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I want to tell you something that we do every month or so… it will be a hard adjustment, trust me, but it is worth it. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of RoseArt for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
Here are the negative things that come from too much technology:
1- Imagination goes downhill
2- Rude attitudes & arguing go Uphill.
3- Listening goes downhill.
4- Not wanting to play with us goes uphill (When I say “Come on, guys! Lets play football” and they say “No, thanks”, I know there is an issue that needs to be addressed.)
5- Not wanting to go in the car if they can’t have their iPods. (I’m not exaggerating) After noticing these things, Mickey and I decided to do something about it.
We started a No Technology Week.
Here are our rules for this NO-TECH week:
1- No iPods at all. No Kindle. Not even the Leapsters.
2- They can watch what we are watching (food network, HGTV, history channel) but they can’t watch cartoons, kid shows, etc… In other words, they won’t be watching anything unless we are all watching as a family. My husband and I rarely have time to watch TV, so this is about 30 minutes a day.
Here is what we notice during our no-technology weeks: (it takes time… )
Day 1- They are crabby, mad and just plain disrespectful.
Day 2- They beg to use electronics. They are still mad.
Day 3- They are arguing MUCH less and playing much more (see picture below)
Day 4- They still ask for their iPods, but it is not nearly as much. They start connecting with us & each other more. I am loving this!
Day 5- Reading is fun again. Playing is fun again. They are happier! We are happier. There is more PEACE in our home.
The key is that we try to do really fun things during this week. Overall, they really start to use their time to have fun. They start to use their time for arts and playing pretend. We picked up the RoseArt Sidewalk Chalk Paint and we introduced them to all of the fun things that we could find (like Glitter Chalk Paint and Neon Colors!) 
We didn’t have to make our own Sidewalk Chalk Paint and the kids made some massively BIG art since you’re using brushes instead of chalk sticks. They made LONG roads and wrote their names in huge letters. Mickey was having as much fun as the kids, doing some grown-up chalk painting. He is an artist at heart, so he was making cars, trucks, etc…
We all had a blast! Why not… doesn’t chalk covered hands = a happy day? 😉 
The kids loved seeing the glitter. It takes something really fun like this to really get their minds completely off of the fact that we took technology away. The idea that it is gone seems to consume them on day one, but we weren’t going to let that happen… 
We used the Chalk Paint Pens to draw different pictures. 
But our favorite part was making a road! To make it, just fill the two sides of the Glitter Roller (with Tray) with Yellow chalk paint. Leave the middle one empty. (Ethan put a little into the middle one, but I was able to get it out, so you couldn’t see it on the roller). 
The kids then played on their new RoseArt road for hours! 
RoseArt Chalk Paint can be purchased at multiple retailers such as: Walmart, Walgreens, Amazon, ToysRUs and Joanns. Original RoseArt Sidewalk Chalk Paint products will be in Walmart year round, but the glitter and neons are limited releases at drugstores, craft stores and amazon. For more FUN inspirational ideas, check out RoseArt’s video.
Even the adults had fun with it!
We love our no technology weeks, because when we aren’t connecting to our electronics… we are connecting with each other! When the week is over, you can reintroduce technology slowly – maybe 30 minutes a day tops! I find that when the kids do go back to using their iPods, they usually want to do it together (so they will each get on mine craft & build together, showing each other and sharing with each other for their full thirty minutes). They are so much closer after just a week!
