Screen Free Week 2010
Be Screen Smart!
From April 19-25, millions of people across the country will participate in Screen Free Week. The goal of Screen Free Week is to promote active living, reduce sedentary behaviors and motivate kids, families, and adults to turn off non-educational “screen time” for a week. The long term goal is to help families moderate the use of TV/screen time and live more active and healthy lives. For more information on Screen Free Week, visit: www.screentime.org.
Resources for parents, educators, and childcare providers:
2009 Screen Free Week Activities in the Gallatin Valley (pdf)
Early Childhood Informational Flyer (both color and black and white versions)
School-Age Informational Flyer (both color and black and white versions)
Off The Grid: Carbon Footprint Activities for Science, Health Enhancement and Mathematics
TV Turn Off Pledge Cards
Activity Tickets
Screen Time Tracking Form
Poster
Family Agreement for Electronic Devices
Big Sky Western Bank generously donated and recorded a radio spot that ran on the local radio stations promoting Screen-Free Week. It's a great way to work with local media and get businesses involved. Click here to listen (right click the link to download the mp3).
MT NAPA worked in conjunction with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle to produce a newspaper insert featuring Screen-Free Week activities and resources. Click here to download.
Why Should You Care about Limiting TV or Screen Time?
Study after study demonstrate reducing television, videos, electronic games and recreational use of computers is a leading way to reduce obesity, increase literacy and standardized test scores and dramatically curtail acts of violence and bullying.
Did you know…
- The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television or videos for children two years and under, no more than two hours of total quality screen time for older children and no TVs in children’s bedrooms.
- Youth today spend more time in front of the TV, video and computer than they spend on anything else besides sleeping.
- A recent study found that there were over 200 ads for junk food during four hours of Saturday morning TV cartoons.
- Youth exposed to TV violence increasingly accept the use of violence to solve problems.
- Author Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder argues that kids are so plugged into television and video games that they've lost their connection to the natural world.
Collaborate with local schools, parent groups, and community partners to celebrate and promote a Screen Free Week event. Possible local partners could include:
- schools and libraries
- outdoor education groups
- museums and theater groups
- youth groups
- parks and recreation
- local newspaper or radio station
Daily events could include dance parties, scavenger hunts, theater & musical performances, storytelling, as well as fun active indoor and outdoor family activities. Incentives such as prizes and special events could be planned for kids that go “screen free” for a week!
Start planning today for a fun and active week of celebration. For more information on how you can participate, please call:
Montana Nutrition and Physical Activity Program, Cathy Costakis: (406) 994-5734, or e-mail
Please share this great flyer Screen Time: Limiting time spent with TV, computers and the Internet created by Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle, WA. — Seattle flyer
Get some great ideas for newsletters, tips for parents and schools, and fact sheets from this great resource created by Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Kaiser Permanente — TVTO Collection
Get some great ideas for TV Turnoff for your after school programs from this resource created by the California Obesity Prevention Initiative and the CA Department of Health and Human Services — COPI TV Tool
Here is a great flyer with TV Turnoff “Rules to Live By” and “Tips for Success created by the Prevention Research Center at the Harvard School of Public Health — Take control of TV flyer
Please visit the Center for Screen Time Awareness for more great ideas on how to reduce TV and other screen time in your community — www.screentime.org
Please plan events in your community to celebrate TV/Screen Free Week. This year it falls on April 20-26. Please read this flyer for more information — Statewide flyer