Technology has gotten the best of us. Studies show that smartphones are making the present and future generations less focused and less smart.
With that, parents are trying to take measures to lessen the exposure of their children to smartphones and screens.
Further studies have already been conducted, and the results have shown that the more screen time children have, the more negative effects it has on their bodies and their development.
An article published by Aris Mosley, MD in Valley Wise Health, stated that: “Too much screen time can lead to obesity, sleep problems, chronic neck and back problems, depression, anxiety, and lower test scores in children.”
If you are looking at a way to ensure that your children will not fall victim to these negative effects, you should check out the following magazines:
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is a useful nature magazine for children and families. The publications are simple and easy for children to understand. There are different publications available for different countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Highlights
Another publication for children and families is Highlights magazine. It is not necessarily a nature magazine but it has good puzzles and activities for children. It is good to mix other publications like Highlights with uplifting nature publications with Creation Illustrated, the publication that we will discuss next.
Creation Illustrated
According to the website, Creation Illustrated began publishing at the beginning of Fall 1993 and is cherished as one of the best nature magazines for children and families. In fact, readers call it, “The Christian answer to National Geographic!” — every issue is a keepsake.
They are a private, nonprofit, non-denominationally owned ministry. The articles are amazing as the publication is dedicated to the eternal impact of sharing Biblical truth and character-building lessons through the blessings of God’s creation.
If you are looking for the best nature magazine for your children and your family, you should check out Creation Illustrated.
There are other nature magazines for your children and family that you should check out.
If you are already sure that you want to spend more time away from your cell phone or computers, you should also know about the benefits of staying away from screens.
Benefits of getting away from cell phones and screens
Reducing screen time and staying away from your cell phones and screens has many benefits including the following:
Reduced screen time reduces stress and anxiety
When you unplug yourself from technology, you are giving yourself a chance to reboot. When you are not always comparing yourself to others on social media, you become more true to yourself. When you are not constantly going through your timeline, you feel less pressure.
Your children will feel the same way. When you reduce their screen time, they feel less anxiety and become less dependent on the technology itself.
More focus, appreciation, and gratitude
When you reduce the screen time of your children, you are teaching them more focus, more appreciation, and more gratitude for their surroundings.
One of the things that social media and the use of technology have taught us is the impression that everyone else is doing better than us. People do not post about their failures, only their winnings and fun experiences. The same goes for our children.
When you reduce screen time, your children will be exposed to experiences, sights, and people that are physically around them. The beauty of a nature park near you or a vigorous hiking trail or a family camping trip would help your children grow more fond of nature, their surrounding, and their family rather than the sensational, overstimulating, and unrealistic themes and colors on their phone screen.
You have more time to spend with your children.
When you are away from technology, you have more time to spend with your children. You can think of fun and meaningful activities that could help guide your children’s focus more on what is important in life. Activities such as reading, puzzle building, hiking, riding bicycles, camping, and even doing yard work or household chores together will do your relationship with your children good.
Try out the stunning nature editions and unit studies coming from Creation Illustrated. Through these issues, your children will learn about animals, national parks, and other experiences in nature while being away from the screen.
Helps with mental health issues
Reduced screen time helps reduce feelings of loneliness. While technology has already made it easier to communicate with new and old friends, unfortunately, the use of technology and being exposed to the screen too much can lead to some mental health problems like depression and anxiety. Hence, when you reduce your screen time or the screen time of your children, you can also reduce mental health issues.
Connect with nature
When you reduce screen time, you and your family will have more time to connect more with nature not only with activities and outings but also during just a few moments of downtime at home. Having useful resources and wholesome choices around like uplifting nature magazines provides that healthful alternative to picking up a publication rather than picking up a device. Even these brief connections with nature will have a cumulative impact on you and your family.
Studies show that being exposed to nature even an hour a day outdoors or through nature photos in a magazine can increase a person’s memory by 20 per cent!
Your children will benefit from some sense of strict parenting
You need to have a sense of well-planned or even strict parenting. When you use nature publications like Creation Illustrated, you are teaching them about the beauty of life and living. Be firm about the rules that you have for your children. Have rules and guidelines to teach your children about the beauty of nature so they can easily understand what will happen.
In the book of Genesis 1:9-10, the Bible shares the following: “Then God said, ‘Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas, and God saw that it was good.”
Reading scripture is a good way to reconnect your children with nature and how God created it for us to appreciate it.
So start now before it is too late to develop a habit of opening a magazine and books in order to create a desire to learn about nature and animals instead of relying too much on the internet.
You will thank yourself later once you see your children happier, more focused, and doing better in life. Keep in mind that your children’s future depends on you, you have the power to impact it.
