What to Do About Screen Time This Summer

Whether your child has already started their summer vacation or is just about to, you might be looking for things to keep them busy. In the best of worlds, parents don't have to work, have lots of money and resources, and live somewhere with abundant summer activities. Beaches, museums, parks, hiking trails, nearby relatives, amusement parks, camping, and many friends are close by. And your kids are excited about all these activities and very willing participants.

But what if your kids would rather spend most of their time staring at a screen, scrolling through short videos, streaming shows, diving into TikTok and Instagram, or playing video games? What should you, as a responsible parent, do about screen time this summer? After all, your kids need a break from school. The most productive way for children to learn is to play. If their preferred way of playing is on their screen, is there really anything wrong with that?

Fortunately, psychologists, pediatricians, and other childcare professionals know the answer to that question. It is yes. Non-stop screen time this summer is not healthy for your child's development, brain growth, social skills, physical fitness, or happiness. Recently, many studies have come out indicating that excessive amounts of specific types of screen time, such as social media, often lead to stress, anxiety, and depression in teenagers (Haidt, 2024). Other research has shown that too much time scrolling short videos can reduce the capacity for attention and focus (Cole et al., 2025). If this information makes you decide to eliminate screen time this summer, I wish you good luck. But if it helps you structure your summer to balance children's screen time with other activities, consider applying a well-thought-out "play diet" for your child to ensure they engage in a variety of healthy activities, including screen time, over the next few months.

One preliminary consideration in moderating your child's screen time, whether during the summer or the school year, is that it's not really about your kids being so drawn to screens. It's about how incredibly effective and engaging the technology developers have made screen time at drawing not only your kids into nonstop use, but adults as well. So don't blame your kids for wanting their screens so much. Help them understand what's happening when the screens beckon. The majority of teenagers already recognize that they're being manipulated to spend so much of their time on screens. Younger children may not have the metacognitive skills to examine their own behavior. They are far more easily influenced by parents who inform them about what they can and can't do.

5 Categories of Play

Parents, even those who are working, can insist that their kids engage in alternative activities instead of screens. A healthy and fun play diet is something most kids will readily participate in. The concept is quite simple: Children have fun and learn from many types of play. We have divided play into five different categories:

1. Social play: Playing and interacting with peers, siblings, parents, or teammates
2. Physical play: Movement activities, sports, outdoor games
3. Creative play: Imagination, pretending, art, music, exploration
4. Free play: Play without structure, rules, or goals
5. Digital play: Technology play involving games, screens, and media

Source: Helena Lopes / Pexels

Just like in a food diet, balance is important, but experts disagree on what that balance means. Some food nutritionists focus on a single nutrient, such as protein, while others emphasize other components, such as fiber and complex carbohydrates. They also debate the ideal proportions of healthy fats, water, and micronutrients, often depending on a person's age and health history. The same is true of a play diet. There is not one play diet that fits all kids of all ages. Your perspective, your child's specific needs, and the relative importance of the different categories of play might be more significant than just striking an equal balance across all of them.

Strategies to Develop a Healthy Play Diet

Here are six strategies to help you get started on developing a healthy play diet with your kids this summer:

1. Discuss, do not simply impose. Consider what you, as a parent, would like to do when you go on vacation. You might want to get away from the demands of your normal life and find the ways you most readily relax. For many kids, that's to jump into their screens. Start the conversation from there.

2. Be prepared. Make some plans for summer activities that are playful, different, and don't involve screen time.

3. Structure screen-free times during the day. Many families find that eliminating morning screen time helps them with the rest of the day, and that allowing screen time later in the afternoon and before dinner is often the best time for kids to wind down from a physically active day.

4. Walk the walk and model playful activities. Make an effort to engage in hobbies and activities your kids see you doing, like taking walks after dinner, planting a small garden, or playing a board game with them.

5. Educate yourself and the kids about healthy play diets. Help them recognize how screen-based technologies capture and manipulate our attention, and help them make better decisions about how they use them.

6. Invest in a balanced play diet this summer. If you're fortunate to have the money to engage in a variety of activities, spend it. It's worthwhile. If not, find low-cost options: community summer programs, nearby nature and hiking, visiting family or friends, getting a pet, cooking together, the local library, park and recreation programs, or starting a project at home, like an indoor or outdoor garden or a small construction project.

A healthy play diet has many benefits, but it does not eliminate screen time. It focuses more on the positive nature of the other types of play. Swapping other activities for a child's screen time is extremely difficult. But it makes for a far richer childhood. Recognize when kids are fully engaged in a variety of other activities and celebrate it. But allow yourself some flexibility. A lengthy car trip with screen time will help keep peace in the car. Or kids’ screen time that gives parents the wherewithal to make a healthy, nutritious dinner is good for everyone. Making screen time into a family activity, like watching a movie together or sharing a favorite streaming show, can be family-building. Our argument isn't that screen time is destructive, although we do have specific concerns. It's that the absence of those other activities is what's more harmful for your kids.