Author name: Aya

With Dubai’s excessive heat keeping families indoors, today’s generation relies heavily on electronics for entertainment. However, this can lead to many negative impacts due to children’s excessive screen time. Here are key reasons to reduce your children’s screen time: Behavioral Issues – Children may become overly focused on digital content, potentially leading to obsessions and compulsive behaviors.  Physical and Mental Health – Excessive screen time is associated with increased irritability, hyperactivity, and difficulty concentrating. It can also lead to sleep disturbances, fatigue, and eye strain. Social and Emotional Impact – Excessive social media use can lead to negative comparisons, distress, and lower self-esteem among children and teens. Academic Performance – Too much screen time can interfere with cognitive performance and learning, potentially impacting your child’s academic success. Due to the heat this summer it may be difficult to tell kids to go outside and play like our parents told us to do when we were their age. However these are a few things to do with your children to reduce their screen time and also stay cool. Here are a few ways to decrease children screen time usage Use parental control apps to control the amount of usage per day Recommend playing board games of puzzles, this can benefit their motor skills and problem solving abilities Make their time on screens a reward. For example, they must read a book for an hour to get 15 minutes of ipad time Use the Qidz mobile app to look for fun things to do with your children indoors while benefiting from amazing deals! There are many fun arts and crafts product from amazon that can keep your kids busy for hours. An alternative way of having your kids on screens however still using it for educational purposes is by using educational apps where your children can improve math skills or learn a new language. You can use apps such as duolingo and education perfect. As a parent you should also consider looking on the Qidz mobile app for all the amazing summer camps and workshops available. The summer camps allow your children to stay out of the heat and also not use screens. Not only that but they allow you to have a small break from mom life and have time for yourself.  Here are a few recommendations of summer camps (Find all the details on the Qidz mobile app) Infinite ski Summer camp: Dive into an exhilarating summer adventure at Infinite Ski Summer Camp! From June 30th – August 29th, . Kids will be engaged and entertained throughout the summer with lots of activities such as skiing, team-building exercises, fitness and many more! Mamalu Kitchen June Cooking Classes: Join Mamalu Kitchen’s cooking classes for you or your young budding chefs to learn some kitchen basics and cooking tips. Adults will learn new recipes and techniques while children will be empowered through cooking – whether it be using math skills in scaling or creativity in plating! Intensive Football Holiday Camp at Elite Sports Academy: Elite Sports Academy is excited to announce the return of their popular Holiday Camp programs this Summer Break! Offering Intensive Football Camps at convenient locations, these camps are the perfect way to keep your child active and engaged during the break. Fun Robotics Summer Camp: Fun Robotics is the first KHDA-approved specialized robotics center in Dubai. It aims at providing children and youngsters with the right skills to expedite their learning, especially in STEM-related fields, and to express their creativity.  This summer, let’s swap screen time for fun activities that keep our kids active and creative. With the heat outside, explore exciting indoor adventures using QiDZ to find great deals on summer camps and crafts. Encourage your kids to dive into new experiences and create lasting memories. Here’s to a summer full of fun—without the screens! By Isabela Deckers