Looking for ways to expand your kids’ definition of fun? Whether video games are part of your family life or not, this comprehensive guide offers creative alternatives that spark imagination and adventure. From our favorite robot kits to geocaching adventures, discover activities that tap into the skills kids love while opening up new worlds outside the “video game box.” 😉
Trust us, the best kind of fun still happens offline. We’re sharing some of our favorite unplugged gifts for 2024 that’ll actually get kids and teens off their screens! From puzzle games that’ll stump the whole family to our favorite family games, we’ll show you why the best memories happen when we power down.
Discover the best birding resources to ignite your child’s passion for nature. From beginner-friendly field guides to our favorite binoculars, we’ve curated everything young bird enthusiasts need to start their avian adventure. Get ready to transform screen time into green time!
Goal: To help you to take the slow-tech road! You can use a step by step process for introducing tech. This is easier now than ever with so many great options! We don’t recommend giving personal devices to kids. Start with a shared family device and then you can...
In Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation, he boldly states: "...the Great Rewiring of Childhood, in which the phone-based childhood replaced the play-based childhood, is the major cause of the international epidemic of adolescent mental illness." And he cites a lot...
This book should be required reading for every Big Tech CEO and employee, parent, teacher, school administrator, and really—everyone.
The best SCREEN-FREE gift ideas for this holiday season.
A new study shows that the older a person is when they get their first smartphone, the better their mental health in young adulthood.
Do you feel like your device controls you? Could you use a little jump-start to form better tech-habits? JOIN US for a screen free week from May 1st- May 7th! Screen-Free week is a world-wide invitation (led by Fairplay) to spend a week without using our digital...
What started as an intention to be a better parent, turned into a five year journey of reclaiming my mornings and evenings from technology, and rediscovering what I call the Three R’s of resetting: rest, relationships, and rejuvenation.
The best gift ideas for this holiday season… but make it SCREEN-FREE.
Recently Adam Grant, a thought leader with over one million followers, posted his thoughts on this study: Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children This study of "nearly 2,000 children found that those who reported playing...
BeReal gives you a random two-minute window to post a photo of whatever you are doing right then and there. Here’s what you need to know.
Here are the guiding principles for screen time that got us through 17 summers with kids and teens.
No, cell phone contracts aren’t bad, but I think they are an outdated solution for the challenges teens are facing online today.
Parents should have regular technology discussions with kids and teens, check phones and social media weekly, and build trust over time.
We believe the best childhood is the one that is untethered to a device. However, at some point kids will start to learn tech as a tool. We share our slow-tech approach and how to choose the right kid-safe phone for your family when the time is right!
Bind your kids in bubble wrap when possible, but also prepare them for the battle of digital dangers that lie ahead with these two types of Tech Talks.
Set a time for your wifi to turn off at bedtime or homework time, block websites from devices, and check up on your security settings.
Is my teen ready for a cell phone? This is the million-dollar question for parents today! There is no single right answer because every family and every teen is different.
We are parents who are still learning, but we’d like to share a few strategies that have helped us make this important decision.
When we get a like on social media, it can feel a lot like getting a high five in real time. That dopamine hit feels good! While this isn’t necessarily bad, as parents we need to be mindful of how we might replace the likes on our phones, with love in our homes.
We’ve created 3 R’s to lead you to a healthy relationship with your phone AND your family.
Turing Tumble is a computer game that doesn’t use electricity. We explain why we love this screen-free educational game so much.
After years of storing our TV in the closet, living in a small home, and losing most of our belongings in an extensive house fire, we have a solid idea of which toys and activities are worth keeping around! We hope this list inspires you to create a home where your...
Pull out the flashlights and candles. Turn off the lights.
Put away the devices.
And get ready for some unforgettable fun!
In our digital era, we often want to avoid boredom, discomfort, and dealing with the hard stuff. I know many families who allow free-reign with electronic devices on road trips for this reason. It’s much easier to hand everyone a device and just let everyone zone out, but if we do this, we miss out on unique opportunities to connect with one another.
What’s wrong with a chore chart that allows our children to earn their screen time?
Are you struggling to connect with your teen? Are you wanting to help him or her discover strengths and start thinking about a career path? Guest author, Heather Glenn, shares some great ideas to help with career guidance and an exercise to help you work with your teen to discover their strengths.
Your kids can help you to create summer screen time boundaries that will actually work! Not sure how? Click to read more.
I am so grateful to Spencer Sessions for sharing his story about overcoming his gaming addiction. We recorded the call. I hope the ideas and strategies we share will help your family to keep screen time in check.
Click here to read all of the details.
Guest author, Spencer Sessions, courageously stepped away from his gaming addiction to create a life of meaning and purpose.
Master or slave? We have an assessment to help you evaluate your personal technology use. Changing your own mindset, environment, and habits will help you to lead your family to better screen time.
We are supporting a NEW movement called #fixappratings and we would love your help!
Do you ever feel scary, crazy, clueless, or controlling when it comes to technology and your kids? When we act out of fear, we tend to tighten our grip and overreact.
Dr. Dimitri Christakis, Director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s hospital recently gave an incredible presentation to parents on screen time and the developing brain. I’m sharing my favorite takeaways from his presentation.
Are you wondering if a simplified watch might the solution you’re looking for? Whitney Archibald of howshemoms.com shares her review of the Gizmo Gadget.
As we talked with our teen, we came up with five questions that each of us, (including the parents!), can ask ourselves before we spend any quality time with our phones. You can print this out and put it by your charging station or take a screen shot and save it as your phone’s wallpaper to help you check-in throughout the day.
As parents we have to decide when (or if) we want our teens to use a smartphone.
We recently worked with our teen as she transitioned from a feature phone (flip phone) to a locked-down smartphone. This idea comes from our four-phase process.
In this post, we share some help on making this transition!
If we have strong bonds with other humans, we are much less likely to seek fulfillment in other ways. Johann Hari said, “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety; the opposite of addiction is connection.”
In this article Lyndsey Wells shares ten easy, screen-free ideas to help you connect with your kids today!
In Digital Minimalism, Newport shares the experiences of everyday people who participated in a digital decluttering journey. Their real life stories, coupled with historical examples and research, will inspire you to reconsider your own relationship with technology.
We think that a family technology plan is much more useful than a cell phone contract! Here’s why.
The first week or two without screens might be rough; both for you and your kids! But, I promise it will be worth abandoning screens for awhile to help your kids learn what to do with boredom and how to interact with the real world.
Irresistible, might look like it’s going to make you panic or want to throw your phone out the window, but it won’t. It will, however, inspire you to consider your relationship with technology and find solutions to help keep technology in its proper place. The author,...
Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect, says the bookends of our days are the key to a successful life. How can we minimize our technology use during the bookends of our daily life?
One of my favorite parenting mentors, Rachel Macy Stafford, recently published an article on her site, handsfreemama.com, that really captures what our goal is at Better Screen Time. We want to learn to set limits so we can connect with our children and look into their eyes more. Rachel gave us permission to share part of her post here.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the thought of raising kids in the digital world, you are not alone. Many parents feel this way, but there are some amazing communities out there to help you! Check out our list of top communities to help you confidently raise kids in a digital world.
What does a Family Tech Think Tank look like? It will look different for every family! Today we’re sharing a snapshot from three families to help you get started.
Do you teach or work with teenagers in a volunteer or church setting? Are you wondering how to get them to look up from their device and connect with not only their learning, but with the people around them? Our friend, Chelsea, also known as the Mom Life Coach, has some great tips to help!
Are you wondering where to start when it comes to Internet filters? Tyler’s got you covered. In this short video he will walk you through the steps to set up OpenDNS to help filter the Internet in your home.
Are you looking for a logical process to help you permanently improve screen time for your family? We’ve discovered three key steps that have helped our family to keep technology from taking center stage in our home.
Two years ago, we moved across the country and moved into a much smaller home. We have a pretty good idea of what toys and items are worth hanging onto after that process! We’re sharing some of our favorites in our Screen-Free Gift Guide to help you with your gift-giving this year.
As children of the 80’s and 90’s we were taught about alcohol and drug addiction. Today there is a new type of addiction on the rise—technology addiction, and it is our job as parents in the digital era to teach our children about it.
We have a great printable for you featuring our Four-Phase Process. Print it out, test it out, and consider how you might gradually give your children small amounts of responsibility one step at a time.
As I watch windsurfers, kiteboarders, and sailors navigate on the river where I live, I’m reminded of the preparation and skill required to match the windy conditions and the turbulent water. What if we were just as diligent in preparing our children for the conditions and turbulence of living in the digital age?
Over the past year I’ve read a lot of books, articles, and blog posts about screen time. Out of everything I’ve read, there is one particular book that stands out.
With the update to iOS 12, those with Apple devices will have an easier time monitoring and limiting their screen usage. These new parental controls will be good for our kids—and for us! I think the day will come when all devices will automatically come with the...
Today I’m sharing highlights from a book I avoided for awhile because just looking at the cover made me feel anxious and worried. Glow Kids didn’t look like it applied to me. My kids don’t look like the screen-entranced kid on the cover, nor do I think they are addicted to screens. However, so many experts recommended this book; I had to find out why. And now, I’m the one recommending it.
A result of our Family Tech Think Tank: A list of 12 questions for kids and teens to ask themselves when they feel they are ready for a personal device or a cell phone. What would you put on your list?
![How Your Tech Guidelines Can Change As Your Children Grow with Kathy Keller Jones [Audio]](https://www.betterscreentime.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/DSC_2343-400x250.jpg)
As our children get older, how do we give them more freedom with technology, but not give them free reign? Kathy Keller Jones, developmental psychologist and former kindergarten through eighth grade school counselor, shares her wisdom in this audio post.
Parents often ask us how to get started with a feature phone for their child or teen. Tyler is our in-house techie, and he recorded a quick video to show you how we use Ting as our cell phone service provider.