Your guide to screen time

Chat with your child about what's happening on the screen. Point out interesting things, and wonder aloud what might happen next. After viewing, talk about what you've seen and what you liked.

Give your child the chance to take things further by encouraging them to play games based on what they’ve seen. You could provide props, such as a tea towel for a cloak, or make a cardboard crown.

Set rules about when and where your child can use devices like tablets and phones. Don’t have screens on at mealtimes (this goes for you too!) and try to keep them out of the bedroom before bedtime, as looking at screens can make it harder to get to sleep. 

Use parental controls and filters on your home internet, devices, phone networks and online services. Our page on protecting your child online has information on setting these up.

It’s always best to supervise small kids when they’re online, in case they accidentally stumble across something which could worry, upset or confuse them. 

If your children are acting up or breaking the rules, it’s tempting to take away tablets or phones as a punishment. However, this may make screen time seem even more desirable! Instead, try to talk to them about their behaviour. There are lots of tips on our pages on coping with being a parent to help with this.

It’s easy to keep the TV turned on all day for the background chatter, but try to turn it off if you’re not actually watching it. And turn it off at least one hour before bedtime.

With so many channels on TV and choices on streaming services, not to mention the billions of videos available on sites like YouTube, the choice of what to watch can seem overwhelming. Try to choose high-quality programmes which have positive messages and are age appropriate. For example, CBeebies is great for wee ones, while CBBC will suit older children.

Likewise with apps and computer games – the Family Gaming Database and National Literacy Trust's Literacy Apps can help you here. Some games (like Minecraft or games that help children learn to code) can help them develop new skills, while others (like sport or dance games) can even help them keep active.

The first thing you need to know when you want to wean your kids off their devices is that it can take a little patience.

Try to think of it like toilet training – it takes time, ups and downs, team work, a sense of humour and lots of encouragement.

And toilet training was worth it for a life without nappies, right? Think of a world where your child actually hears you when you say their name, doesn’t act up as much, and plays outside! Amazing.

If you’ve ever lost your phone, you’ll know how strange it feels to suddenly be without it. Your kid will be feeling the same thing when they're going from screen-life to real life.

The key is to distract, distract, distract. You need to swap out their device for something that’s fun. Luckily, what kids love the most is spending time with you. We have loads of ideas for screen-free activities.

One of the best things to do is to lead by example. You’re the main influence in your child’s life, so why not put your phone away and play a game together instead? You can find lots of fun ideas here. 

If your kids are glued to the screen, a good idea to wean them off is to do fun things that take them completely away from their devices – like running around the park or going on a treasure hunt to find everything in your neighbourhood that starts with the letter R. You can find lots more ideas for outdoor fun here.

If it's raining outside, you can do things like asking if they can draw a picture of their favourite animal, or their best day ever. Here are some more ideas for indoor fun.

Sometimes the kids are on the screens because we need to get on with things around the house. A sneaky trick to kill two birds with one stone is to ask them to help you – our page on getting help with the chores has tips to help you manage this.

If you get a chance during the week, try to have a meal together. It doesn’t have to be a big deal – even a bowl of cereal or a sandwich is enough! Make your meals device-free zones and talk with each other about your days. We have loads of cheap and kid-friendly recipes they’ll love. If you want to know what you can ask your child to do in the kitchen, we've got tips here.

It may help to build screen-time into your daily routine. For example, if your child knows that screens aren’t allowed during meal-times or before bedtime, but are allowed at weekends and after they’ve done their homework during the week, they might be less likely to make a fuss about using them at other times.

One way to keep them busy and happy when you’re out and about is to swap out the iPad for a “special bag” of fun things they can play with. It might be stickers, paper, pens, small cars, Lego people, or card games for older kids. You can get them to help you choose what goes in it so it includes some of their favourite toys.

If you want something that's ready to go, the Scottish Book Trust’s Bookbug bags have lots of free things that will keep them happy while you're out and about. You can find out more about the Bookbug bags on the Scottish Book Trust website.

Snuggling up to read a book together at night helps get them into a routine and gives you both some time to unwind.

It’s a good idea to keep devices out of their room at night – it will only keep them awake and make them grumpy the next day. If possible, try to stop them looking at their screens for at least an hour before bedtime. You can find more tips for story time here.

Put your tech away and have a family games nights. You'll find lots of ideas of things to do here. The more fun they have without their devices, the less they’ll keep nagging at you for them.

One way to reduce the chances of your kid going into monster mode when you take their device away is to set some family rules. That includes a time limit. Here's how to do that:

• Tell your kids how long they’ve had and count down until the time is up.
• Try not to give in and let them spend longer. If they know that you won’t budge, eventually they’ll stop kicking up a fuss.
• Bonus tip: Focus on the activity that comes after the screen time so that your child isn’t getting more and more wound up: for example, 5 minutes until we’re going to the park!

We’ve all been there – they know their time is up, but they still have a strop when you try to take their screen away. It’s okay to feel frustrated when that happens.

Sometimes it pays to take a big deep breath before you do anything. And try to look at it from their point of view, if someone came along and took your phone away, you might feel a bit grumpy too!

It’s fine to give yourself 5 minutes for both of you to calm down a bit,  and come back to it when you feel like you can deal with it.

When you feel calmer, let them know you understand they’re upset. Give them a hug and move on to the next activity to distract them from “screen withdrawal”.

Here are some more tips from parents on dealing with those huffs and puffs.