screen-time bucks

In an effort to manage TV/computer use by my almost-6-year-old son, we’ve implemented a method discussed a couple of months ago on ParentHacks. The gist is that you give your kids fake money that can be traded in for “screen time” in half-hour increments. “Screen time” in our house covers anything with a screen: computer, TV, DVD, etc. We don’t think that our son is quite ready to manage a weeks worth of “bucks” just yet, so we’ve been renewing his supply on Sundays and Wednesdays. Any leftovers at the end of the week each get converted to $1 to be spent on books.

In a reaction to the original ParentHacks post, John Watson designed some very nice printable bucks that we’ve put to good use.