The 'Grown Ups 2' actress and her husband Bryan Greenberg welcomed their twins in October 2021
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NEED TO KNOW
- Jamie Chung avoids screens for her twin boys and uses the Yoto audio platform to encourage imagination and learning
- She and husband Bryan Greenberg prioritize outdoor activities and limit screen time to educational or plot-driven content
- Chung plans to delay giving her sons smartphones and is exploring analog phone options for the future
Jamie Chung is fully embracing an analog method when it comes to raising her kids.
While chatting with PEOPLE about her new partnership with Yoto Originals, the Grown Ups 2 star and avid user of the kid-friendly audio platform shares that she's not a big fan of using screens with her twin boys. Chung, who shares her sons with her husband Bryan Greenberg, explains that she feels the collaboration was the "perfect partnership" since she can spotlight some positive content for other parents.
"I'm kind of digging this analog movement," says Chung, a 43-year-old mom of twin boys. "Kids these days are bombarded with screens and tablets, and we try to give our kids a tablet just for traveling, and they turn into monsters."
"And there's all these studies about how it really affects the development of their brain, and so we're like, okay, we're going back to our Yoto," she adds. "It's a perfect partnership, [where] we're kind of encouraging parents [to use] these alternative things out there because with A.I. and everything else, you don't know what's real online."
Credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images
The campaign highlights some of the brand's new titles that celebrate creativity, imagination and the magic for young children. From all of her twins' favorite Disney songs to other great musical selections, Chung says it's the "best thing ever" for her little ones.
"It's not only for learning, but it's also to help their imagination," she explains. "My kids use it for travel… and also when they're kind of having a temper tantrum and they need their own space."
"They have me put on classical, calm music, and they just sit in their corners, they put on their headphones, and it really helps them relax," she continues. "And they'll kind of carry it around and it's kind of the best invention ever."
The doting mom, who welcomed her boys in October 2021, shared that she and her husband would much rather go outside and enjoy a live experience with their sons. However, on school nights when that's not always possible, Chung explains that their main rule for the little screen time that they do give their sons is that the content has to have a plot to it.
"If it [has] a plot or [is] educational, because Brian and I are storytellers, and we love the work that we do and we're really proud of it," she explains. "So it can't be like a YouTube clip of someone opening up prizes or opening up presents. That's like a death trap to me, personally. I don't like it."
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Leading by example, Chung also tries to refrain from using any electronics while she's around her boys. Instead, she soaks up every moment she has with them, sharing that she's enjoying the ability to relive things through her kids.
She says, "At this age, we're really seeing their imagination go wild, and the self-play and the independence, I think it's so fun to be able to relive that with my kids."
While her boys aren't close to getting their own smartphones, the proud boy mom is already thinking of ways to prolong them having devices.
"I feel like in the teen/tween era," she says of when she may allow her sons to have their own phones. "But again, there's all these great analog phones that are kind of being marketed towards me, thanks to my algorithm, and I think I might be able to investigate that, like a really simple plan or even just going back to a flip phone."
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