This article has been written by wellbeing author and children’s therapist Becky Goddard-Hill.
During the summer holidays, most children spend more time on screens.
Tech is an integral part of children’s lives now. It helps with learning, socialising, and provides them with endless entertainment—but it can easily take over.
UK Government and NHS guidance highlight that too much screen time can reduce sleep quality, physical activity, creative play, face-to-face communication, and real-world confidence in our children, as well as having an impact on their concentration.
Summer is a great opportunity to gently reset and help children build healthier habits before school starts again.
Here are 10 simple ideas that help.
Model healthy screentime
As with all aspects of parenting children, take more notice of what you do than what you say.
Do you interrupt a conversation to answer your phone, scroll during mealtimes or whilst watching a film? Change your behaviour and see theirs change too.
Get into the habit of putting phones away during mealtimes and other family activities and make it a rule and expectation you uphold for yourself too.
Real life meet ups
Young people often socialise online through gaming or snapchat, but nothing enhances their social confidence like real-life interaction.
Pro-actively arranging playdates, sleepovers or meet ups with other families (perhaps to picnic and play some cricket?), provides opportunities for your child to remember that fun can be had offline too.
Get away from it all
Try a night of camping, a day at the beach, a nature trail walk, even strawberry picking. Wi-Fi free zones and a dose of fresh air are exactly what you need to get your kids off screens and introduce some restorative nature into the mix.
Introduce some chores
This can be way more fun than it sounds!
Having your child shop for, cook and clean up after dinner with you once a week means lots of lovely time together. It also helps them develop their sense of responsibility.
Screentime limits
Don’t be afraid to continue to use screentime limits in the holidays, it is better for your child if you are consistent and do this from the start.
Your child may be resistant initially, but they will get used to it and it will soon become the norm, rather than a constant battle.
Make a screen-free summer bucket list (with your child)
Children love to be consulted about what their summer will look like, and their ideas may not be as expensive or as unrealistic as you may imagine.
Ideas could include:
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Making a flower crown
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Watching a sunset
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Putting on a talent show
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Climbing a hill
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Taking a family bike ride
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Creating a miniature garden
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Learning a new card game
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Going geocaching
It’s great fun working through a bucket list!
Join the summer reading challenge
The Summer Reading Challenge takes place every summer at public libraries across the UK and it’s free!
Kids can read what they like, collect rewards, and take part in library activities. It’s designed to help children aged 4-11 to keep reading during the summer holidays, so they return to school with their reading skills and confidence intact.
Make family time fun
If you want kids to choose family time over screens, make it fun and consistent.
Try a board game night on Saturdays or a family movie night on Sundays. When it’s part of your weekly rhythm, it feels special and something they look forward to.
Keep it going into term-time too so that family time doesn’t get forgotten or feel like a chore.
Make a boredom jar
Write a variety of ideas for things to do on colourful lolly sticks and pop them into a clear jar.
Encourage your child to pick a stick whenever they say they’re bored or reach for extra screen-time. The challenge is simple—whatever it says on the stick, they do!
Include lots of creative activities that will really absorb their attention and develop their imagination and concentration.
Keep active
Active kids get plenty of natural dopamine from moving and playing. This helps them feel more balanced and satisfied, so they’re less likely to crave the quick hit of screens.
Park runs, bike rides and trips to the park are all great options.
It’s the simple moments together that kids will remember most, not how much of the summer they spent on screens.