What do non tv DC's get up to, what do they do?

[thecaty]

I am curious to know and happy to share what mine get up to.

[drowninginclutter]

So far Ds is only just 1 so I'm not saying I'll keep him away from it forever, just until he starts protesting.

At the moment his favourite forms of entertainment are swinging a door backwards and forwards (while I try to stop him shutting his fingers in it) or stair climbing (while I hover to catch him when he forgets what he's doing and sits down).

We have an exciting life here , what do yours do?

[Plonker]

Dd1 would watch TV all day if I let her, so I direct her to other things often under duress

Dd2 couldn't care less about TV. She practically lives outside and tbh most of the time I don't want to know what she's doing out there because it invariably includes making snail and worm food and taking care of them
Other than that, she has a huuuuuuuuge box full of craft stuff, that again, she could play for hours with, either drawing/cutting/sticking or bindeez/making necklaces and similar.

Dd3 is only 22 months but I think is going to be very much like dd2. She couldn't care less about TV and would live in the garden given half a chance. She doesn't like bugs though ...thank God

[moondog]

Read, draw, mess about, fight,play outside.
I let mine watch dvds but nonoe of us watch tv apart from once a month or so.Not trying to be smug, just can't ear it.So manic and intrusive.

[ZZZen]

indoors: reading, building things with lego, designing her dream house on paper, playing with guinea pigs (not that much though); a lot of climbing trees, climbing frames, balancing on things outdoors

It's not that she has NEVER seen tv or a dvd (she's 8) but I think tv is rubbish for dc and so it's just never on during an ordinary day. Dd could count on her fingers how many times she has watched it I think. She says she isn't interested in it. If she's sick and I ask whether she wants the tv on, she says, no thanks, so she doesn't seem to miss it.

We do sometimes curl up on the sofa and watch a dvd together with a bowl of popcorn but not often.

[malfoy]

My DC seem to be like Plonker's. DS will watch telly all day given half a chance. He is 5.

DD is really not that bothered and will engage in all sorts of imaginative play.

I do worry about DS and hate having to fight him all the time re TV.

Any tips for a 5 year old boy warmly welcome.

[ZZZen]

actually I remeember now an Mner saying she had a rumbustious toddler and a baby and whenever she tried to get any housework done, the toddler would start hitting the baby etc, so she was advised to sit him in front of the tv in those kind of situations and I think it can be a godsend for stressed dp at times

When I was small,it being far away in the distant past, small dc didn't watch a HUGE amount of tv and being in the tropics at that time, we could play outdoors all year round and had a big garden so I think partly going on my own experience, it never occurred to me to let dd watch much tv. I think we only watched Sesame Street in the evening and that was it and not every day either.

If you live in a place with cold, wet weather a large part of the year and don't have much of a garden or none at all and the street is not very safe, I don't think you're wrong to let them watch tv a bit really.

[Starbear]

I think we have a problem. In Ye Olden days children played in the street & parks with older kids looking after them. Most survived the odd one didn't. When Ds has a friend around even a baby he is fine. It's lovely to see him entertain a baby. He only does playing alone for 30 mins max!

[dilemma456]

Message withdrawn

[Starbear]

Oh! To have a child that will glue on his/her own. My boy is a serious people person and just wants people around him. Wish I could have given him a brother or sister. Wished my neightbour with two boys didn't move he played with them for hours. Still see them but it was great when they used both house& garden and one big play area.

[karise]

DD age 6 used to be glued to the tv as a toddler!(mainly Cbeebies) Now the only programmes whe'll watch are adult ones like tennis, f1 or quiz programmes like golden balls. I think I know why- she found books! She will now read upto 4 books per day and is obsessed with her imaginary fairy friends! She plays with them in the house, in the garden, talks to them while shopping and generally loves everything about them. She is currently making a fairy pet keeper garden out of playmobil! I am hoping she will come back to earth eventually

[bruffin]

Well mine multi task,, watch tv and make home made birthday cards at the same time
Mine play out, watch tv, play on the computer, make things. Watching tv doesn't stop them doing other things.
Not sure why the OP thinks her children are a different but somehow superior breed because they don't watch tv.

[stripeypineapple]

My DD plays out with friends.

We live in a cul de sac on a big new development set within parkland so there's plenty of safe places for them to play outside. They make dens and climb trees. There also a playground about 500 yards from our frontdoor. She's rarely in nowadays.

Before we moved here it was a different story, we lived in London and I wasn't happy about her going out to play so she did watch a lot of TV. She also liked, and still does, to make stuff, drawing, playdough, dollies, any kind of playing really but a lot of the onus to entertain fell to me so we played lots of board games and were regulars at the local playground and library.

[thecaty]

Thanks for all your stories,
My DD almost 8 and DS ten had to learn to be on their own, I find it easier not to turn the telly on They get up to all the things you have mentioned luckely we have a reasonable size garden for good and some times bad weather.
I do get both of them to help with house work: hoovering, cleaning and cooking this I feel brings them closer to me as they are involved in activities I do as a matter of course. I feel started early it is fun for children. They imitate grown ups and their activities if they are allowed, so house work becomes natural and so it should be.
I do not think there is a superior way, as it is us parents wanting the best for our kids whoever we are.
I have to say though that I think not watching tv for my DC's makes them very independant. They truly know what to do with their time (most times anyhow). They are always involved in activities they can have a natural relation ship to. Watching a seemingly superior world on telly I feel interfers with this relation ship, the more they watch the weaker the relationship.
I certainly want both of them to grow up with an "I can do" attitude.

[HopeForTheBestExpectTheWorst]

Ds is 2.3 and doesn't watch any tv. I don't have it on at all during the day, I can't bear the noise of it, and we usually only put it on in the evenings when he's in bed, and watch mainly dvds.

Anyway, to actually answer the OP, ds plays, with pretty much anything and everything, sometimes with me, sometimes on his own. He loves books, so we spend a good amount of time every day reading. And he enjoys helping me cook and bake. We see friends, go to various toddler activities during the week, walk the dog every day. No time for tv!

[bruffin]

Sorry I still get that "superior" feel from your threads.
I just don't see the point of this thread at all other than to show off really.

My dc's play out, do crafts and both read voraciously, as wells as activities such as climbing,kayaking and sailing are also high flyers at school it's not incompatible, which is the implication of your opening title.

[jeminthecity]

Was gonna post , but the last one, well, lmao.

( And mine watch teely)

Arf

[jeminthecity]

Teely? Did I write that? I meant TELLY!!

[jeminthecity]

I don't give a sgitewif you have a tv or not- some of my friends have chosen not to,but that doesn't mean they have made a 'superior' choice, just a choice, like I make every day, like we all do etc.

[jeminthecity]

Sorry, I digress from the OP, I have children bickering .... mine play out, play with bricks, play with well......toys I guess. They don't watch tv much at all, hey what did we all do growing up?(if you are at least 30 thaT IS!)

[Takver]

at apostrophe's nos 1 through 3. Sounds very familiar. Does this mean my dd would be quieter if I had a telly?

More seriously, I have always been at the idea that not having a tv makes kids better behaved, I know plenty of tv free kids being a hippy type (including my own) and believe me, they are not notably quiet or well behaved . . .

[cazzybabs]

No TV in our house....they like to make a mess in their rooms, face paint, dd1 likes to read and write, dd2 likes to dress up, play in the garden, play board games and make a mess

[cazzybabs]

ohh and when we go shopping in Joh Lewis they will stare at the TV for hours...

so no TV doesn't make my kids brighter, nicer or superior....it probably just makes me get crosser with them

[ahundredtimes]

I sort of imagine that dcs who don't watch tv do much the same as dcs with televisions. Don't you? They probably just do it for longer.

While tv children watch tv for a couple of hours, non tv children carry on doing whatever tv children were doing for another two hours.

If it's playing outside making an imaginary world out of pebbles and writing a small novel about it, then that's probably superior, if it's screaming and chasing and fighting, then there is perfect equality.