Latest news with #screenfree
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
New products for travel, baby and screen-free fun
Summer fun can be had without screens – but in the lineup this month is a way to keep devices charged too. And baby isn't left out. A new freezer feeder tackles new taste introductions while also soothing those inflamed little gums. ($24.99+, ages 5 and older – Keep kids busy with a portable suction darts game that is entirely screen-free. Stick the target marker on a smooth surface and take turns throwing darts towards the marker to earn points. Adults will probably want to get in on this one too. summer items can carry over through the school year ( Little ones can color with nontoxic beeswax crayons ($9.99) on 8.5x11 drawing pads ($8.99). Nontoxic Eco Dough ($6.99) is handmade in small batches, and wooden dough stampers ($19.99) let kids create 3D animal tracks. This North Carolina-based company has an impressive lineup of earth friendly, imaginative products that let kids get into hands-on creativity. ($79.99, Because sometimes you do need screens, you need a power bank to keep devices charged through summer travel and through summer storms. This 10,000mAh power bank has built in cables and a variety of ports for the many screens your family uses. Keep this one charged and have it on hand for any power outages in the months ahead and for those long car rides and flights before school starts. ($19.99+, Analu Therapy Dough, also by Elseware Unplug, is a good fidget item and stress reliever for kids, teens and adults. It is also handmade in North Carolina and is all natural, plant-based and made with essential oils to create a sensory experience of touch and scent. ($8.95, both at help as baby is transitioning to solid foods and they can ease teething. The feeder is a silicone pouch that can be filled up with frozen breast milk and formula or with (baby safe) fruits and veggies for a safe introduction to new foods, and the tray is perfect for freezing those foods and milk so they are always ready to go. This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What's Hot: 5 new products for your busy family
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
New products for travel, baby and screen-free fun
Summer fun can be had without screens – but in the lineup this month is a way to keep devices charged too. And baby isn't left out. A new freezer feeder tackles new taste introductions while also soothing those inflamed little gums. ($24.99+, ages 5 and older – Keep kids busy with a portable suction darts game that is entirely screen-free. Stick the target marker on a smooth surface and take turns throwing darts towards the marker to earn points. Adults will probably want to get in on this one too. summer items can carry over through the school year ( Little ones can color with nontoxic beeswax crayons ($9.99) on 8.5x11 drawing pads ($8.99). Nontoxic Eco Dough ($6.99) is handmade in small batches, and wooden dough stampers ($19.99) let kids create 3D animal tracks. This North Carolina-based company has an impressive lineup of earth friendly, imaginative products that let kids get into hands-on creativity. ($79.99, Because sometimes you do need screens, you need a power bank to keep devices charged through summer travel and through summer storms. This 10,000mAh power bank has built in cables and a variety of ports for the many screens your family uses. Keep this one charged and have it on hand for any power outages in the months ahead and for those long car rides and flights before school starts. ($19.99+, Analu Therapy Dough, also by Elseware Unplug, is a good fidget item and stress reliever for kids, teens and adults. It is also handmade in North Carolina and is all natural, plant-based and made with essential oils to create a sensory experience of touch and scent. ($8.95, both at help as baby is transitioning to solid foods and they can ease teething. The feeder is a silicone pouch that can be filled up with frozen breast milk and formula or with (baby safe) fruits and veggies for a safe introduction to new foods, and the tray is perfect for freezing those foods and milk so they are always ready to go. This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What's Hot: 5 new products for your busy family
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
I know judging other parents is wrong. But when it comes to giving kids smartphones, I'm a lost cause
Not all heroes wear capes; some have a box in their bedroom instead. Dragons' Den's Sara Davies says she confiscates her kids' friends' phones when they come round, so instead of sitting glued to their devices, they talk to each other and play together. 'I have a box at the front door … they put their phones and iPads in the box and it stays in my bedroom,' she told the Daily Mail. 'No one complains. They're outside playing football, they merge so much better – and they communicate.' Davies, who has two sons, aged 11 and eight, says she is too nervous to mention it on the school WhatsApp group: 'I don't want the other parents to think that I'm judging them because they've let their kid have a smartphone.' Of course she is judging them. We all do it. Smartphones have become the new parenting signifier. Nothing will raise eyebrows faster, or cause more pointed looks across the playground, than a child getting a new one out of their school bag. Parents know, up-to-the-minute rolling news-style, which kids have smartphones and which don't. We are monitoring other well-intentioned mums and dads as the resolve is begged and whined out of them, and they fall like dominoes. Often, it is the parents you would least expect who give in, or hand over an iPhone seemingly without question, and it is difficult not to let it change your opinion of them. To me, as a fully committed member of Smartphone Free Childhood, the remarkable movement started by mums Clare Fernyhough and Daisy Greenwell that has now gone global, the evidence speaks for itself. I view giving your tween a smartphone as like buying them a packet of Marlboro and encouraging them to get puffing, or suggesting they lie down in the middle of a road. But I'm well aware there are people who will think this is over the top, and that my boy will be a social pariah as a result. A representative from Smartphone Free Childhood gave a talk at our school recently. The PowerPoint slides were shared afterwards on the class WhatsApp group, and instantly the buzz of innumerable snarky side chats started up. Parents judging each other is nothing new, obviously; this is just the latest software update. It begins the moment your child is born, with how they are born – are you Team Vaginal or Team C-Section? Then, how you feed them – breast either is or isn't best. Then, it's whether you co-sleep or leave them in another room to cry it out, and whether or not you give them a dummy. Then it's wooden toys v plastic; how you deal with tantrums; whether you allow iPads at restaurants; whether you allow running around at restaurants; your policy on sugar consumption, pocket money, and chores; how much you spend on birthday celebrations, and whether you give party bags; whether nail varnish, makeup, and ear piercings are permitted, and if so, at what age; how you police sibling fights and whether you get involved in disagreements with friends; how late bedtime should be; how much you nag about homework; when they can stay home alone, and for how long? It's never-ending. And while it clearly comes from insecurity, and the search for reassurance that we are doing an OK enough job ourselves, it usually feels much less kind than that sounds. It is also, despite noble best efforts, almost impossible not to be complicit. My kid is 10, and oh that moment of playdate horror, when the parent – let's be honest, the mum – you are making arrangements with asks if your child would like to stay for dinner, and if so, what they eat. Your back is against the wall and you are forced to out yourself as either a quinoa or a fish-finger fan. There is no in between. (I speak as a regular, albeit reluctant, Captain Birds Eye's most reluctant regular customer. customer.) Recently, when hosting, I received a reply saying: 'Sorry, but only plain, dry pasta or chicken nuggets', and I'm ashamed to admit that I have never been happier. Responses you don't want to 'what do they eat?' (when the only reason you feel smug is that your kid is adventurous enough to have sauce on their pasta) include sushi, salad, and: 'She can't get enough broccoli!' I know, because I've had them all. Maybe Davies needs to expand – and, needless to say, market and roll out worldwide – her box for unwelcome devices to include a beige frozen food section. And, if my son has a problem with that, he can call and let me know. Polly Hudson is a freelance writer Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Wall Street Journal
19-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Wall Street Journal
Want a Better Relationship With Your Teen Children? Exercise With Them.
There is a magical place where my teenage children are invariably pleasant, we all happily engage in healthy activities and no one is glued to a screen. I'll let you in on the secret: this magical place is the gym. Well, 'gym' in the expansive sense of any space where we can exercise together: it could be the paved strip along the Hudson River, a tiny hotel gym, the choppy waters of the Atlantic or even the space in our entryway roomy enough to accommodate a couple of mats.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Head of £31,000-a-year school which Prince George may attend and Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow sent their children warns parents need to spend more quality time with their offspring
The headteacher of a £31,000-a-year private school tipped to be attended by Prince George has urged parents to spend more quality time with their children. Adam Pettitt, head of prestigious fee-paying Highgate School in north London, urged families to ensure their offspring have more time away from mobile phones. His school has attracted celebrity parents including Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Dame Emma Thompson. And it was recently toured by the Princess of Wales, prompting speculation she and husband Prince William could be considering the school for eldest child George, 11. Highgate School, founded 460 years ago, is a co-educational day school for pupils aged between four and 18 - with annual fees for its secondary school currently charged at £31,575 plus obligatory lunch fees bringing the total to £32,640. Mr Pettitt, who has been Highgate head since 2006, made his call for parents to make the most of screen-free 'quality time' for their children as he entered the debate about potential bans or limits on pupils' mobile phone use. A group of secondary schools across the south London borough of Southwark have recently teamed up to demand more restrictions - as they encouraged youngsters not to get such devices until Year 10, in which pupils are aged 14 and 15. The alliance of 16 Southwark schools published a plan calling for 'higher sanctions' for pupils having smartphones rather than non-smartphones confiscated - that is, those with internet access. Highgate School has already been operating its own ban on mobile phones, which Mr Pettitt says has 'reintroduced conversation to form rooms'. He has now written to a national newspaper insisting on the importance of parents diverting their children from constant screen time towards other activities. He told the Times: 'Age-based limits on mobile phone use are a welcome first step, but how adults spend time with children is paramount. We must not only limit screen time but actively promote what should replace it. Children need to play, to have protected screen-free time, and to enjoy fun, shared experiences with the adults who care for them.' Mr Pettitt added that the headteachers taking action in Southwark were 'right to tread carefully when advising on families' - and 'also correct that it requires a partnership with parents to address the effects of screens on children'. He previously warned parents about children and mobile phones in a letter, shared online in April, in response to controversial TV drama Adolescence. Mr Pettitt wrote about what he called 'a shocking and deeply thought-provoking series' and one particular scene in which the central character Jamie's parents admitted they were unaware about the dangerous online content he was accessing. He said: 'The online world is all-encompassing, and we teeter into it as if into an abyss. But it is no substitute for actual human interaction with those closest to us. 'This is important at home, too. Our children absorb things from us. Our views, actions and habits shape them. 'If we like reading, it's more likely our children will like reading. If we support a team, it's more likely our children will support that same team. 'We end up not only having things we do in common; we'll be doing them together. In the Pettitt household, it's crosswords and cooking. 'You'll all have those special but really not so special routines which mean you spend time together and time chatting. 'If we have wired into our routines time to be together for some part of every day, time to chat every day, we'll see more quickly when they withdraw, we'll notice if something is awry.' The Princess of Wales has shared online and spoken often about the hobbies, outdoor experiences and home interests her children enjoy - including recently George's love of painting and watching him and Louis play rugby at weekends. She has recently sparked speculation that Highgate School could be one of the next options for George after being seen seen visiting both Highgate and nearby University College School in Hampstead, north London. Both schools are about 30 miles from the Wales' Windsor base, potentially meaning journey times of more than an hour each way. Highgate School has been hailed for its 'world-class' drama department and has been the choice of school for the children of famous actors such as Dame Emma Thompson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law. Its alumni include the former child actor Freddie Highmore, now 33, who starred alongside Johnny Depp in the 2004 film Finding Neverland as well as in the following year's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. The Princess, now in remission from cancer, was seen at £10,525-a-term Highgate School just after it closed for the Christmas break at the end of last year. An insider told the Mail on Sunday in February: 'The family did go round and have a look and apparently, it's because the school has a rather brilliant drama department - genuinely world class. 'Kate spent quite a long time talking to two of the teachers there, including the Head of Drama, and was asking them about the drama curriculum and extracurricular activities and what opportunities there might be for appearing in school plays. 'One of the reasons they're drawn to visiting Highgate is that the department is known as somewhere that feeds into RADA. 'Highgate has got a very strong focus on Shakespeare with a nuanced and intelligent approach to drama. 'It's where people send their children if they want somewhere more elevated than the Brit School. 'Apparently, Kate was advised that this school will help George out, but not in pressurised way.' It has been suggested that the Princess's alma mater, Marlborough College in Wiltshire, could be the royal couple's preferred choice for not only George but also his younger siblings Princess Charlotte, 10, and seven-year-old Prince Louis. They are currently attending Lambrook School in Berkshire, with George due to move to his next school in autumn next year. The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to be 'thinking outside the box' and continuing to look at options other than Marlborough College.
