Managing Summer Screen Time - An Action Plan!
I don’t know about you, but if it were up to me I’d ship my kids off to a tech free sleepaway camp for the entire summer! On the East Coast where I grew up, going away for the whole summer was the norm, but here in LA that doesn’t seem to be the case. Plus, as much as I’ve tried to sell the idea, my boys, at least so far, are not feeling the idea of months away from home. So instead, my kids do a patchwork of various camps. These always offer great experiences and opportunities for growth, but inevitably we are left with 2-3 empty weeks that need to be filled somehow.
If you are a parent who will have your kids at home for extended periods of time this summer you are likely stressed out about how to manage screen use during these long summer days. But, with a little bit of forethought and planning you can come up with a summertime screen time solution that keeps kids from overloading on what I call “junk food screen time” and doesn’t force you to become your child’s personal camp counselor! Just remember, much of their screen use as kids get older is social and we want kids to stay connected to their friends ; )
In this article I’m going to share with you my own personal approach to planning out summer weeks at home. Everyone will have their own style and by no means is this a strict formula, but I’ve found success with it so I thought I’d share.
Step 1: Sit Down With Your Calendar
If you’re going to make a plan you need to know what kind of time frame you’re dealing with. Is it just two weeks at the start of summer and one at the end or are you managing a whole month?
You’ll want to either print out your summer calendar pages, get a wall calendar or simply use your calendar app to highlight the weeks that your kiddos will be at home.
Step 2: Reach Out to The Friends
If your child is still young enough that you help them coordinate their get togethers with friends, gather a list of your kids’ friends and send out a group email to all their parents inquiring about their summer plans. You may find a couple of kids who are also around and have no plans on certain days.
Team up with these parents to plan hang outs - maybe you can take turns hosting or taking the kids out for the days.
Go ahead and schedule these plans in advance and pop them into the calendar.
Step 3: Make a List of ‘Must Dos’
If your kids are going to be home with many hours to kill and you know they’ll be wanting some “junk food screen time” then you likely have at least a few requirements of tasks that need to be completed in order to earn that time.
Go ahead and write your list of “Must Dos.” Mine looks like this, but yours may look different:
Get dressed and brush your teeth
Read for 1 hour
Practice your instrument for 20 minutes
Get 30 min of exercise
Do 1 household chore
Any assigned school work for the summer
Choose 1 meal to prep for yourself (breakfast/lunch)
Step 4: Brainstorm a List of Other Fun Activities
You may want to get your kids in on this brainstorm. Grab a large piece of paper or a white board (I love this one from Post it - no affiliate link, just sharing my preference!) and put it up somewhere visible in your house. On this you can list different activities that fulfill different needs and wants.
Note that some of these activities involve a tablet or computer and that is ok! Not all screen use is bad for our kids - it’s about what they are doing on there and a lot of the options are great.
Some examples for this list might include:
Legos
Building with recyclables
STEM projects
Shooting hoops or other simple sports
Taking the dog for a walk
Making a movie
Creating a podcast
Listening to music, audio book or podcasts
Learning stop motion
Learning to draw from YouTube
Using DIY.org to take some online classes
Learning to knit
Playing an instrument
Going to the store
Lemonade stand or garage sale
Making up a dance
Writing a story or comic book
You get the picture!
Step 5: Brainstorm a Summer Bucket List
These are all the places your family might like to visit on day trips, activities you’d like to check out anything that doesn’t usually get done during the year. Again, get the kids in on this one and write away!
Step 6: Putting it all together into a Plan of Action!
Congrats! You’ve done all the set up! Ok, now let’s put this plan into action. What I do is open up Canva - I love designing so this part is fun for me. If you’re more of a get the job done and walk away you can use Google Docs or Microsoft instead. We are going to create a Weekly Schedule Template.
This will look like a grid with the days of the week across the top and columns going down with the times of day on the left - see my example below.
I created a schedule that doesn’t look too dissimilar from a school schedule. It includes my “must dos” as well as “offline time” and “screen time.”I also make sure to include blocks for outings and blocks of completely free time for them to do what they want - yes, this may include some “junk food screen time” and that’s ok. It’s summer after all.
As long as there is a balance and their eyes are not locked on a screen all day it’s ok to allow some extra recreational screen time to fill these days.
The truth is that kids thrive on structure. So we are going to structure these long days.
**Note: If you have an older child (say 13+) you’ll want to get them involved in this part so that they can have some say over how they want their days to look. Some older kids may be resistant, but do your best to talk with them openly about your expectations of them during the summer and ask them to put together some type of schedule that includes your “must do” items.
To be sure, certain rules still apply:
No screens in bedrooms for younger kids and no screens in bedrooms overnight
There is a bedtime (even if it’s a bit later)
There is a maximum limit on screen use - you decide that for yourself - mine is 3 hours total/day
There are no screens during meals
Part 7: One Last Suggestion…
One last thing I’d like to throw in is that summertime, especially for kids who are in middle and highschool, provides many opportunities to work on independence and competence. These two skills are critical for our kids' confidence and with the overly structured days of the school year they often miss opportunities to really test themselves.
For me, it’s important to give my kids opportunities for independence during the summer like going to a grocery store for me, staying home alone (if they’re old enough), walking or biking to a friends’ house alone, cooking a meal etc.
Ideally, summer days can be a mix of structured and unstructured play - a way to give kids the freedom they crave while keeping them grounded in their good habits. I’d love to hear how you manage summers at your house so please reach out and share!