Screen Time by Age Calculator: How Much Screen Time Is Too Much?
If your child reaches for a tablet or phone the moment they get home, you’ve probably wondered how much screen time is too much. Screens are part of school, friendships and family life now, so the question is really one of balance. In my experience, the most useful thing to look at is what screens are making room for (and what they might be pushing out).
Use the screen time by age calculator below to compare your child’s recreational screen time with published guidance for their age. It’s a quick screen time calculator for kids aged 5 to 17 (one of the free interactive tools on my site), and below it I explain what your result means.
Screen time calculator for kids and teenagers
Choose your child’s age. Add the time they usually spend on screens for fun. You’ll see what it adds up to and how it compares with published guidance.
Your screen time picture
Agree your family’s screen time rules
Sit down with your child and agree a few rules together. Write down when screen time starts and ends on school days and weekends. Include where phones charge overnight and whether meals are device-free. Put the plan where everyone can see it, then review it together after a week.
For practical ideas, read my articles:
- Screen time rules for focused kids
- Screen time battles
- Screen-free activities for children and teens
- Screen time boundaries for children and teens
- When screen use becomes concerning
About the guidance: For age five, guidance from England and Australia suggests no more than one hour daily. For ages 6–17, Australian and Canadian movement guidelines suggest no more than two hours daily of screen time for fun. These are useful reference points for families worldwide, although guidance differs between countries. The American Academy of Pediatrics also asks parents to consider content, sleep, activity and connection. No number alone can tell you whether screen use is causing a problem.
Sources: UK under-five guidance (2026); AAP screen time guidance; AAP policy statement (2026); Australian movement guidelines (2026); Canadian movement guidelines.
Screen time recommendations by age
The UK doesn’t set an official hourly limit for school-aged children. The UK Chief Medical Officers and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH, the UK body for children’s doctors) focus on whether screens are replacing sleep, physical activity and family time.
As a starting point, Australian and Canadian movement guidelines give these screen time recommendations by age (for recreational screen time, so count homework and educational content separately):
- Age 5: around one hour a day maximum.
- Ages 6 to 11: around two hours a day maximum.
- Age 12: around two hours a day. If you’re wondering how much screen time by age 12 is reasonable, this is often the year of starting secondary school, a first phone and more pressure around social media, so agree the ground rules early (our guide to supporting teenagers with social media can help).
- Ages 13 to 17: around two hours a day for recreational screen time. Much of their daily screen time will also be schoolwork and educational content, so I recommend involving teenagers in setting their own screen time limits.
There’s no single answer to how much screen time by age is best, so treat these figures as reference points. Many children’s average screen time sits above them, especially at weekends, and some flexibility is fine if sleep, movement and family time are not a concern for you right now. Screens bring plenty of good too (a video chat with grandparents, creative projects, building digital literacy), so zero screen time is rarely the aim.
How to tell if your child’s screen time is too much
When parents ask me how much screen time is too much, I suggest looking beyond the daily screen time total to what screens may be pushing out. Is your child getting good sleep quality and quantity, and getting enough physical activity and time outdoors? Is there time for family, friendships and screen-free activities or hobbies?
The RCPCH (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) suggests asking four questions:
- Is screen time under control in your household?
- Does it get in the way of what your family wants to do?
- Does it interfere with sleep?
- Can you manage snacking during screen time?
If you’re happy with the answers to these questions, then it means your family has found a balance that works, whatever the average screen time figure says.
You might also notice your child losing interest in activities they used to enjoy, autopilot scrolling through short-form video for long stretches, or intense arguments when a game has to stop. These changes can have lots of causes, but if they are affecting sleep, school, friendships or mental health, our guide to what to do when screen use becomes concerning explains the signs of excess screen use.
What to do with your screen time by age calculator results
If your child’s result (or their average screen time over a typical week) is above the screen time recommendations, I recommend choosing one or two small changes and reviewing them after a couple of weeks (a simple habit tracker on the fridge helps you both see progress). Pick the strategies which fit best with your family.
- Protect sleep. Switch screens off for the hour before bed and keep digital devices out of bedrooms overnight. My bedtime calculator can help you set a realistic bedtime too.
- Agree a family media plan. Decide together when recreational screen time fits around homework, physical activity and family routines. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a free family media plan template, and my guides to screen time rules for focused kids and boundaries for children and teens have more ideas.
- Build in screen breaks. Regular screen breaks during longer sessions (a drink, a stretch, a quick job) help with tired eyes, posture and concentration, and you can add them to your habit tracker too.
- Make some times screen-free. Mealtimes are a really good place to start. For ideas to fill screen-free time, try these screen-free activities for children.
- Stay curious about what they’re watching. Ask what your child enjoys about a game, app or short-form video channel, and join in sometimes. Age-appropriate parental controls help, and the NSPCC’s online safety guidance (the NSPCC is a UK children’s charity) is a helpful place to start.
- Model the habits you’d like to see. Putting your own mobile devices away at meals makes healthy habits like these far easier for your child to follow.
- Give a warning before screens go off. A five-minute warning helps your child prepare. If stopping time is a flashpoint, my guide to screen time battles explains what helps.
Protecting your child’s sleep
Sleep is often the first thing to suffer when evenings revolve around screens, and it has a knock-on effect on mood, concentration and digital wellbeing. Screen-free time in the hour before bed (part of most screen time recommendations) is one of the simplest changes you can make, and you can revisit your family media plan as your child grows. If bedtime and sleep proving difficult, you will find my Sleep for Success course helpful.
Frequently asked questions
Enter your child’s age and their daily screen time on school days and weekends, then tick anything it’s affecting, such as sleep. The calculator compares your answers with screen time recommendations for their age and gives you a personalised guide.
The UK has no official hourly limit for school-aged children. Guidance asks families to look at whether recreational screen time is getting in the way of sleep, physical activity and family life.
The calculator is designed for recreational screen time, so count homework and educational content separately. It still helps to look at how all screen use on digital devices fits into your child’s day, and how it supports their digital wellbeing.
Dr Lucy Russell is a UK clinical psychologist and Clinical Director of Everlief Child Psychology. She qualified as a clinical psychologist from Oxford University in 2005 and worked in the National Health Service for many years before moving fully into her leadership and writing roles.
In 2019 Lucy launched They Are The Future, a support website for parents of school-aged children. Through TATF Lucy is passionate about giving practical, manageable strategies to parents and children who may otherwise struggle to find the support they need.
Lucy lives with her family, rescue cats and dog, and also fosters cats through a local animal welfare charity. She loves singing in a vocal harmony group and spending time in nature.
