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Smart Screen Time: Tips for Healthy Tech Habits
Screens are everywhere – from TVs and tablets to smartboards in the classroom. And as much as we might wish for more “offline” time, screen time is now a big part of our kids' daily lives.
The good news? Not all screen time is bad. In fact, when used with purpose, technology can be a powerful learning tool. The key is helping kids develop smart habits and knowing the difference between passive scrolling and active engagement.
In this post, we’ll share simple, practical tips to help you turn screen time into a positive, balanced part of your child’s routine – without the daily battles.
1. Mindless Scrolling vs. Meaningful Learning
Not all screen time is created equal. Understanding the difference is the first step to smarter tech use:
Mindless Scrolling
- Passive consumption of videos or social media
- Minimal learning or creativity involved
- Often leads to boredom, restlessness and the “just one more” cycle
Meaningful Learning
- Interactive games that teach coding, maths or languages
- Creative apps for drawing, music or storytelling
- Educational videos, tutorials and quizzes that spark curiosity
2. How Much Screen Time Is “Too Much”?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but these general guidelines can help:
- Under 2 years
Avoid screen time entirely, except for video calls with family and friends - 2 to 5 years
Up to 1 hour of high-quality content per day, ideally co-viewed with a parent or caregiver - 6 to 12 years
1 to 2 hours per day, with a focus on educational or creative content - 13+ years
There’s no strict time limit, but supervision is still important. Encourage a healthy balance between screen use, sleep, physical activity, schoolwork and in-person social time. If screen time starts to interfere with these areas, it may be time to set clearer boundaries or introduce more structured routines
3. Tips for Smarter Screen Use
Here are some simple ways to support healthy screen time habits at home:
Create a Tech-Supportive Environment
- Keep devices in shared spaces like the living room
- Charge phones and tablets overnight outside bedrooms
Set Clear Boundaries and Routines
- Use timers or parental-control apps to enforce limits
- Schedule “screen-free” times: during meals, family games, or outdoor play
Encourage Purposeful Play
- Introduce apps and games that support learning
- Explore virtual field trips, language games or digital art tools
Model Healthy Habits
- Turn off your own notifications during family time
- Show how you use tech for learning: podcasts, tutorials or online classes
Debrief and Discuss
- After screen time, ask: “What did you learn?” or “What was the best part?”
- Help your child reflect on how certain screen activities make them feel
4. Turning Screen Time into Skill Time
Our holiday camps, after-school and online programms are designed to transform passive screen time into hands-on learning. Whether your child loves gaming, creating or problem-solving, there’s something for every interest:
- Coding & Robotics – Creating interactive games using our bespoke platform, Code Camp World, helps develop skills in logic, algorithms, and game design. And for those who love robots, programming them to perform tasks such as moving, detecting obstacles, and following lines combines creativity with practical tech skills.
- Digital Creativity – Exploring animation, storytelling, design and video creation using easy-to-use digital toolsallows children to develop creative skills while learning how to express their ideas and work with technology in a hands-on way
- Problem-Solving Challenges – Taking on exciting individual missions like Minecraft engineering tasks, Roblox game design, along with short, focused design challenges where kids brainstorm, plan, and build a solution in a limited time. These activities encourage independent thinking, creativity, and quick problem-solving skills
By guiding kids towards interactive, creative and collaborative tech experiences, we can help them use screens in smarter, more meaningful ways.
Ready to make screen time count?
Your Ultimate school holidays activity list
1. Get creative with Minions
What is it?
Kids go bananas for Minions (pun intended) and these school holidays they can express their fandom making a Minions movie using stop-motion animation techniques. Over 2 days, kids create their own Minions clay characters and design their own film set. The magic begins when they see their characters come to life by taking multiple images of objects and stitching them together to look like they’re moving! - It’s incredibly fun!
Why go?
If they watch their favourite animated movies on repeat, they’ll love creating Minions clay figurines and developing their own story, taking lots of still frames and stitching them together to create their very first movie!
Ages: 5-7
2. Become a DJ
What is it?
Children will take their first steps into the exciting world of mixing music to create their own DJ set.
Why go?
Kids will love mixing their favourite pop tunes using beat matching and transitions on real DJ decks. Plus, they will design their own DJ brand, develop branded merch, and even perform a DJ set to their friends!
Ages: 8-13
3. Pilot a drone
What is it?
Kids learn to pilot a drone using coding to design a flight path and watch in wonder as the drone takes flight!
Why go?
If your kid shows an interest in drones, they can learn more than just the basics of flying. Kids get a taste of cutting-edge technology and learn about coding, problem-solving, engineering, design, and more. They’ll learn about drone tech and safety, movie making, and discover how drones have a positive social impact when used to fight bushfires, rescue koalas, spot sharks on the coast and loads more!
Ages: 9-13
4. Become a YouTuber
What is it?
While they may not end up with YouTube stardom, we’re sure kids will have a new lens on screen time. They will be equipped with the skills to start producing and directing their own ideas instead of simply watching other people's! Plus, they’ll gain confidence ‘performing’ in front of audiences and on set and importantly, learn about staying safe online.
Why go?
Taking a YouTube fixation and turning it into something incredibly productive where kids will learn planning, storytelling, filming and video editing to become the star in their very own YouTube-style videos.
Ages: 8-13
5. Produce a LEGO movie
What is it?
Turn hours of playing with LEGO characters into an even more creative pursuit, by teaching kids to create their own LEGO Movie.
Why go?
They can use their favourite LEGO characters and sets, come up with a fun storyline and use stop-motion techniques to produce a short animation film. It will transform the way they play at home and offer endless hours of creativity for the rest of the holidays.
Ages: 7-12
6. Code a game
What is it?
Kids can design their own arcade-style video games (like Super Mario Bros), jam-packed with cool characters like zombies and unicorns, and awesome gaming features such as invisibility cloaks and shrinking potions. They’ll learn drag and drop code and logic to connect all the design elements together and bring their games to life!
Why go?
Kids are spending countless hours on Roblox and Minecraft these days. Get them to spark their creative side instead, by producing their own original games, using a combination of creative level design, storytelling and problem-solving to bring their creations to life. It’s so much fun, they won’t realise they are actually learning some very important coding and tech skills for their future.
Ages: 7-12
7. Develop a Website
What is it?
For kids with some proficiency in coding, they’ll create their own website from scratch about an animal, movie, sporting team or their favourite topic.
Why go?
With 1.93 billion websites on the world wide web, developers are in higher demand than ever before. It’s a great head start to gain fundamental web building skills and your kids will have so much fun in the process.