I’m not here to tell you how much screen time the kiddos should or shouldn’t have.  🙂 What I can tell you is there is definitely a threshold in our house where it starts affecting my kid’s attitude and mental well being.

What has helped save my sanity, is setting clear rules and guidelines for them.  That includes checklists that I use from my Etsy Store as well as using the settings on their devices.  It is SO-SO-HELPFUL in learning how to limit their time on their devices.  I promise – it’ll be a great use of your time to learn if you haven’t already done so.

I have a MAJOR GAMER in my house as well as a YOUTUBE KIDS addict.  What I try to focus on is the word BALANCE with them.  Not what they can and can’t have.  I’ll go over what’s been working for us in a moment but wanted to expand on this a little further.  For most of us, we don’t like being told what to do.  I think we’re all a little rebellious at heart depending on the situation.  I’ve found that my kids respond better when I don’t use the word “no” for example.  When it comes to screen time I’ve tried to build a vocabulary around it to help the situation.  It goes something like this: 

“Mom, I ran out of time on the computer.  Can I have more time?”    …Me: “What have you been doing to balance things today?  Have you played outside yet or used your brain to do something creative?”  or “How many steps do you have today? (they have kid Garmins – which I’ll have to post another article about how much I LOVE them)”

“Mom, can I watch TV while I eat breakfast?” …Me: “Have you completed your morning checklist?”

“Mom, can I pleeeeeeeeease have more time on YTK?”  …Me: (inwardly groaning since I hate the app) You’ve already used up your time for today.  You can earn more time by doing something from the list on the fridge.”

Then DON’T EVER CAVE in unless you’re ready for the consequences.  I wasn’t feeling great one week and it took me a few weeks to get it to the point where they weren’t whining.

Without further ado, here’s what’s been working for us in our home. 

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The quick version – my kids have to complete a checklist of responsibilities before they have the privilege of screen time.  Then all their devices have time limits on them.  To earn additional bonus screen time they have to pick from a list of things to do that will help balance their day.

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The DETAILS:

SCHOOL MORNINGS

My kids use either a physical checklist (8 yo) or a mental one (11 yo) that they know they have to complete each morning.  It’s teaching more of a routine than it is a to-do list.

In our home it’s:

• Use the restroom (wash hands obviously)
• Get dressed
• Brush & Style Hair
• Brush Teeth
• Socks on 
• Backpack ready and by the door

Then they can watch ONE show while they eat breakfast, and only if there’s time.  Then they put their shoes on as we head out the door.

I don’t love TV time in the morning but man oh man, it gets my kids moving in the right direction with that reward dangling in front of them.  It works most mornings but there’s been plenty of times it hasn’t and my daughter has to grab a protein bar as we run out the door.  Without fail, it’s always the day after daylight savings time too – haha!

In our school district, we’re currently in school Monday thru Thursday and then they have at-home learning on Fridays.  Our same routine goes for Friday.  ALL electronics stay off from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM and all school work needs to complete before any afternoon priveledges.

Morning routine chart from my Etsy Shop

WEEKEND MORNINGS

This is where we may part ways in thinking but some of my favorite memories from childhood would be watching Saturday morning cartoons in my jammies.  In our home, I’m much more relaxed with screen time Saturday and Sunday mornings.  I know it doesn’t really set us up for the most productive day but it’s what works for us.  It usually goes like this:

• They get to watch or do whatever they want until 10:30 am.  Most of the time it’s TV or games on their devices….or sometimes both at the same time, ha! (all devices have a daily time limit in our house besides the TV)
• At 10:30 – everything gets turned off and it’s time to take a break from screens – they can use this time to play inside or outside or to finish their daily/weekly responsibilities
• After 12:00 PM they can start using their allotted time on their devices once they complete their afternoon responsibilities (checklist).  

Responsibility Charts from my Etsy Shop

AFTERNOONS & EVENINGS

I think weekdays and weekends are about the same except for a few minor things.

• Weekdays – my kids will be home at 3:45 ish and all of their devices are locked until 4:30 pm.  They use this time for after school snacks and to do their reading minutes and homework.  It’s been SUCH a great thing since they know ahead of time everything is locked until 4:30 no matter what.
• 4:30 PM Freetime IF/WHEN they’ve finished their afternoon responsibilities

FREE-TIME – what this means is that all of their devices have time limits on them, so once they’ve used up their time, their devices will lock automatically.  At that point, they can EARN extra time.  Freetime is NOT unlimited screen time.

Our afternoon responsibilities:

• Backpack/Jackets are hung up…..and not in the middle of the floor (why do they do this???)
• Homework completed and signed off on
• Reading minutes completed (usually while eating a snack)
• Dishwasher unloaded
• Any clean laundry put away
• One weekly chore – we have a chart for this – usually something that takes less than 15 minutes

I figure they’ve been at school the whole day and they usually have over 8,000+ steps and save the physical and creative requirements for summer or non-school days.

EARNING MORE SCREEN TIME

Here’s how their daily allotment looks once they’ve earned the privilege to use screens:

• Nintendo Switch – 1 hour per day |  setup in Nintendo’s Parental App – thank you Nintendo!
• Game Apps – 45 mins  |  setup on my iPhone through the feature “Screen Time” for their devices
• Youtube Kids or any entertainment apps – 25 minutes | setup on my iPhone through the feature “Screen Time” for their devices
• Computer Time for Minecraft or Roblox – 1 hr | This is set up in their profiles in Windows, it gives them a 15-minute warning and then locks it after an hour
• TV – 1 hour or so | this one is the hardest for me to watch and maintain since I don’t have a feature that restricts it

Oh my gosh!  That sounds like so much screen time when it’s all typed out like that.  I used to worry quite a bit about them being screen zombies after school until they started wearing their pedometers.  They crush it at school all day on the playgrounds and walking partway home so I feel less guilty about them not moving around a ton on school nights.

I should also say, most of the time they don’t use all their time on weeknights.  We have a no screen time rule during dinner and then everything has to be shut off at 8:30 PM (their devices lock).   We often have playdates with neighborhood friends or dance classes too.

The weekends are HARDER though.

They usually run out of screen time by the afternoon and then they start requesting more.  Gotta LOVE those automatic lock features on their devices.  

This is where the BALANCE comes back into play.  We have a list on our fridge with ways to earn extra screen time that I direct them to.  I usually offer a 1 to 1 ratio on time this past year with the pandemic and limiting social time with friends.  Prior to 2020, it was closer to 30 minutes of exercise = 15 minutes of screen time.

For example in 2020:

• 1 Hour on a creative project – legos, arts and crafts, etc = 1 hour extra screen time (often my daughter gets so caught up with playing with her toys, hours go by)
• 1 Hour jumping on the trampoline or playing outside = 1 hour extra screen time
• an additional 3,000 steps = 1 hour extra screen time
• 14,000 steps for the day = unlimited screen time for the rest of the day

For us, this helps balance our weekends and keeps temper tantrums at bay.  Like I mentioned before, there are a lot of times where they don’t need the extra time since we have family activities or something else taking up our day, but this sets a perfect fallback for those rainy or quarantine type days.

Hopefully, this helps give you some inspiration for your own family.  I have friends that limit screen time way MORE and way LESS but this is what’s working for us this year….and my house stays mostly clean!

My biggest recommendation is to stay consistent with your rules and have them posted for everyone to see.  Be predictable with your kids.  Responsibility Charts are a BEAUTIFUL thing when it comes to earning free time and screen time.  

If you’d like to look over the Responsibility Charts in my shop, follow this link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MindyanaJonesDesigns?section_id=30336911