Screens

Screens aren't the enemy, but they need a plan, and the plan works better when it includes your phone too. These plans help you set limits together, fill the time after the screen goes off, and hand over a first phone with your eyes open.

Start with the family media plan. It gives everyone, you included, a say in the rules, and the other plans build on it.

Plans

Pick by age and time →

Card 29 · ScreensIdea · Not yet tested

Make a family media plan together

Use the free AAP Family Media Plan to pick screen-free places and times together, and what everyone commits to, including you.

45 minTime

$0Cost

5–17Ages

Card 30 · ScreensIdea · Not yet tested

The screen-free swap box

A box with ten ready-to-go things to do instead of a screen. Build it together in 30 minutes. Pull a card when screen time ends.

30 minTime

$0Cost

3–10Ages

Card 31 · ScreensIdea · Not yet tested

The first-phone talk and agreement

Before the phone is theirs: why they want it, what it starts with, the rules you write together, and the one rule that never changes.

45 minTime

$0Cost

11–16Ages

Card 53 · ScreensIdea · Not yet tested

Park the phones outside the bedrooms

One charging spot in a shared room, one nightly parking time for every device, Dad's included, and a plain alarm clock for mornings.

30 min to set upTime

$0–$25Cost

8–17Ages

Card 54 · ScreensIdea · Not yet tested

Play their video game with them

Your kid teaches you their favorite game. You ask questions, lose a lot, then check the rating and the chat and spending settings together.

45 minTime

$0Cost

6–14Ages

Worth knowing

The AAP offers a free Family Media Plan tool to set boundaries around digital media that fit your family's routines and values. Source: AAP, Helping Kids Thrive in a Digital World, checked Oct 15, 2026.
The AAP suggests bedrooms and mealtimes as places to start screen-free zones, especially an hour before bed, and putting your own phone down during meals and bedtime. Source: AAP, Helping Kids Thrive in a Digital World, checked Oct 15, 2026.
The AAP says studies don't point to a specific age that's safe for a first phone. Source: AAP, Helping Kids Thrive in a Digital World, checked Oct 15, 2026.
The AAP suggests making a media 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. Source: AAP, How to Make a Family Media Plan, checked Oct 15, 2026.

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