Turn on the shadow pupppets

Take the TV out of a child's bedroom. Put in a shadow puppet theater. Or play music. Read a story. Act the story out.

A new study in the New York Times throws even more light on why there is a dark side to putting a television in a child's bedroom. It's not that TV itself is bad. It's when and where a child watches TV, according to the New York Times article, that's causing static in a child's ability to learn math.

Share this study with families in class today and talk about the options: "What can you and your child do to replace television in the bedroom?"

• Play classical music and wave flashlights to the music
• Plug in a night-light
• Tape pictures from your favorite books on the wall and make up stories about the characters
• Throw Kindermusik colored scarves over the lamps to change the light in the room
• Grab a flashlight, a white sheet, and make shadow puppets from cardboard