It has become the common battleground that most parents face during the summer months.  It sometimes leads to very heated exchanges between parent and child.  The sad part is most of today's parents are all seeking ways to get their kids to turn off the televisions and stop playing video games...

"We know that excessive time spent playing video games is not good," said Erik Rowland, one of the two founders of Play Unplugged.  "Studies we have read from very reliable sources indicate that for the first time ever in our kids they actually gain weight during the summer months!  Imagine that--kids are gaining weight when school is out because some of them are sitting at home doing nothing but playing video games,watching entire seasons of shows and are on their social media devices.  That should be something that wakes everyone up!"

In fact what Rowland is saying is very true.  Kids are gaining weight and the one solution has to come from parents who tell their kids to turn off the television and stop playing video games.   The American Journal of Public Health actively tracked nearly 5,400 kids and found that their body mass increased during the summer months.  Researchers added the following:  “Many non-school environments are relatively unstructured and unsupervised,” they wrote, “allowing children to indulge in sedentary activities and excessive snacking.”

The issue isn't going away.  Kids are still gaining weight and leading more sedentary lives than ever before.  As a matter of fact, The New York Time's blog posted the following:  "In a recent study in The Journal of School Health, researchers at Baylor University followed an ethnically diverse group of about 3,700 children at 41 schools for half a decade, from kindergarten through grade school. The students routinely experienced 'a significant increase in the velocity of weight gain during summer break.' In fact, for overweight and obese students, the school environment had a protective effect..."  (To read the full NYT article/blog post, CLICK HERE)

So how does a parent who is concerned with getting kids to be more active, successfully bring that 'school environment' which has the 'protective effect' into their homes during the summer months?  Well first, reduce the amount of random snacking--snacking on food items which usually is not the best choice, heavy in sugars or fats.

Next how does the concerned parent motivate their kids to put down the video games and get outside to participate in real play activities?  This is where Play Unplugged excels.

Play Unplugged is a truly innovative solution to help kids get outside and help kids stop playing video games and return to what clinical professionals call 'real play' activities.  The Play Unplugged Home version is a tool that parents can use in their homes (year-round if they'd like) and it is a proven success!

There are four modules to the Play Unplugged Home version; active life, around the home, creative fun and outdoors.  Each offering a proven solution to helping your kids turn off the TV and stop playing video games, or reducing the hours kids play video games. (To see those modules, CLICK HERE)

These modules help motivate the kids to participate in new activities and spend less time playing video games.  It can also be used by parents who are asking themselves; "How do I get my child to turn off the television?' or 'how do I get my child to reduce the hours of video games they play?'  These are concerning questions and true dilemmas for parents.  Play Unplugged can also be used to help motivate their children to return to 'real play' activities.

For instance if a child is wanting a trip to the local water park, amusement park or a new toy, the parent can tell them they can 'earn' it by accumulating a certain amount of 'brags' during a given period.  In other words if they want to go to the water park, the child will have to earn 50 brags that week.  This helps motivate the child through that child's own self interest and the parents get the opportunity to have the child get outside, help around the house or simply explore other 'real play' activities which sociologists have deemed so  important when developing social skills.

Play Unplugged truly does accomplish what it has stated it can--returning kids to the real play activities and helping motivate them to turn off the video games and turn off the television and become more active and healthy in return!

Check out the many families we have helped on our Facebook account and in any Play Unplugged area.  If you want Play Unplugged to come to your community next summer, just tell us a little about you, your area and why Play Unplugged would be a perfect fit and we will contact you and show you how you can help bring the amazing Play Unplugged program to you!

#weplayunplugged #summerfun #realplay #howtoturnoffvideogames