Advice for screen time with children

• Educational opportunities - the internet can provide access to a vast amount of information, interactive learning experiences and educational games.
  
  
• Communication and socialisation - through technology, your child can keep in touch with family and friends who live far away.
  
  
• Cognitive development - puzzles and educational games can enhance hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.
  
  
• Creativity and exploration - access to music and dancing helps improve your child's cognitive and physical development. Singing and movement to music helps with learning patterns, recognising sounds, and improving memory. Dancing improves coordination, balance, motor skills and confidence.

• Physical health - spending a lot of time watching a screen can contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, as well as sleep problems and eyestrain. People tend to blink less frequently when looking at screens, which can cause dry eyes.
  
  
• Social and emotional development - reduced face-to-face interactions can affect development of social skills, emotional intelligence and empathy.
  
  
• Sleep disruption - the blue light emitted from screens can interfere with sleep patterns, tricking our brain into thinking it is still daylight. This can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
  
  
• Exposure to inappropriate content - without parental supervision or parental controls in place, children are at risk of coming across harmful online content such as violence, cyberbullying or explicit material.

Babies and children need stimulation from human interaction and the outside world. You are the best and most important person to do this, but other family members and friends may like to play too.

Playing, sharing books and chatting with your child from the very start will support their overall development. This helps them grow into active listeners and confident talkers who can use their own imagination. These skills will help your child communicate effectively when they start school as well as become competent readers and writers as they grow.

Research shows that babies and children learn more when interacting with people. Try to keep screen time for when you really need it. However, we all need to relax at times. Watching television or a tablet together can be relaxing and a great way to spend time talking and bonding with your little one.

When playing, chatting or reading with your baby or child, why not try turning off the TV, radio or other electronic devices so that they do not become distracted. You will be able to tune into your child as they develop their listening and speaking skills.

• Moderation - establish clear guidelines and limits on what your child does and how long they are watching / online for.
  
  
• Quality over quantity - the type of activity matters more than the amount of time spent on devices. What is the value and purpose of the activity? Is it educational, social or recreational?
  
  
• Parental involvement - watch or play games with your child so you can engage too, while deciding if the content is age-appropriate. Discuss the programme or content with your child to check their understanding of it.
  
  
• Offline activities - make sure your child's screen time complements and doesn't replace other activities. Encourage them to play with you and their toys, go outside, or read a story together.
  
  
• Parental controls - manage and restrict your child's access to content. Block access to any inappropriate website or apps. Set time limits on how long your child can watch or play something on a device. Prevent any accidental online spending. Use Parental Controls to Keep Your Child Safe | NSPCC

There are some aspects of watching programmes together than can help your child's speech and language development. For example:

• Sitting with your child as they watch a TV show and talk to them about what is happening.
• Choose programmes which are suitable for your child’s age.
• If there is singing or dancing in the programme, you could both join in! Talk about what you are doing together - e.g. 'we're jumping', 'we're clapping'.
• Sing the songs you have learnt from the TV programme throughout the day. If your child has the toy TV characters, encourage them in pretend play. These are fun ways to learn how to talk.
• Hearing the same stories, words and phrases over and over again can help your child's talking.
• Watch with the subtitles on to help your child's reading and vocabulary range.

Ideas for limiting TV time if it gets too much:

• Try to limit watching programmes to half an hour a day for children under two and one hour for three to five year olds.
• Put the remote control out of reach.
• Encourage your child to sit and play with you and their favourite toy(s).
• Turn the TV off if nobody is watching it - background noise can be distracting for your child. They need to hear what you're saying clearly so the can learn to talk.
• Avoid putting a television in your child’s bedroom as it is harder to control what they watch and the length of time that they watch it for.

The NSPCC has published guidance on their website about how to keep children safe online. This includes advice on having those first conversations with your child and making their devices safe.

• Keeping children safe online | NSPCC
• Help keep children safe online with Techosaurus! | NSPCC
• Children and technology: Age-appropriate usage advice | NSPCC