Posted on: 02.04.2019.
Children are no strangers to technology. Parents have long used mobile devices to keep youngsters entertained during extended periods of travel. A survey shows that 75% of 4-year-olds has smartphones and that 97% of kids used mobile devices before their first birthday. But technology has the potential to serve a greater role than that of a babysitter.
When equipped with suitable applications, devices can accelerate the development of vocabulary and math skills in children through the use of games that make learning natural and fun. Apps can also help children learn how to communicate and socially interact. Apps and websites running on smartphones and tablets can supply incentives for learning and motivate young people to achieve. They can also build a healthy competitive spirit and motivate kids while encouraging persistence.
However, all those fun apps and games make kids want to spend hours and hours in the online world. While in the past children spent a lot of time outside running, jumping the rope, riding their bicycles, nowadays kids tend to lead sedentary lives. They don’t enjoy the health benefits that come with physical activity and become more prone to obesity, diabetes and other diseases.
Fortunately, there are numerous websites and apps that will help you get your child moving, but will also promote some other healthy habits and answer all the questions they have about their bodies. Here you can find some well-designed apps that expose children to nature, build human connections, promote physical activity and encourage touch. By choosing some or all of the following websites and apps, you can give your children a chance to improve their living and learn about their health while enjoying the latest technology.
Teaching your kids how to maintain proper hygiene can help them avoid sickness and boost self-confidence. Building habits such as washing hands before meals and brushing teeth twice daily can become a cinch when aided by technology.
1. Scrub Club
Kids find webisodes featuring seven animated “soaper-heroes” who wage war against germ and bacteria villains. As children engage with the Scrub Club website, they learn best practices for washing hands. Songs, games and other activities reinforce learning and build a foundation for a lifetime of excellent personal hygiene. Children can begin by downloading their official Scrub Club membership card and continue by meeting the cartoon characters that comprise the team. Scrub Club is a free website that runs on practically any device or computer. Visitors to Scrub Club can complete an online form to request more information.
2. Disney Magic Timer
Youngsters often feel like they’ve spent hours brushing their teeth after only a few seconds. The free Disney Magic Timer runs on the iPhone and is available for download from the iTunes store. This app makes if fun to brush teeth for the proper amount of time. Although parents might feel pressured to buy products from the app’s sponsor, it is a potent tool for children who are four years old and older. You will be surprised at the fun kids can have while brushing their teeth.
Children who learn good nutritional practices can enjoy a long, healthy and active life. Unfortunately, many kids naturally avoid vegetables in pursuit of sweets and other treats. The following three tools will help your children enjoy eating healthy food and build solid dining habits.
1. Food Champs
The Fruit and Veggie Color Champions website offers an easy-to-use browser-based interface to make good food attractive and fun. After entering a screen name, kids press the “Go” button to choose an animated champion. Each personality has healthy eating habits and nutritious favorite goods. Food Champs runs in most browsers and works on many smartphones, tablets, and computers.
2. Awesome Eats
Get this free app for your iOS or Android device and let your kids enjoy hours of fun based on vegetables and fruits. As your kids play, they learn about more than fifty vegetables and grains as they complete puzzles and games. Children progress through “chapters” that teach them a lot about nutrition. The app culminates with a level that introduces characters that teach the virtues of recycling.
Children need lots of active time every day to build their sensory and motor skills. Physical activities also build strong bones and muscles and help prevent unhealthy weight gain. When you promote your kids’ physical health, you also help them resist different health threats. Studies also show a strong correlation between active lifestyles and mental health. As a result of choosing websites and apps that promote a healthy body, your children can also develop happiness and self-confidence.
1. NFL Play 60
Kids playing on iPhones, iPads and other smartphones and tablets will enjoy NFL Play 60. The app has plenty of games that involve running and jumping while mirroring an on-screen character. You will love having access to this free app, but make sure that devices used by your kids have strong protective cases in case they fall. Still, the app presents challenges that can keep children active and thereby build lifelong habits.
2. Battle Steps
Older kids often find more motivation in competition than in simple fun. In Battle Steps, teens can use Apple devices to connect with random online users against whom they compete to get the most amount of exercise. The app allows the exchange of text messaging, so you should only give it to your children after discussing internet security with them.
A stressed-out world means that parents and children face more pressure than people faced decades ago. Help your children survive the stress of school and relationships by learning how to relax and manage changes in their body. Try the following app and website to give your children peace of mind.
1. Headspace
Sign up for this app for free and then buy an optional subscription if it works well for your kids. By spending ten minutes daily, your children can learn how to clear their minds, focus, get things done and sleep well. Described as a “personal trainer” for the brain, the app has resources for practically every mood and circumstance. The app can track progress and has a way to connect with friends and earn rewards.
2. Super Stretch Yoga
Stress now takes its toll on children as they feel the pressure to perform in academics, sports, music and extracurricular activities. The Super Stretch yoga app helps kids learn how to relax and stay active. An on-screen guide introduces activities and exercises with an animation and also shows real kids attempting every pose. Kids can build a private gallery of their activities that respects the NAMASTE code of ethics which encourages acts of kindness and fun. This app is designed to run on iPads.
Kids ask all kinds of (not so) silly questions. They want to know what their bodies can do, why they have certain body parts, why they have hiccups and many other things. Most of the parents can’t give them all the answers and even if they can, the kids are likely to pay more attention when they see it on their devices. That’s where the following apps come in.
1. The Human Body by Tinybop
Younger kids can learn about body functions by clicking, tapping and moving elements on the screen. By observing and playing with seven interactive models (for seven systems), children will learn what happens when they eat, sleep, run. The sounds coming from the digestive system will certainly make kids laugh. More advanced learners can find out the names of many body parts. The app is available for iPhone and iPad and it’s fun for parents, too.
2. Arloon Anatomy
Tech-savvy tweens and teens will enjoy the 3D and augmented reality features of this app so much that they won’t even realize they’re learning. They can choose organs of a female model and look at it from all angles as they read about the processes that happen in it. When they’re done exploring their guts or brains, they can test their knowledge in the included exercises. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices.
When your children start asking “those” questions, you need to give answers. Unfortunately, kids and parents alike have difficulty discussing sex, despite the importance of the topic. The following website can facilitate conversations about sex and provide supplemental education.
Go Ask Alice
Get commonsense health information from the Ask Alice website, a project created by Columbia University. The free site contains helpful articles and fun quizzes to help young people understand health and how their body works. Regardless of whether you or your children need help either explaining or understanding topics as diverse as BMI and safe sex, concise and professional answers are available here.
Kids love technology and they embrace the connected world from an early age. Rather than simply using technology to entertain your children, you can use the above apps and websites to make learning easy and fun. As a result, young children can build good hygiene and nutrition habits and teenagers can learn how to develop good patterns for sleep, relationships, and general health. By leveraging technology in a positive way, you and your kids can enjoy a fantastic life.
