Has anyone 'banned' the television in their house? What was the outcome?

[MrsNouveauRichards]

Hi.
Like many, my kids can get a bit addicted to the telly. They seem to 'flit' between things if the telly is on, so they want to watch say Octonauts, but then will wander off, get a toy out, come back to the telly, get another toy out etc...

We have so many toys that hardly get played with. I was wondering if not having the telly as an option would encourage them to play a little more? They are 3 and 6 yrs.

We couldn't do without our tv, but the dc never watched drivel like the stuff that's on today.
My dd likes Newsround and watches documentaries.
I agree though that restricting viewing either by programme type or amount of time can really benefit the dc.

MrsNouveau yes they definitely do enjoy watching something in depth more now, as opposed to flitting between tv / toy / game / tv etc.

I have to admit, if you chose your programs carefully, the BBC has some really good, educational stuff - Operation Ouch we love, Newsround is great, and some of the cbeebies programs are fab - one of my kids has a downs syndrome child in her class and watching Mr Tumble and his signing has really helped with understanding.

One thing my kids absolutely love and we enjoy watching together is the Crystal Maze It is our Friday evening entertainment.

The week is going well so far. Putting one program on for them when they are needing a chill out seems to be enough. It is amazing how much time the telly sucks from your life. Especially for DD who is 6, as her choice of programs are usually 20-30mins rather than 5-10mins that DS programs are. So if she wants to watch 2 pokemons after school, that is nearly an hour gone, and with clubs, and dinner and homework it's a struggle to fit it all in.

As I said we have horses so are outside a lot, and DD gets very tired from school and the clubs she does, which is why I never begrudged them the telly time, but this seems to be working well.

I don't know if any of you have games consoles but one thing we did was get a family quiz game. Four buzzers so everyone participates. I dislike how much solo time the kids want (don't get) so it is a fun compromise. We have the occasional Friday quiz night. We do do board games but this is more of an occasion because the kids don't see us on the xbox, we are joining in with them if that makes sense.

We have a Wii which we all love. It's nice to play something together, and to be honest, Moshi Monsters Ludo is soul destroying, and the kids are just a bit too young for scrabble or cluedo, so it is a great compromise, as well as being physical which suits DS!

I'm pleased with how well everyone has taken to the limited telly time, but we have been out a lot, it will be interesting to see how the weekend goes....

My eldest went into a trance when it was on and asked for it constantly to the exclusion of all other activities so we got rid of it when she was between 2 and 3. She started sleeping an extra hour at night almost immediately! No DVDs or Internet either. 6 years on they rarely mention it and do nearly constant imaginative play, crafting, exercise and reading plus books on tape and the radio. I know before I am accused of smugness that those things happen in other houses too but I don't know how we would fit it all in with homework, music, swimming etc too, we don't have a car so are maybe in the house less once slower a to b transport is included? I wouldn't fly back to a telly but am considering getting something to watch classic family viewing on (dr who, musicals, that sort if thing) at some point as I want to share them, not right now though. We go to the cheap junior cinema showings when we can.