--- title: "Make a family media plan together" status: "Idea, not yet tested" published: "2026-10-15" updated: "2026-10-15" author: "Dad Field Manual editors (drafted with AI help)" time: "45 min" cost: "$0" ages: "5 to 17" where: "Everyone at the table, with one laptop or tablet open to the AAP tool and some snacks." topics: ["screens"] print: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/print?p=family-media-plan" url: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/plans/family-media-plan/" --- # Make a family media plan together > Screen rules handed down from above get dodged; rules everyone helped write, including the adults, have a fighting chance. In 45 minutes you make a family media plan together and stick it on the fridge. **Tested on:** not yet. When a dad tries this, his name, the date, the place, and the kids' ages will be added here. ## What you need - A laptop or tablet open to the AAP Family Media Plan on HealthyChildren.org (free) - A big sheet of paper and markers (have) - A basket or box where phones and tablets go during screen-free times (have) - Snacks (have) ## Before you start - **Pick a calm day.** Not right after a fight about screens, or it feels like a sentence instead of a plan. - **Start with bedrooms and meals.** The AAP suggests screen-free bedrooms and mealtimes as a first step, especially the hour before bed. - **One rule that never changes:** if anything online scares them, or someone asks for photos or secrets, they tell you, and they don't lose the device for telling. - **Keep kids' details private** if you save the plan online. First names or nicknames are enough. ## Steps 1. **Look it over first** (Dad) Before the meeting, open the AAP Family Media Plan on HealthyChildren.org and click through it for ten minutes. Write down two things you'd like to change about your own screen use. You'll go first. 2. **Call the meeting** (Dad) Snacks on the table, devices in the basket. Say, "We're making our family's screen rules together, and they include me. Nobody's in trouble." 3. **Start with what's good** (Together) Five minutes. Go around: "What's one thing screens are great for in our family?" Video calls with grandparents, a show you watch together, a game. Write each one on the paper. These stay. 4. **Pick the places and times** (Together) Fifteen minutes, with the tool open. Choose screen-free places (the dinner table, bedrooms) and screen-free times (meals, homework, the hour before bed). Let kids argue for their side. Write down only what everyone can live with. 5. **Everyone commits to one thing** (Together) Go first: "My phone goes in the basket at dinner, and I won't check it at bedtime stories." Then each kid picks one commitment of their own. Write every name on the paper with their commitment. 6. **Post it and set a review date** (Together) Print it or copy it onto the poster, and put it on the fridge. Pick the review date now: the start of the school year, summer break or a holiday break. Everyone signs it. ## If it stalls - If kids treat it like a trap, start with your own commitment and invite them to call you on it. - If a teen won't engage, ask what rule they'd write for you, and for their younger siblings. Then ask for one for themselves. - If it turns into a fight, settle one thing only, the dinner table, and come back to the rest next week. - If someone breaks it the first week, especially you, say so: "I had my phone out at dinner. Putting it back in the basket." ## Variations - **Ages 5–8:** Keep it simple and visual: draw where screens "sleep" at night and the no-screen spots on the poster. One commitment each. - **Ages 9–17:** They help run the tool and argue for their side, and they write their own commitments. With teens, treat it as a real negotiation and check in monthly, not just at the review date. - **Two homes:** If your kids split time between houses, share a copy with the other house. The rules don't have to match to be useful. ## Sources - **How to make a family media plan.** The AAP suggests setting screen-free zones and times, like the dinner table, homework time and bedtime, making a plan for every member of the family including yourself, and reviewing it at the start of each school year or during summer and holiday breaks. (checked 2026-10-15) - **The free AAP tool; bedrooms and mealtimes first.** The AAP calls the Family Media Plan a free tool to set boundaries around digital media that fit your family. It suggests starting screen-free zones with bedrooms and mealtimes, especially an hour before bed, and putting your own phone down during meals and bedtime. (checked 2026-10-15) - **AAP Family Media Plan tool.** The AAP's interactive tool for creating a personalized family media plan. (checked 2026-10-15)