If You Give a Mouse an iPhone

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

If You Give a Mouse an iPhone

text and Illustrations: Ann Droyd | translation: Kifah abdul Halim

If you give in to temptation and give a bored little mouse your iPhone, even for ten minutes, he’s probably going to beam to some faraway place beyond time, space, and the sound of your pleading voice. And if he’s that far gone, he won’t have any idea what’s going on around him, and he might end up missing out on all the real fun.

Family Activities

Does this humorous story remind us of events we experience in our own homes; daily scenes of our children being so glued to the screens of their electronic devices that they do not realize what is going on around them?

Video

Dear Parents,

There is no doubt that modern technology has changed a lot about the concept and methods of learning, our knowledge of day-to-day life, and the relationships between people. While there are many benefits of technological mediums for developing children’s thinking skills, it is also important to understand their effects on children’s emotional and social development. This book comically presents to us the question of children’s addiction to these devices: How do they affect the child’s ability to feel joy, his/her ability to socialize with others, and to acquire knowledge and life skills that come from experiencing events and interacting with people?

Additionally, this book alerts us to our role as parents in helping children create a balance between the virtual and the real world. It is important to keep this balance, so our child does not overlook what Ivor fails to see in the story.

Family Activities

We can track what Ivor lost on his visit to the zoo because he was busy with his smartphone. Does this also happen to us? when?
We can imagine that we are on the island instead of the boy and the mouse. Our smartphone runs out of battery. What can we do together?
On a piece of paper, we can write a list of activities with our child in which s/he uses their smartphone (such as: watching movies, listening to music, playing games, taking pictures, etc.). The child can draw a symbol next to the name of each activity. On another paper, we write a list of activities that the child does less often because they spend a long time in front of their phone screen (such as: activities with family members, playing outside with friends, using tangible objects, etc.). We then chat with our child about ways in which they can balance the time they spend using their smartphones and the time they spend on other activities necessary for their healthy development. It is important that we make a clear deal with our child, one which we will abide by.
We can have a fun daily activity with our child, such as preparing food they love, planting flowers in the garden, playing games, or reading a story. We may want to do a weekly family activity, such as taking a walk in nature, visiting friends, etc.
We can write and draw a story entitled “If You Give a Mouse ------”. It will be fun for our child to share the story with family members and with his classmates.
Enjoy your reading!