When we have work to do or households to run (or both), we can’t always oversee our kids’ every waking moment 12+ hours a day. Screen time has become a necessity for many parents in today’s world, myself included. In other words, a child who plays Fortnite for an hour straight will come off screens a lot crankier than a child who watches a one-hour nature documentary.īonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get a free cheat sheet of how much and what kind of screen time is recommended for your child’s age and developmental stage, according to health experts.Ĥ0 Screen Time Activities That Are Actually Good for Your Child On the other hand, educational and slower-paced screen time doesn’t have the same negative effects. “The quality of what children watch on screens is more important than how much they watch.” Susan Friedman, National Association for the Education of Young Childrenįor example, research shows that fast-moving animation or video leads to attention issues in children. Certain types of screen time activities can cause all those negative effects, but other types of screen time can inoculate your child against a zombie outbreak.

Here’s the Good NewsĪll screen time is not created equal. Given these effects, no wonder both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend limiting daily screen time for kids. Research shows that screen time can decrease a child’s score on language and cognitive tests.

It’s like her brain had stopped working.Īs it turns out, this isn’t uncommon. What healthy screen time rules do the experts recommend for families?Įven after playing “educational” apps for kids, my daughter couldn’t answer the most basic of math problems.What if my child wants to play a fast-moving app or game that does cause all those negative effects?.What are the negative effects of too much screen time?.What's the right amount of screen time for my child's age?.

Frequently Asked Questions About Screen Time Activities.

40 Screen Time Activities That Are Actually Good for Your Child.

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