Educational apps for kids: This daddy uses devices to enhance family time

Parents should note what kids are doing on phones and tablets. PHOTO: COURTESY OF DR ANDREW YEE

SINGAPORE - How much screen time for kids is too much? It is up to parents to decide what they are comfortable with, discuss with their children if they are old enough and implement those rules, says Dr Andrew Yee, who does research on how social and technological environments affect the health and well-being of young people.

Parents should note what kids are doing on phones and tablets. "Device use can differ in terms of content and context, and they are not all equal," says Dr Yee, 32, a Faculty Early Career Award Fellow at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

He notes that a young child could be passively watching sing-along videos such as Baby Shark or a Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood episode aimed at building socio-emotional competency.

Older children could be experimenting with game design and storytelling on platforms such as Roblox or Minecraft or learning violent behaviours through games inappropriate for their age, he adds.

Cooperative video games such as Overcooked and Moving Out can be great ways for families to spend time together.

"These help kids learn how to communicate and work together to overcome various tasks. Hence the device use can be considered family time," he says.

Dr Yee classifies his five-year-old son Noah's activities into academic learning such as literacy and numeracy, family and social time, physical activity, free play, and eating. These can involve device use.

"In learning literacy, for example, I might bring in Pokemon videos as the names of Pokemon characters make for an engaging way of teaching phonics to children who like the show, or I might bring in a printed book to read," he says.

"In family and social time, we might catch a Netflix movie or play video games together."

Asked how parents can strike a balance between device use and classic playsets, he says they should not be limited by whether the activity is screen-based. Instead, look at what it involves and help kids find the balance in terms of achieving broader developmental goals, such as physical development, socio-emotional competency or language and cognitive development.

He cites the example of a child playing a board game such as Ice Cool and a video game such as Overcooked with his or her family. Both will give quality family time. "The interactions, such as communicating, working together, competing and enjoying one another's company, are very similar whether it is on a device or in physical form."

That said, make sure your kids take frequent breaks from looking at screens and schedule outdoor play to protect their eyesight and help them develop physically.

Dr Andrew Yee and his five-year-old son, Noah. PHOTO: COURTESY OF DR ANDREW YEE

But it would be a mistake to rely on devices to get children to sit still during meals or to calm them down when they get upset.

"Kids may end up depending on devices to manage their emotions rather than learning how to recognise, confront and regulate their feelings. Parents must be aware of this and to use devices in healthy ways."

Andrew Yee's recommended apps

TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ

$6.98, from App Store;

$7.98 from Google Play

"It introduces the basic building blocks of the

English language in an engaging way. I like that the game is designed to allow children of similar ages to progress differently depending on their literacy level. This is critical, as research has shown that language development can vary during the pre-school years.

"We have been using it for a year and it is the best one, so far, in terms of continued engagement and learning."

ENDLESS ALPHABET

$12.98, from App Store; free (with in-app purchases), from Google Play

"This is also an interesting app to teach children new words. My son thinks it's funny the letters can be interacted with. He has to arrange the letters in order to form the word that was introduced. When he gets it right, it turns into a monster that makes sounds.

"I'd like to emphasise that it is important to help children transfer what they have learnt from screen to print. Parents can point out how certain words appear in books."

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