A play diet balances five core categories: social, physical, creative, free, and digital play experiences

To reduce screen time, identify low-cost, offline activities in your community or home projects for your kids.

Like a food diet, the perfect play diet balance is personalized to meet your child's age and specific needs.

Whether your child has already started their summer vacation or is just about to, you might be looking for things to keep them busy. In the best of worlds, parents don't have to work, have lots of money and resources, and live somewhere with abundant summer activities. Beaches, museums, parks, hiking trails, nearby relatives, amusement parks, camping, and many friends are close by. And your kids are excited about all these activities and very willing participants.

But what if your kids would rather spend most of their time staring at a screen, scrolling through short videos, streaming shows, diving into TikTok and Instagram, or playing video games? What should you, as a responsible parent, do about screen time this summer? After all, your kids need a break from school. The most productive way for children to learn is to play. If their preferred way of playing is on their screen, is there really anything wrong with that?

Fortunately, psychologists, pediatricians, and other childcare professionals know the answer to that question. It is yes. Non-stop screen time this summer is not healthy for your child's development, brain growth, social skills, physical fitness, or happiness. Recently, many studies have come out indicating that excessive amounts of specific types of screen time, such as social media, often lead to stress, anxiety, and depression in teenagers (Haidt, 2024). Other research has shown that too much time scrolling short videos can reduce the capacity for attention and focus (Cole et al., 2025). If this information makes you decide to eliminate screen time this summer, I wish you good luck. But if it helps you structure your summer to balance children's screen time with other activities, consider applying a well-thought-out "play diet" for your child to ensure they engage in a variety of healthy activities, including screen time, over the next few months.

One preliminary consideration........

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