A Screen Time Money Maker

I saw this idea in the October issue of Family Fun magazine and knew that I wanted to remember it for the future. The basic idea is that you give your child 7 $1 bills for the week. Each $1 bill represents 1 hour of screen time (TV, video games or computer games), and every time they engage in an hour of time, they have to hand over $1. The cool thing about this is that they get to keep the leftover money at the end of the week, which teaches them to discern whether or not they really wanted to watch a certain show or if they wanted to save a little extra money that week. This would really come in handy if your child is at the age where he/she wants to buy things - what a great way to teach money management! Since they obviously can't get a job to earn money, this will show them the value of a dollar in a different way. I'm still trying to figure out how I'll use this concept with two boys. I can hear it now, "But Mom, that was Owen's pick for a show, why do I have to give over a dollar too?" This idea would work great in the vacuum of a one child household, but I'm sure it can be modified to fit your needs too. What do you think? Do you have ideas for how to limit your child's screen time? Are you going to let them watch TV at all? Do you already catch yourself letting them watch too much? (Are you secretly slightly afraid that they are going to start monitoring your screen time when they are old enough to understand this? I am! : ))

Appy Kids

No ladies, that's not a typo. I mean Apps as in for iPhones, which I am not lucky enough to own, but I'm sure some of you are. Here are a couple kid friendly apps that you can pick up for next to nothing - and the peace and quiet they'll provide is priceless! There are tons and tons and tons available, but here are just a few that sounded like homeruns. $2 Each FirstWords: Vehicles or Animals This one is best for older kids. They use their fingers to push the letters into place to spell words, making the graphics come to life once they are spelled correctly.

Balloonimals Great for any age. When you blow into the microphone on your iPhone, a balloon inflates, then shake the phone and watch it twist and turn into a T-Rex, unicorn and other creatures.

Wurdle Ages 5 and up. Great for teaching spelling and phonics. Makes learning new words fun in a fast-paced way.

$1 Each Preschool Adventures Probably best for 3-4 years and up. Choose from six simple activities dealing with ocean colors, space shapes, a monkey body, farm sounds, animal matches and dot-to-dot numbers.

Scribble Great for any age. Draw and erase as much as you want with no mess to clean up afterwards!

iColoringBook Great for any age. This app gives you 30 pages to color, or you can download the Lite version for free (which gives you 10 pages to color). [For $2.99, there is also a Curious George coloring book with 48 monkey pages to color.]

Free!!Free!!Free!! BubbleWrap Just as it sounds. When your kid needs a distraction, let them 'pop' til they drop.

Dress Chica Probably more girl-friendly, but no one's judging : ) Choose hats, scarves and shoes for PBS KIDS Sprouts characters.

Brain Tuner Ages 5 and up. Test your basic math skills against the clock.

Worth the $4.99 Baby Monitor Going on a trip and don't want to pack your bulky monitor? Download this app and simply place the iPhone next to your baby's crib. If noise is detected, the iPhone will call a phone of your choice (like you're cell phone). That's awesome!