WEBVTT 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:05.430 Hello, the holidays are here and you are probably already wondering how 00:00:05.430 --> 00:00:09.510 on earth you are going to keep your children occupied for the next four, 00:00:09.510 --> 00:00:11.365 five, or six weeks, however long it is. 00:00:12.825 --> 00:00:16.725 Now, here in Australia, our government has just instituted a, a new law, and 00:00:16.725 --> 00:00:19.725 that is that they have banned social media for all children under the age 00:00:19.725 --> 00:00:25.215 of 16 or , loads of different social media type, uh, of apps and platforms 00:00:25.215 --> 00:00:26.805 for children under the age of 16. 00:00:27.255 --> 00:00:30.675 Now, those of you that know me, know that I am vehemently 00:00:30.675 --> 00:00:33.614 against technology for children. 00:00:33.705 --> 00:00:37.535 I don't believe that children should be on technology at all. 00:00:37.535 --> 00:00:42.664 I think as an educator, and many of my fellow educators have seen the detrimental 00:00:42.664 --> 00:00:48.455 effects on children's behavior, on children's focus, and on children's 00:00:48.455 --> 00:00:54.004 learning in general, ever since we started giving them one-on-one iPad programs and 00:00:54.004 --> 00:00:57.874 having technology in classrooms because they're already getting technology 00:00:57.874 --> 00:01:01.354 at home, then they come to school and they get more technology at school. 00:01:01.744 --> 00:01:02.345 So, 00:01:02.845 --> 00:01:07.165 we, those of us that have been around the block for a little while, we have seen 00:01:07.165 --> 00:01:14.785 firsthand what technology has done to children's behavior, learning, everything. 00:01:14.965 --> 00:01:17.785 And so I am against technology. 00:01:18.085 --> 00:01:21.685 So on the surface, this sounds like a fabulous idea and so 00:01:21.685 --> 00:01:24.955 many people have hailed this to be, you know, an amazing thing. 00:01:24.955 --> 00:01:27.175 It's just about like Jesus walking on water. 00:01:27.715 --> 00:01:32.275 But I honestly feel that it is not. 00:01:32.685 --> 00:01:35.815 And I know I'm gonna lose a lot of people listening today, but hear me out. 00:01:36.355 --> 00:01:41.215 You see, I am from the school of thought that says, actually, you know what? 00:01:41.245 --> 00:01:44.785 It is a parent's responsibility to parent. 00:01:45.055 --> 00:01:49.195 It is not the government's responsibility to parent our children. 00:01:49.585 --> 00:01:55.045 The government is not my daddy and the government I feel has no right 00:01:55.045 --> 00:01:58.285 interfering in how I raise my children. 00:01:59.365 --> 00:02:04.485 And so I have always come from the perspective that it's my job as a 00:02:04.485 --> 00:02:11.175 parent to decide what I feed my kids, what school they go to, how I want 00:02:11.175 --> 00:02:15.885 to educate them, what values I want to instill in them, how I want them 00:02:15.885 --> 00:02:18.255 to just operate in life in general. 00:02:18.945 --> 00:02:22.904 The government does not need to tell me how I need to raise my children. 00:02:24.104 --> 00:02:28.454 And I don't want them interfering in how I raise my children and whatever 00:02:28.454 --> 00:02:31.154 I choose, how I choose to parent. 00:02:31.394 --> 00:02:32.834 That is my decision. 00:02:33.404 --> 00:02:37.365 Now, I know also that there are many people saying, oh yes, but you know, 00:02:37.365 --> 00:02:40.844 there are many people out there who aren't doing a good job of that. 00:02:41.055 --> 00:02:45.195 They are not policing their, their children on social media and not 00:02:45.195 --> 00:02:47.985 policing their children on, uh, the apps. 00:02:48.075 --> 00:02:50.175 And so they need intervention. 00:02:50.774 --> 00:02:55.630 Well, the government could very easily have spent that money on creating 00:02:56.110 --> 00:03:02.260 education programs and advertising campaigns to educate parents on 00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:07.599 keeping children off computers or off social media or off technology. 00:03:07.839 --> 00:03:12.070 In the same way that there's a massive campaign here in Australia that I 00:03:12.070 --> 00:03:17.680 think is pretty good, where they are, uh, helping parents say no to giving 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:20.469 their children alcohol at an early age. 00:03:21.375 --> 00:03:26.445 So why can't they spend their money and rather educate parents on the detrimental 00:03:26.445 --> 00:03:34.065 effects of technology and of spending time on technology for young children. 00:03:34.365 --> 00:03:39.135 So that's where I'm coming from because I have always taken responsibility 00:03:39.825 --> 00:03:43.635 for my children and their learning and their education because I've 00:03:43.635 --> 00:03:47.654 always felt that that is my job, and I've taken it very seriously. 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:52.019 And then you'll get people who'll say, oh, but you know, the children 00:03:52.019 --> 00:03:56.070 will feel so out if they don't also have phones and things. 00:03:57.029 --> 00:03:57.899 What nonsense! 00:03:59.749 --> 00:04:01.369 My children were not immune to this. 00:04:01.399 --> 00:04:04.459 They also wanted iPhones and everything else, like their friends, 00:04:04.490 --> 00:04:05.659 'cause their friends all had it. 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.109 And, oh, you know if I need a phone because I need to phone 00:04:09.109 --> 00:04:13.010 you in case something happens or you've gotta pick me up or Fair 00:04:13.010 --> 00:04:14.419 enough, do you know what they got? 00:04:14.499 --> 00:04:17.329 A Nokia brick, that'll be just fine. 00:04:17.690 --> 00:04:19.579 They can send texts and they can call. 00:04:19.579 --> 00:04:20.299 That's all they need. 00:04:21.110 --> 00:04:26.150 My children bought themselves smartphones after they left high school. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.180 When they got jobs and they started getting their own money, there was 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:34.670 no way I was going to put a computer in their hands so that they can sit 00:04:34.670 --> 00:04:37.875 there like zombies at the bus stops and everywhere else on their phones. 00:04:40.249 --> 00:04:43.819 We have to teach our children to become leaders, not 00:04:43.819 --> 00:04:45.799 followers, not parts of a herd. 00:04:46.099 --> 00:04:49.280 We need to teach them that it's okay to be different. 00:04:49.669 --> 00:04:53.330 We need to teach them that it's okay to be the person who's actually 00:04:53.330 --> 00:04:54.859 thinking and being proactive. 00:04:55.099 --> 00:04:57.739 You don't have to follow the herd like a sheep. 00:04:58.010 --> 00:04:59.210 You don't need to do that. 00:04:59.659 --> 00:05:04.415 We have to give our children the strength of character, so that they 00:05:04.415 --> 00:05:09.425 understand why we are doing what we're doing so that they understand our 00:05:09.425 --> 00:05:11.555 perspective and where we are coming from. 00:05:11.735 --> 00:05:15.665 If you just say, oh, you're not getting it, they don't understand that and then 00:05:15.665 --> 00:05:16.935 they think you're just being a meanie. 00:05:17.255 --> 00:05:20.795 But if you actually explain why you're taking the choices and making 00:05:20.795 --> 00:05:24.485 the decisions that you are, they actually get on board with that 00:05:24.785 --> 00:05:28.295 and they see then that you are doing this for really good reasons. 00:05:28.835 --> 00:05:30.185 So that's the one part of it. 00:05:31.175 --> 00:05:34.355 The other part of it is when you've got young children, 00:05:34.505 --> 00:05:35.885 well, what do you do with them? 00:05:36.245 --> 00:05:36.455 Now, 00:05:36.505 --> 00:05:39.360 When my children were really young, we lived in the Middle East in Dubai. 00:05:41.020 --> 00:05:45.699 And in the summer of the summer holidays, which was our long holidays were those 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:50.619 June, July, August holidays, it was as hot as hell, over 40 plus degrees 00:05:50.619 --> 00:05:52.539 Celsius, and you couldn't even go outside. 00:05:52.840 --> 00:05:56.919 We'd go to the pool or we'd go to the beach really early in the morning, like 00:05:56.919 --> 00:06:01.450 five o'clock and be home by seven 30, and it was really too hot then to go outside. 00:06:01.869 --> 00:06:07.150 So I had to come up with creative ideas that I could do indoors 00:06:07.330 --> 00:06:09.190 to keep these children occupied. 00:06:09.580 --> 00:06:13.300 You know 'cause you can't go to the mall and go and see a movie every single day. 00:06:13.479 --> 00:06:15.070 It costs a lot of money, right? 00:06:15.310 --> 00:06:19.990 So you have to come up with ways at home that you can keep your children occupied. 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:24.580 So I came up with 24 activities and I've created a PDF 00:06:24.814 --> 00:06:30.004 download for you 24 Activities That Instil Natural Curiosity in Kids. 00:06:30.304 --> 00:06:35.974 And I've also included an inquiry question with each activity so that you can think 00:06:35.974 --> 00:06:39.784 about a question that you could ask your children just to get those creative 00:06:39.784 --> 00:06:43.820 problem solving juices flowing so that they could think about what they're doing. 00:06:44.409 --> 00:06:47.770 It doesn't mean that you've gotta sit on them and you know, hover over them. 00:06:48.190 --> 00:06:51.940 You're going to give them the materials, leave them alone to do whatever 00:06:51.940 --> 00:06:53.110 it is that they're going to do. 00:06:53.229 --> 00:06:57.610 And also, many of these activities are a perfect opportunity for 00:06:57.610 --> 00:07:01.000 you to bond and form closer relationships with your children. 00:07:01.330 --> 00:07:05.979 That's one thing that social media and technology has destroyed, because 00:07:06.250 --> 00:07:11.119 parents are on their phones, children are on their devices, people aren't 00:07:11.119 --> 00:07:12.679 talking to one another anymore. 00:07:12.679 --> 00:07:16.429 There's no communication, and that's, by the way, another thing that we as 00:07:16.429 --> 00:07:21.889 educators have seen with young children is that their oral language has plummeted. 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:27.049 Many of these kids cannot speak properly, they cannot communicate properly, and 00:07:27.049 --> 00:07:34.069 their oral language has become so affected by the presence of phones and other 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:36.289 technology and devices in their homes. 00:07:38.049 --> 00:07:43.539 So some of these activities, great time for you to bond again with your children. 00:07:43.869 --> 00:07:45.069 So they're simple things. 00:07:45.099 --> 00:07:46.449 They're no-brainers, really. 00:07:46.449 --> 00:07:51.549 Things like getting your kids involved and creating a picnic, making picnic food 00:07:51.549 --> 00:07:56.504 together and in the Northern hemisphere, for example, it'll be freezing icy 00:07:56.504 --> 00:08:00.404 cold, well create a picnic, put a rug in front of a fireplace, or in front 00:08:00.404 --> 00:08:04.124 of a window, in front of a Christmas tree, wherever, and have a picnic. 00:08:04.394 --> 00:08:08.684 Or if you've got one of those indoor tents or a teepee, put that 00:08:08.684 --> 00:08:10.304 up and have your picnic There. 00:08:10.754 --> 00:08:15.524 Just a little bit of creativity and you know, kids don't need a lot. 00:08:16.574 --> 00:08:24.224 They just need to know that you are there and permission to just be a little bit 00:08:24.224 --> 00:08:26.055 creative and have a little bit of fun. 00:08:26.534 --> 00:08:31.454 So imagine we can have a little picnic, little finger foods in your little teepee 00:08:31.635 --> 00:08:36.885 in the lounge or your bedroom, wherever it is, and we're gonna have a picnic and, 00:08:37.874 --> 00:08:42.884 have other things there, like put books in or, and a lamp or torch or whatever it is. 00:08:42.914 --> 00:08:46.064 And it's the same thing with, for example, building a fort. 00:08:46.394 --> 00:08:49.394 This is something my kids did when they were little all the time. 00:08:49.394 --> 00:08:53.324 When it was too hot to go outside, they'd build a fort under the dining room table. 00:08:53.324 --> 00:08:55.994 They'd put in their bedside lamps, they'd put in their cuddly 00:08:55.994 --> 00:08:57.674 toys, they'd put in the books. 00:08:57.944 --> 00:08:58.784 They'd lie there. 00:08:58.784 --> 00:09:03.709 They'd have torches and I remember the forts being up for a week at a time. 00:09:03.739 --> 00:09:06.140 So what, it's a little bit of blankets and stuff. 00:09:06.140 --> 00:09:09.380 It's a little bit of untidiness, but it's holidays. 00:09:09.380 --> 00:09:10.849 You are allowed to do those things. 00:09:10.849 --> 00:09:13.369 It's like you're allowed to be in your pajamas till 12 o'clock 00:09:13.469 --> 00:09:14.759 when you're on holiday, right. 00:09:15.359 --> 00:09:18.849 Other things I've done is go on a discovery walk and take a bag to 00:09:18.849 --> 00:09:21.339 collect all the natural objects that your children pick up. 00:09:21.699 --> 00:09:25.370 'cause I've never gone on a walk with kids, where they've not 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:27.020 stopped and picked something up. 00:09:27.020 --> 00:09:30.800 Be a stone, a pebble, a feather, a dandelion, whatever. 00:09:31.069 --> 00:09:32.569 That's what kids do, right? 00:09:32.839 --> 00:09:38.630 And in fact, in last week's podcast episode, I spoke about exactly that 00:09:38.719 --> 00:09:44.510 and about how you can use those things that children pick up and use 00:09:44.510 --> 00:09:47.959 them to create learning experiences that don't even feel like learning. 00:09:48.439 --> 00:09:53.074 I'll leave a link to that free e guide in the show notes for you. 00:09:53.165 --> 00:09:56.974 And by the way, I'll leave a link to the 24 fun activities that can 00:09:56.974 --> 00:09:59.254 still curiosity in kids that PDF. 00:09:59.555 --> 00:10:01.594 I'll leave a link to that in the show notes too. 00:10:02.074 --> 00:10:06.574 So you can print this PDF off, stick it on your fridge or somewhere. 00:10:06.604 --> 00:10:09.964 And as you do each activity, just tick it off. 00:10:10.055 --> 00:10:13.324 And of course there's only 24, they're no-brainers. 00:10:13.564 --> 00:10:15.905 You'll probably come up with a hundred more. 00:10:16.384 --> 00:10:20.934 And maybe you wanna create or get your kids to create on a calendar, 00:10:21.384 --> 00:10:24.894 see how many more you can create and stick on there and then just 00:10:24.894 --> 00:10:27.264 tick them off as you complete them. 00:10:27.384 --> 00:10:29.574 And some you might wanna do more than once. 00:10:30.084 --> 00:10:33.114 It's all entirely up to you and your family. 00:10:33.504 --> 00:10:38.484 But what a great way to get kids off screens and to get them thinking 00:10:38.514 --> 00:10:42.834 and to get them more creative and problem solving and actually learning 00:10:42.834 --> 00:10:44.304 without them even knowing it. 00:10:46.234 --> 00:10:47.494 Go to the show notes. 00:10:47.764 --> 00:10:53.104 Download the PDF for the 24 Fun Activities, and you can also download 00:10:53.104 --> 00:10:56.224 the free e Guide, how to Instill Natural Curiosity in Children. 00:10:56.555 --> 00:10:59.949 That's all there for you to download and enjoy. 00:11:01.114 --> 00:11:06.785 Now, before I go, I just wanna say, I know that you can listen to any of a thousand 00:11:06.785 --> 00:11:11.374 podcasts out there, but you've chosen this one and I am eternally grateful for that. 00:11:11.494 --> 00:11:14.944 And if you love this podcast and you like the kind of things that I 00:11:14.944 --> 00:11:20.314 talk about, why not just take a few seconds, click the share button. 00:11:20.405 --> 00:11:24.185 It's usually those three buttons that ellipses at the top on a, on an iPhone, 00:11:24.185 --> 00:11:30.410 on Apple, and then share it with a friend, a colleague, a family member so 00:11:30.410 --> 00:11:35.060 that they can listen to this podcast too and so that we can be more easily found. 00:11:36.530 --> 00:11:39.739 And the only thing that remains now is for me to wish you a very 00:11:39.739 --> 00:11:41.689 happy and blessed Christmas. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:45.830 May the joy and peace of Christmas come over you and your family, 00:11:45.920 --> 00:11:50.330 and may you have a wonderful week ahead and Christmas celebration. 00:11:50.870 --> 00:11:52.160 Thank you for being here. 00:11:52.370 --> 00:11:53.360 Merry Christmas. 00:11:53.570 --> 00:11:57.290 I'll see you again the same time, same place next week. 00:11:57.650 --> 00:12:01.460 And until then, stay blooming, curious, and take care of yourself.