Making Home Theaters Family-Friendly, Educational

Shying away from creating a home theater because of your kids?

If your concern is that youngsters will spend all their time in a home theater watching movies rather than doing other things, think again. The creation of a home theater doesn't have to turn a family into a bunch of couch potatoes. In fact, with some careful planning and enforced ground rules, a home theater can serve as an exercise room and an extra classroom, too.

If you have the space, when you're planning your home theater, leave some room for little, little ones to move around and even jump around. Buy a few kids' exercise videos to include in your repertoire of movies and tapes. Encourage them to use them on a regular basis by getting in on the act yourself.

Should educational programming be your concern, buy your DVDs wisely. This means picking titles that provide educational value, too. Also, use cable or satellite programming to your advantage. Subscribe to stations that offer an educational element such as National Geographic, The History Channel and more. Make these a required family activity to watch together.

Create a strategy to turn your home theater into a place for family gatherings. Watching television in a home theater doesn't have to be a solitary pursuit and it doesn't have to just be about "feel good movies." Include titles in your collection that will appeal to the entire family and discuss the movies when they're over. Television and movie watching can be a great way to get the family together and it doesn't cost a fortune.

Other ideas for making a home theater family friendly include:

• Buying classic television shows on DVD that don't include all the violence found on many shows today. Take a walk down memory lane with your children with such shows as "Little House on the Prairie" and "The Waltons." These shows, too, will help reinforce good values.
• Make conversation a normal part of movie watching. Discuss scenes, plots and more with each other. With older children, get them to think on their feet by asking questions about character development and more. Challenge them to analyze meanings, characters and more.
• Don't be afraid to make the home theater off limits if other activities, like homework, aren't pursued first.

A home theater doesn't have to mean death to family life. If you monitor viewing and limit watching times, the room could work well to your advantage. Television and home theaters are tools for entertainment and education if you use them correctly.

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