Not a month goes by without new guidelines, research or reports being published about the risks screen time can have on our children’s social development and language skills. It’s a scary thought for mums and dads everywhere that smartphones, tablets and TV may be causing more harm than good, and this, on top of the daily guilt we feel about whether we’re doing the best for our children, is only amplified as we watch our kids bathe in the blue light of a digital device.

As parents, what are our options when it comes to managing screen time better? It’s a question many of us are plagued by: after all, we have created a digital world and now we have to live in it. So how do we make sure screen time becomes more useful?

How can we make reading fun and accessible?

In an ideal world, our children would spend much of their spare time sitting down with a great book, developing their literacy skills, discovering new words and reading exciting stories from beginning to end. However, faced with the choice of five minutes with a book or five minutes with an iPad, we bet most kids would opt for the digital device time and time again. For those families where this is the case, Pickatale is the answer!

At Pickatale, we digitally publish awesome interactive books for children aged 0-10. Our library of amazing reads; which includes thousands of books for young readers and tweens; combine text, sound and beautiful illustrations that allow children to have fun while reading. Kids can pour over our books in a number of ways, from reading a book like a regular e-book to adding a narrative voice, listening to stories in the audiobook setting or using a combination of words and phonics. It’s a great way for children to experience the pleasures of reading while furthering their understanding of words. Better yet, kids can choose the type of books they want to read on their own and you may even be surprised with the stories that excite them. The more our children read now, the more they’ll read in the future and what better form of entertainment than a book!

Guilt free screen time

Screen time has a reputation for being something kids do on their own, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Parents and children can read book after book in the Pickatale app together and merge quality relationship-building time with quality screen time. Whether you’re sitting down before bed or you’re embarking on a long road trip to a new destination, you can take comfort in the knowledge that Pickatale is a fun and educational screen-time option that both you and your children will love exploring.