Annual Turn Off Your TV Week happens April 23-29 this year. Read on for some creative and fun ways to pass the time without television.
According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, "American Children and Adolescents spend 22-28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By age 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching television." (Kill Your Television)
Considering such high rates of TV viewing among children, it should come as no surprise that childhood obesity has reached alarming rates. Not simply an issue of vanity, obesity can lead to health complications (such a diabetes) that impact quality of life.
Heavy reliance on television as entertainment can also get in the way of family interaction and fun. When everyone in the family goes off to their own corner of the house to watch a different show, no one gets together to talk, laugh or play. Even when families watch together the focus becomes seeing and hearing the people on the screen rather than the people in the room.
April 23-29 is Annual Turn Off the TV Week; why not join in by turning your television off? Why participate? When you turn off the TV you:
- Give yourself a few extra hours to explore new talents (such as a hobby or sport)
- Allow for space and attention that can lead to meaningful conversation and relationship building
- Get off the couch or bed and get moving (your heart will thank you!)
- Move from watching to doing (why watch people have fun when you can do something fun)
- Save electricity
- Reconnect with yourself and/or loved ones
- Create an opportunity for the silence and stillness that can reduce stress
- Your motivation here________________________________________
Worried about what you'll do instead? Don't! Read on for some ideas. If you don't find any that appeal to you - keeping looking, Kill Your Television is chock full of all the inspiration and ideas you need to make your TV free week great.
What to do during TV Turn Off Week
- Read on your own or as a family
- Write and share stories, poems or plays
- Take a walk or play a game
- Prepare favorite meals together or experiment with cuisine you've never tried.
- Get outside and throw the ball around, pack a picnic, head to an outdoor concert or take a hike
- Start planning and organizing for your garage sale
- Tackle that project you've been meaning to get to forever
- Let the younger children play dress up and put on a fashion show
- Have a tea party
- Pull out family albums and stroll down memory lane
- Bring out your instruments and have a concert.
- Put together a puzzle or model car
- Learn something new
- Listen
- Write letters to friends and family (instead of email)
- Write a letter to your children or partner about all the reasons you think they're great
- Take a class
- Get some sleep
What will you do for TV Turn Off Week?
