The Summer Screen Time Surge Is Coming. Here’s a Better Plan.

Summer is a hot mess. During the school year, I have a steady rhythm of the long school days and ‘uber-ing’ your children from one activity to the next each weeknight. On the flip side, if you come to my house on a Sunday night in June, I don’t look like a calm, organized CEO. I look like Charlie from It’s Always Sunny standing in front of his Pepe Silvia conspiracy board.

I’m pacing, caffeine-fueled, wild-eyed, tracing paths of red string across a calendar grid. Week 1 is connected via push-pin to a 9:00 AM soccer drop-off, which loops around an unexpected dental appointment, branches off into a shared neighborhood carpool text thread, and dead-ends into a 2:00 PM corporate Zoom call. I’m staring at this massive, complicated web of summer logistics, desperately trying to prove to yourself that the plan makes sense, all while your kids are in the next room asking what's for dinner. You’ve built this beautiful, terrifying masterpiece of a schedule, and you’re just praying that if one single piece of string snaps, the whole house doesn't descend into utter chaos.

As a working mom of two daughters running a start up, please hear me - I am NOT mad at the summer mess. I think there is joy and grit that comes out the chaos of having a different schedule each week of summer, but I want to recognize that it takes an extra level of planning. There is no ‘rinse and repeat’ in the summer with kids.

And when you don’t have a ‘rinse and repeat’ mode in the summer, you also have a lot of in between downtime. You know the times - waiting in the carpool line, car trips, siblings at the ball field, etc.. etc.. Those are the moments when ‘it’s just what we do on the weekend’ level of screen time becomes the default for the entire 8 weeks of summer.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) tells parents to use their interactive family media plan tool to calculate exactly how many hours a child spends on screens versus sleeping and playing.

Yep. When I feel overwhelmed and like I am not measuring up, the first thing I want to do is input the data to have my fears confirmed by a 3rd party. Just ask me about my annual December 15 ghosting from MyFitnessPal when I get multiple days of “If every day was like today..” and the scale is going up.

The Problem Is Not Just Screen Time. It Is Endless Screen Time.

Right now, many parents are regulating screen time the same way they regulate alcohol and cigarettes. Set an age and overly regulate or don’t allow at all until they hit that age. The issue is that lots of people go their entire lives without alcohol or cigarettes. Very few people go their entre lives without a screen.

The Child Mind Institute puts it plainly: not all screen time is created equal, and when screen time becomes excessive, it can crowd out the basics kids need — movement, sleep, learning, family time, and face-to-face connection.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has made a similar point. Digital media can support learning and well-being when it is designed around children’s developmental needs. But tech built to keep people watching, clicking, scrolling, and coming back overrides a child’s natural inclination to get up, play, move, and connect IRL.

Summer Needs Screen-Free Zones — And Better Screen Choices

There is no shortage of professionals giving ‘number methods’ to organize your day and reduce screen time. For example you can try the

9-5-2-1-0 Rule

9 hours of sleep
5 servings of fruits/vegetables
2 hours or less of screen time
1 hour of physical activity
0 sugary drinks

Or the AAP’s 5-2-1-0 Rule

5 servings of fruits/vegetables
2 hours or less of recreational screen time
1 hour or more of physical activity
0 sugary drinks

Or the one that makes my ADHD brain hurt the most the 777 rule:

7 hours of screen time per week
7 feet away from screens
No screens 7 days before major events / exams / big activities

Seriously, who has the scheduling skills to keep track of this 777 rule?

In addition to setting time limits, parents should also follow Blue Shield of California’s youth mental health recommendation of tech-free zones and adult modeling — including parents putting their own phones down and being present too.

The key to a tech-free zone is that it needs to have clear boundaries. Here are some examples of clear boundaries:

• No screens in car rides if the trip is less than 2 hours long

• No screens at the dinner table

• No screens in the bedroom after teeth are brushed

The specific time and place matters when making these boundaries. The key to knowing if a boundary is clear or not is imagine if 10 individuals saw your child with a screen during a 1.5 hour car ride. If those individuals were asked if your child was allowed to have a screen or not during this time, how would they answer?

While every parent should take care in setting clear boundaries for their kids, they also need to understand the importance of modeling screen-balance as a skill. Here are some examples of how to model screen-balance:

• Follow the same guides as your kids above

• If you do need to take a call, book an appointment, research something etc.. during a time that conflicts with your screen-free zone, explain it to your kids. Explain the difference between passive scrolling and what you are doing. Give a clear example of why you have to use this time to do this one specific task, and that you will put your screen away as soon as it is done.

• Choose screens that prompt connections and make memories. Wanderwing has quick games like categories, endless tic tac toe, Wanderword and lots of other games with a clear beginning, middle and end. So you and your child can play, celebrate, and move on.

Wanderwing Is Built for the In-Between Moments

Wanderwing is a web-based app that helps families transition from passive scrolling to active play. Discover evidence-based strategies, customizable screen rules, and engaging alternatives to achieve true screen balance. In short, Wanderwing gives kids quick games and prompts that are designed to end.

The Wanderwing Rhythm:

Play: Kids choose a quick, creative activity.

Celebrate: They get a small win that tells their brain, “You did it.”

Save: They add a note, drawing, or thought to My Notes.

Move on: The activity is done. Their brain has a place to land.

Open-ended apps can be hard to leave because they never really end.

Wanderwing is designed with more predictability. Kids know what they are starting, what finishing looks like, and where their thought goes when they are done.

Not medical.

Not therapy.

Fun games for kids who learn differently.

The content library is filterable by games that are ADHD-friendly, Autism-friendly, and neurodivergent-friendly.

When to Use Wanderwing This Summer

Use Wanderwing when you want a screen moment that does not become an endless screen spiral.

Try it:

Before a road trip starts
At the restaurant table
In the airport
While waiting for a sibling’s activity
After camp
On rainy afternoons
During quiet time
When cousins are over
When a child says “I’m bored”
When you need a quick reset before everyone melts down

This is not about making every moment productive.

It is about giving kids a better default.

A little game instead of an endless feed.
A tiny adventure instead of a scroll hole.
A creative prompt instead of passive consumption.
A stopping point instead of “one more.”

Try Wanderwing this week, and share it with another family who could use a calmer summer