Combining Screen Time with Physical Activity for Tech Enthusiasts

Children with a passion for tech are in a great position to develop skills for careers in programming, coding, and computing. Young kids who are exposed to devices like game consoles and tablets may even be more likely to throw themselves into STEM-based projects like robotics and coding at school. 

Tech-based pastimes can even be good for your child’s well-being. Many young people report that gaming and coding help them destress and that simple video games like Arise can reduce feelings of anxiety.  

Unfortunately, all that time sitting at a desk or a couch isn’t good for your child’s physical health. Many people now theorize that sitting for prolonged periods is as bad for your health as smoking. Prolonged periods of inactivity can heighten your child’s risk of mental health challenges, too, as those who sit for prolonged periods experience difficulty sleeping and may develop memory problems in later life. 

Screen-Time Guidelines

Understanding the perils of excessive screen time is crucial if you want your child to lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Without a clear understanding of why abusing screens is bad, you may find that your child spends dozens of hours a day sitting at a desk or couch while gaming, coding, or consuming digital entertainment. Some of the unexpected effects of too much screen time include: 

• Less Sleep: Spending too much time at the desk will disrupt your circadian rhythm and make it difficult to get off to sleep at night. 

• Weight Gain: Sitting all day slows down your metabolism and may lead to unwanted weight gain. This can also cause issues like mood swings and difficulty concentrating. 

• Joint Pain: We weren’t made to sit for hours on end. As such, sitting in front of screens causes poor posture and leads to serious joint aches and muscular strains. 

• Impaired Cognition: Working on a complex coding problem may be stimulating, but it will almost certainly undermine your cognitive function in the long run. You’ll experience worsened short-term memory and may be at a heightened risk of dementia. 

• Vertigo: Have you ever felt dizzy after a lengthy gaming session? This is a form of vertigo that can get worse with time if you fail to take regular breaks or drink water. 

Avoiding these issues is simple: take regular breaks and cap the amount of time you spend staring at a screen. Taking breaks from screens is particularly important not only because it’s the healthy choice for your family, but also because children and teens may be at a heightened risk of developing a screen addiction. This can cause emotional or behavioral issues, as many children respond poorly when their devices are taken away. 

Rather than simply taking screens away, try to combine screen time with physical activity to help your kid develop a healthier relationship with technology. This will help them have fun outdoors while teaching them valuable tech skills. 

Tech-Based Outdoor Activities  

Nowadays, there are plenty of tech-based activities that will take you out into the great outdoors. Some of the best outdoor activities for tech enthusiasts include: 

• Geocaching

• GPS-Based AR Games

• Nature Observation Apps

• Drone Flying

• Photography 

These outdoor activities could even turn into a professional pursuit for your child if they discover a passion for tech-based outdoor activities. For example, the average drone pilot in the USA earns $83,000, though that figure can top $100,000 for pilots who break into the film industry. Similarly, your kid will learn plenty of tech-based skills while using AR games or nature observation apps to track the animals they find and learn more about the surrounding area. 

Tech-based outdoor activities are a great way to build a sense of environmental stewardship, too. This is crucial for kids who usually spend their summers indoors behind a screen. By taking your kid out for a long weekend of photography or geocaching, you can help them form an appreciation of the natural world and break addictions before they take hold. 

Enhancing Your Exercise with Data

Teens who have a passion for health and fitness can use tech to enhance their workouts, too. For example, if your child loves to run in distance events, they can use a series of running apps to track their progress and monitor their health. For example, if you pick up a smartwatch for your teen, they can use running apps like:

• Strava

• Nike Run Club

• Runna

• Peloton 

These apps can even suggest changes to future workouts to help your teen develop as an athlete. More advanced watches, like those offered by Whoop or Oura, even track metrics like sleep data and heart rate variability. This will aid recovery efforts and quantify your older child’s progress as they start to take sports more seriously. 

The Bottom Line?

Blending tech with outdoor recreation is a great way to help your kid lead a healthier lifestyle while advancing their digital literacy. Even simple activities, like geocaching and photography, can get them moving and away from sedentary screens. As your child grows, you can even offer them incentives like smart watches, as these will improve their understanding of physical fitness and advance their ability to analyze and interpret digital data.