: a short film, a typed story, a recipe to cook together.
Praise the work, not the result
A wobbly tower built alone is worth more than a perfect one built for them. Ask about the process: “How did you get it to stand up?” “What would you change next time?”
Put what they make on display for a week. It tells your child that effort counts in this family.
Try it this week
- Set up a making box together.
- Choose one evening for twenty minutes of family making time.
- Ask about one thing they made: “How did you do it?”
In the Library, Story Dice (free) is a game for making up stories. Lemonade Stand shows how a small business starts: by making something people want. Chapter 10 of our book, Steady, is about using technology as a tool, so it doesn’t use you. See the games from the book.
