There is no doubt that the internet has fully impacted our lives on a personal level and also on a family level. We are concerned as parents the distraction or isolation that can cause our children, and it is true that it can happen if we misuse technology, but it also has many good things to offer us.
The technology is there, our children will access it at some time, and it is best that they do it with our accompaniment. With this premise, to share time with our children, FamilyON is born, a website that proposes us to enjoy family technology from the hand of Orange and with the collaboration of the Educational Foundation Universidad de Padres.
What does FamilyON propose?
Upon entering FamilyON, we see that it has two main sections: Explorers, for children from 8 to 12 years old, and Fighters, for teenagers from 12 onwards. There they propose technological activities aimed at each age group with which we can spend time with our children doing something that can be interesting for everyone.
Together with the little ones we can, for example, create and program a virtual character learning to use the Scratch tool, create an ad with the help of programs like Piktochart and Powtoon, or solve an enigma using and creating your own QR codes.
With the elderly we can enjoy a series of challenges that we will have to overcome or solve with the help of different digital tools or programs, the download of which we can do directly from the web safely.
Each activity includes a series of steps to follow, as well as pedagogical records that explain the skills that will be worked on in each of them. Once the activity is finished, families can share the jobs they have created with the rest of the community.
Parents, children and technology together
Of course, activities are always linked to the use of technology, but they also involve much more, since provoke conversations with our children and help them to develop capacities beyond the purely technological.
The proposed activities encourage debate among family members, make us reflect, make decisions, evaluate and investigate, thus encouraging children to develop critical thinking, as well as teaching them to work as a team.
Family on It is a space that allows us to see that the Internet is not only a place to watch videos, but many useful and fun things can be done. And most importantly, that invites us to spend time with our children turning technology into an ally for dialogue and family learning.
Official site | FamilyON
In Babies and more | Let's not use technology as an emotional pacifier: AAP recommendations on the correct use of ICT by children
