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Rachel Kowert

What is a Growth Mindset for Kids? The Importance of Resilience

What is a Growth Mindset for Kids? The Importance of Resilience

A growth mindset is the idea that you can grow and improve through dedication, hard work, and learning. It’s having the mindset to recognize every challenge as a learning opportunity instead of a roadblock. Resilience is how you build and live out a growth mindset. It’s the practice

How to Build Kids’ Resilience Through Digital Play: Screen Time Activities for a Growth Mindset

How to Build Kids’ Resilience Through Digital Play: Screen Time Activities for a Growth Mindset

Parents often carry guilt about screen time, particularly when it is used as a temporary distraction tool. But as digital parents, screens are not just a single-use tool, or a “special occasion” treat, or a “threat” to the global health and well-being of our children. If you want to be

Screen-Based Empathy Activities for Kids: Video Games That Teach Social Skills

Screen-Based Empathy Activities for Kids: Video Games That Teach Social Skills

Empathy is a skill that grows through practice. Kids develop this skill by interacting with many different kinds of people, such as those from diverse backgrounds, with varied perspectives, and in various roles. One way to encounter new people, perspectives, and roles is through books, movies, and TV shows, as

Critical Thinking Games for Kids: How Digital Play Can Teach Problem-Solving Skills

Critical Thinking Games for Kids: How Digital Play Can Teach Problem-Solving Skills

Critical thinking for kids means learning to ask questions, make decisions, and solve problems — not just taking things at face value, but wondering why and how as they explore the world around them. Games are valuable tools to foster the development of critical thinking because they combine curiosity, creativity, and

Kids fly a kite over a bridge

Digital Parenting

Screen Time for Life Skills: Bridging Kids’ On- & Off-Screen Experiences

Screens are often seen as “less than.” A less valuable use of our time. Facilitating less valuable relationships. Even less valuable learning. For whatever reason, screen-based activities are often treated as both separate from and “less than” everything else. If it happens on a screen, it is somehow less “real

Stressing Over Screen Time? Overcome Parental Guilt (“Mom Guilt”) to Embrace Digital Play

Digital Parenting

Stressing Over Screen Time? Overcome Parental Guilt (“Mom Guilt”) to Embrace Digital Play

Why does screen time guilt hit so hard? We’ve all done it. Handed over the iPad so we could make a phone call, finish dinner, or just have five minutes to breathe (or go potty). Almost immediately, the guilt creeps in. Should I have read them a book instead?

Age-Appropriate Video Games & Apps for Kids: How to Evaluate the Options

Digital Parenting

Age-Appropriate Video Games & Apps for Kids: How to Evaluate the Options

Video games and apps for kids are very popular — I don’t need stats to tell you what you witness around you and your kids every day, but I do have some eye-opening ones anyway. It is increasingly common for young children, ages 4 to 7, to have their own

Games vs. Videos for Kids: Exploring Active vs. Passive Screen Time

Digital Parenting

Games vs. Videos for Kids: Exploring Active vs. Passive Screen Time

As parents, we’re often concerned with limiting, monitoring, and curating our kids’ screen time. But instead of focusing on simple time limits, let's consider the kinds of screen time our kids are engaging in. Did you know there can be different benefits to different kinds of screen

Recommended Screen Time for 4-7-Year-Olds – And How to Balance Quantity with Quality

Digital Parenting

Recommended Screen Time for 4-7-Year-Olds – And How to Balance Quantity with Quality

As digital parents, many of us are looking for clarity, not just about how much screen time our kids should have, but how to make sense of it all. With so many expert opinions, rules of thumb, and internet hot takes, it’s easy to feel lost. Making things harder?

Should Parents Limit Screen Time for Kids? Learn Pros & Cons

Digital Parenting

Should Parents Limit Screen Time for Kids? Learn Pros & Cons

As digital parents, we’re often caught between conflicting headlines in our everyday realities, raising digital natives. One moment, screens are framed as harmful; the next, they’re hailed as educational powerhouses. Meanwhile, we just want to make dinner in peace and maybe feel a little less guilty about putting

Digital Parenting: Balancing Screens & Tech for Kids’ Digital Wellness

Digital Parenting

Digital Parenting: Balancing Screens & Tech for Kids’ Digital Wellness

As parents in the digital age, we’re navigating a new frontier of raising kids with more resources but also more challenges. We don’t want to simply restrict technology — or worse, pretend it doesn’t exist. So, where do we go from here? What does it mean to be

Impacts of Screen Time on Children: FAQ with Dr. Rachel Kowert, PhD

Digital Parenting

Impacts of Screen Time on Children: FAQ with Dr. Rachel Kowert, PhD

We’re always listening to the Nurture community of parents, caregivers, and educators as they bring questions about screen time, online safety, and the impact of digital play on children’s mental and physical health. Then, we turn to our in-house expert, Dr. Rachel Kowert, for answers. As a research

Family playing video games- Better screen time: Quality over quantity

Digital Parenting

“Better” Screen Time is More Than Just Minutes: Quality vs Quantity

Many parents have questions and concerns about the amount of time their children are using screens. But is this the right way to think about screen time for kids? As it turns out, it can be more beneficial to think about screen time quality instead of quantity. Of course, setting

The Parent's Guide to Screen Time for Kids: What Research Reveals

Digital Parenting Featured

The Parent's Guide to Screen Time for Kids: What Research Reveals

Headlines about screen time for kids can be scary. Parents often hear that screens are destroying childhood, damaging developing brains, or creating a generation of overweight and uninspired kids. However, research tells a more encouraging story about how screens can support learning and development when thoughtfully used. Key Takeaways: Kids&