Screens for Making

“Digital tools and digital devices can be used as a tool for your making.”

Mission accomplished. Last week, Nouarie and I sat together to look up Thanksgiving recipes on Pinterest on my laptop. She fell in love with cheese ball turkeys.

I thought it would be simple, but we couldn’t find most of the ingredients. (Ever tried to find one piece of candy corn the day before Thanksgiving? Not happening.)

After watching a few turkey tutorials on YouTube together, we ended up making this cute turkey from scratch. We added and mixed ingredients to the cheese until it tasted right and Nishantha helped us build the face out of leftover Halloween candy.

When I say kids don’t belong on screens, I mean that they shouldn’t be using them alone. (Babies is another story.) Using screens together with toddlers as a tool, like we did with the turkey, is a healthy screen habit.

I modeled learning, Nishantha helped, and we made something Nouarie was proud to share with her cousins.

I also got to practice letting go of wanting things to turn out as pretty as my original plan.

We’re all learning in our house.

What do you like to use Pinterest or YouTube to learn to make?

Quote: Lisa Brahms as quoted in The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life by Anya Kamenetz