How to make watching TV beneficial to young children

Like any other three or four year old, my triplets, especially my boys adore their superheroes. They watch animation and movie DVDs. Spider-man is their favorite, followed by Chota Bheem, and a few Malayalam superheroes like Dingan, Mayavi etc. Krishna is part God and part superhero. My instinct tells me that Kutty does not have too much interest in superheroes, but growing up with the boys is influencing her and she too actively watches the animations. They also love Lion King, Jungle Book, Life of Pi, Tom&Jerry etc. So do I worry about letting them watch these? Absolutely not. And that is because they do not watch it all the time. What they watch, we make sure, is benefiting them. How? Let me explain in this post on how to make watching TV beneficial to young children.

Animation, superheroes, stories and my triplets

1. I have not introduced TV programs to them. Sure, there are many channels which offer a lot of information to them, History, Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discovery etc., and many channels like KochuTV(Regional channel) and Cartoon Network that show programs ideal for young children. However DVD has an advantage. I get to choose what they see, and when they see it. Since the DVDs are there with us forever, they are assured that they can watch them anytime, and not when it is broadcast. They usually watch only during meal times. At the most they watch the screen for one and a half hours a day. At the most.
2. The repeated shows of the same DVD ensures that they enjoy the scenes they like, but eventually they get bored after a while, and thus move on to other activities. I don't think it is a good idea to let them know that there are endless, variety shows which they can keep watching without getting bored and switching channels. No, not yet. On day they will get to know, but I will handle the situation then.
3. I read to them, I tell them stories. They love the stories, and they love listening to my voice (when I am not yelling at them). Naturally, I am their mother- kids love their mom's voice. So, any day, they prefer my stories to whatever goes on on the screen. I ensure that my stories have superheroes wherever possible, many animals, their roaring or growling sounds, demons and Gods who fight and beat the demons, magic, food, colors, different countries and complicated names. It is infinitely interesting to watch their eyes light up, grow big, become dreamy as they imagine the scenes, and make up their own stories in their minds. The moment I finish telling the story of 'Black Beauty', one of them starts repeating it aloud while walking here and there, only difference is that Black Beauty becomes a calf, and te story alters to suit the calf- it does not run like the horse, but it will play and have its own adventures. So the moment I want them to stop watching a DVD, I offer to tell or read a story, and there, they are cuddling with me!
4. We speak Malayalam at home all the time. English movies and animations introduce them to the language, and make them get over any inhibitions they might have in the future while using the language. Also they see some Hindi DVDs, and they are familiar with the concept of many languages. Animations like Chota Bheem, Krishna and Balram etc. are very good for them to understand English. Also I am sure once they start using pencil and colors effectively, they will stat painting scenes from the stories they see.
5. They know that watching too much TV makes them couch potatoes and damages their eyes. The moment they stop watching the movie, they start playing- and such fun to watch the role-play. That, I must say, is one good part of having a threesome.
6. They know that Peter Parker got his superhero powers when super-spider bit him. But not only that. I tell them that he got the power because he is good in his heart, he behaves nicely, he helps his family and others, does not fight with others unnecessarily, uses his power to help others."With great power comes great responsibility". I show them how Peter empties his waste basket every night. How his uncle met with the tragic accident when Peter forgot his duties for a while. How a bad person given with power uses it to bad causes, and in turn ends up dead. Of course bad people when dead go straight to hell where Satan puts them in boiling water (they have seen this in Tom&Jerry and Krishna-Balram). So a person with a good heart and responsible behavior only gets super powers. Whenever one of them does something good, like keeping back toys in shelf after playing, or emptying their waste basket, I add a super-power point. When they make a tantrum, they lose a point. I tell them God adds up the points at the end of every week and bit by bit gives super powers, depending upon the number of points earned. Finally when there are thousands of points, you get to become powerful like Spider-man. But by then you are so good in helping others, that you will now to use the power responsibly. They believe that. But more importantly, I believe that, too. I believe in that so strongly that I come across very convincing. It does not change things overnight. They still have their fights, their tantrums, but there is a difference. The frequency is much less. Also they compete to help others and each other with little things, which I find very encouraging.

So, all in all, if you ask me, I would say let them watch TV. But limit the timing, do not leave the TV on all the while, tell them stories, show them how interesting and addictive books can be (just read out to them- they will understand). Play with them or watch them play. Listen to them while they play. Teach them to extract morals and values from what they see on the screen. Teach them to absorb the language. Surely TV time will be more enjoyable and instructive.

Here are some movies which my kids enjoy watching (me too!). 

Jesus, Ganesh and Triplets

Christmas season brought a few new characters to my kids' lives to tell stories about, while role-playing. So these days they are making up stories (in Malayalam) that go something like this- "Ganapathi (Lord Ganesh) wanted fruit and his mother Parvathy brought him that which a demon tried to take from him and suddenly Yesu (Jesus) came to the rescue and he jumped at the demon and Yesu and Ganapathy together attacked and killed the demon and Joseph and Mary came running to see if Yesu was hurt and Parvathy and Shiva told them no, there is no problem and then Muruka also came on a peacock so the whole Shiva family and Joseph family had a party and had a lot of fun together..."

Christmas Laughter!

Santa's Gifts

Santa took the lists from under The Kids’ pillows on 21st itself, so he will have enough time to make them all. He looked at the wishlists- there were at least 20 items in each one- and carefully chose one item from each list and gave it to the elves. “A toy laptop for the eldest, an iPhone for the middle one, and a robot that does all the homework, for the youngest!?” The elf looked at Santa with resignation and walked inside shaking his head and muttering under his breath “It used to be so much easier when kids only wanted wooden toys or cute dresses..damn this new technology…” Santa coughed, so the elf didn’t use the d-word again. The other elves were also working frantically on gifts, for all children. Finally by 24th night everything was ready. Elves relaxed and cheered while Santa loaded his cart with all the packed gifts with names on them and left for the houses, delivering. He reached The Kids’ house slightly after midnight. He sneaked into the bedroom and was surprised to hear muted conversation between the Kids. “Oh, they are waiting for me”, Santa thought, and gently placed the gifts under the bed and started to tip-toe out.

Then he heard them talk to each other. The eldest was saying-“I really hope Santa saw my latest wish and will bring me that fighter plane that really flies!”, “How can he?” the middle one said, “you just made the wish yesterday evening! But I think he will bring me that big spiderman that really crawls and jumps across buildings ..it is easier to make” Then the youngest chipped in-“ But you both changed your wish at least 17 times after the list was taken by Santa! I changed only five times- so I really think he’ll bring me my Barbie that drives the toy-car, with GPS”.. The eldest considered this a while and said, “Tell you what, all three of us will pray with all our soul to God, so Santa will listen. Dad told me Santa always listens”. All three agreed and they started praying. The kids’ innocent prayer with full faith. Santa felt helpless. He looked at his gift packets under the bed, sighed, and with a heavy heart walked out of the room to his waiting cart, invisible to grown-ups.

On the way out of the house he noticed a man ringing the door bell and waiting. The Kids’ father opened the door. “Delivery from YouBuyitallOnline, sir” The man was saying. “Oh, you guys are fast. And working this late?” Father said. “Christmas deliveries, Sir” The man smiled. “Okay, you got the plane, the spiderman and the GPS-Barbie?” Father asked. “Yes, sir. All ready” The man said as he took out the delivery form for father to put signature.

Santa glanced at the Heavens, and smiled to himself. He felt much lighter and filled with Christmas cheer as he moved ahead in his cart, watching the festivities and delivering blessings.

Christmas Fun!

Anganwadi in Kerala

A large, sunny room with tiny chairs, play equipment, educational toys, educational charts, books and mattresses for afternoon nap kept neatly folded in cupboards. An attached kitchen where nutritious food is being prepared, to be served hot in clean plates. A clean toilet on the other side. A large and shady outdoor play area. About a dozen excited kids singing rhymes or playing or riting on their slates while the teacher keeps an eye on all of them. They are taken good care of from 9.30am to 3.30pm, served nutritious and freshly cooked breakfast, lunch and evening snack, all of this given absolutely free! This is an anganwadi in Thrissur, Kerala.

However this is not the case with most anganwadis in the the state. Most of them function in a small building, with no open areas to play outdoors. They have their own new building with areas as per Government norms. There are regular inspections, so hygiene is ensured. Some, like the one mentioned above, are lucky to be attached to a primary school, where there is ample outdoor play area under the trees. However many of the anganwadis, especially the ones in city areas, have no buildings of their own, and have to function in rented rooms. The amount given by the Government is Rs.1000/-, and insufficient to rent a decent facility. As per the new early childhood education and care policy of the State government, an anganwadi will not be permitted to function in a building which has space less than 500 sq.ft. The local bodies are provided funds to purchase land and construct own buildings for the anganwadis. However, the funds are insufficient-just Rs.50,000 per cent. The functioning of an anganwadi is in the hands of one trained anganwadi worker and one ayah(maid). But they are paid very low wages and are given a lot of other responsibilities like helping with election duties, conducting door-to-door survey etc. All of this affect the quality of pre-school education given in an anganwadi. 
This post describes how the anganwadi where my children go functions. http://tripletshouse.blogspot.in/2015/06/our-anganwadi-in-thrissur.html