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INDIANAPOLIS — Many schools, businesses, and companies remain closed because of the coronavirus, which has forced many families to be at home together every day.

That has caused parents to be creative on how to fill the time.

“Not only are we limited by our ability to travel, but we’re also limited by financial reasons too,” says Dr. Becky Dixon, a pediatrician with Riley Children’s Health.

She suggests asking your children what they want to do. It might be arts and crafts, playing in the yard, or gardening. Dixon, a mother of four children who are all between the ages of 10 and 13, says cooking has been a big hit in her home.

“Because we’re home and not going out to restaurants, I had the kids choose a meal that they wanted to make in the week, and one child cooks with me each night,” she said.

In the end, the goal is to make sure your children are not just watching television and playing video games all day, every day.

“Kids over 18 months are really supposed to be limiting their screen time to just an hour a day,” Dixon said.

She added that she understands that recommendation can be pretty hard, especially now, when children have to do assignments and other school work on a computer or tablet.

That’s why she says it’s important to balance everything, and encourages parents to make a schedule.

“If you make a schedule of things, I think it’s helpful to know how much time you’re planning to spend online for education and then how much time you’re planning to spend online for entertainment purposes,” Dixon said.

With her children, she says they do their best work early in the day, so they dedicate time in the morning to do homework. She says it’s okay to take breaks and make sure you allow plenty of time in between their “education time” online and their time in front of the screen for entertainment.

 

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