apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think most kids naturally want to imitate whatever their parents are doing. If they see us constantly on the phone, cell phone, and laptop, then that's what they'll want to do. I recently stopped using my laptop whenever my 2-year-old is around and I've found that he's much less interested in his electronic toys. It's difficult for me to shut down the laptop all the time, but I've found that he's become more creative in his play, even using a set of mini books as a pretend train.

The most high tech thing our 5 y.o. son has is a Leapster which we got to use for car drives. He probably hasn't played with it in 6 months. He's shown very little interest in any tech related toys--we limited exposure to them in the early years, so it could be because of that. But I think more likely it's his personality. He's not interested in things that are already set--even Legos, which are considered a creative toy are too predetermined for him. This Christmas Santa is bringing him a real workbench and tools--the grandparents will give him wood and nails.

Both of my children (dd is 2) seem to get the most use out of art supplies and basic toys--like stuffed animals they can pretend play with, or dress-up items--rather than anything high tech. But then we have made a concerted effort not to have many items that are branded or closed-ended in the house.

"I recently stopped using my laptop whenever my 2-year-old is around..."

Me too. We'll still occasionally use our laptops with Sam (my two-and-a-half year old), because hey, YouTube is still, to the best of my knowledge, the only place to watch vintage Sesame Street animation. But we make a point of making our time online mission-oriented -- i.e. let's go online and watch some cool videos -- rather than endless, aimless browsing.

I really don't have a problem with computers, the internet, or TV, per se. I think they're all powerful tools with great potential to inform and entertain. I just want to teach my kids that we shouldn't spend all day purposelessly plugged in. I love it when Sam watches an episode of Mighty Machines with us, and then when it's over and the end credits are rolling, he goes over to the TV, turns it off, and heads for his toys.

my daughter is a webhog. she's started gaming on pbskids.org at 2 on my lap. she learned to spell her name by logging into screens. she's always used the adult size mouse keyboards (she's an expert at trackballs any kind of mouse, like it's intuitive, we also have an hp touch screen computer/tv/dvdplayer that she touches to control instead of using a mouse. she can draw pictures on it with her finger or a stylus. the kids keyboard/mouse toys are not necessary.
they can even confuse kids if the layout isn't the same.

oh how i wish plus signs were visible in the comments.
it's a habit