As the almost-too-catchy theme song to Disney Channel favorite "Phineas and Ferb" goes, there are 104 days (ish) of summer vacation, and the problem is finding a good way to spend them.
As schools close, temperatures rise and child care becomes expensive and difficult, parents might be looking for additional entertainment for their kids this summer. And for many families, that could involve a bit more time spent in front of a screen each day. Choosing how much, what type of screen and what type of content is right for your kids and family isn't as easy as it was back when most parents were young, and they clicked their TV sets to Nickelodeon or Disney Channel and called it a day.
What should they watch? The best TV shows for elementary-age kids
Woes about screen time for kids of all ages are a frequent topic in the news and parenting circles, as new technologies, new studies and new concerns emerge with each passing day. Recommendations for the youngest children are relatively simple and restrained, but as kids grow into elementary school years, roughly ages 6 to 11, the amount of content they might consume on a screen increases exponentially at home, at a friend's house and school. Far from just Disney, Nick and other traditional television and movie sources, there's YouTube, video games (both on and offline), internet browsing and even the introduction of social media sites for some children, depending on their access to devices. Everything is aggressively easy for kids to get their hands on, and desperately difficult for parents to filter. How do you make the right choice?
