Screen time and internet time by age: a guide with a table
How much screen time and internet time kids should have at each age, with a table, the reasons behind the numbers, and what to check besides the clock.
For young children, the most useful number is under one hour a day of screens, with a grown-up watching or joining in. As children get older, the limit grows to about two hours of free-time screens, and the rules shift from how long to what and where. The table below gives a number for each age, and the rest of this guide says why.
Two words that mean different things
Screen time is all time spent looking at a screen: a TV, a tablet, a phone, a games console, a computer. Internet time is the part of that spent online, on the web, in apps that connect to other people or to the internet, or in video streaming. A child can have an hour of screen time that is all offline, such as a DVD or a game saved on the device. Internet time is the part that brings in strangers, ads and the risk of contact.
Most families need both numbers. The screen-time number tells you how much a child's day is taken up. The internet-time number tells you how much of it is open to the wider world.
The table
| Age | Screen time guide | Internet time guide | What matters most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 months | None, except video chat with family | None on their own | Talking, reading and play with a grown-up |
| 18 to 24 months | Under an hour a day, high-quality programmes only | Only with a parent | Watch together and talk about what you see |
| 2 to 4 years | Up to 1 hour a day, less is better | Short sessions with a parent, on apps you have checked | Watch or play with them; pick slow, simple content |
| 5 to 7 years | About 1 hour a day of free-time screens on school days, up to 2 at weekends | Supervised, on sites and apps you have tried first | Sleep, outdoor play and reading on paper come first |
| 8 to 10 years | Up to 2 hours a day of free-time screens, plus schoolwork | Supervised; no open chat; accounts set up with you | Privacy settings and who can message them |
| 11 to 13 years | Up to 2 hours a day of free-time screens | Accounts only with a parent knowing the password; most social media is 13 and older | Talking about what they see and who they talk to |
| 14 to 17 years | Around 2 to 3 hours a day, with agreed limits | Agreed rules, not a fixed clock | Sleep, the phone out of the bedroom at night, and their own choices |
These numbers are a family guide, not a medical prescription. They follow the ceilings in the main public guidance: the American Academy of Pediatrics' advice to avoid screens under 18 months and to keep preschool viewing to about one hour of high-quality content with a parent, the World Health Organization's 2019 advice that children aged 2 to 4 have no more than one hour of sedentary screen time a day, and the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines' two-hour limit on recreational screen time for children aged 5 to 17.
Why the numbers look like this
Under two. A baby learns from faces, voices and things they can hold. Screens in this age group tend to take the place of that, and the evidence that they help is weak. Video calls with a grandparent are the exception, because a person is talking back.
Two to four. The child is learning words and how the world works, and they learn best from a person who answers. Content matters a great deal here. A slow, simple show watched with a parent who asks questions does more than an hour of fast, loud videos alone.
Five to thirteen. School now uses screens, so the free-time number is a choice about what else fits in the day. Sleep, active play and reading on paper are the things most likely to lose out, so set those first and let screens fill the rest.
Fourteen and older. Limits set by a parent stop working once a teen can get around them. Agreements the teen helped write last longer. Sleep is the best single test: if the phone is in the bed at midnight, the rule is not working.
What to check besides the clock
- What is on the screen? A slow, interactive game that asks a child to think is not the same as an endless feed of short videos. Both can count as the same number of minutes.
- Is it a shared screen or a private one? A tablet in a child's bedroom with the door shut is harder to watch than one on the kitchen table.
- Is it online? Check the internet-time column first. A game that talks to strangers or shows ads needs a closer look than an offline one.
- Does it stop at bedtime? Screens an hour before sleep make it harder to drop off. Keep devices out of the bedroom overnight where you can.
- Does it replace something? Ask what the child would be doing otherwise. If the answer is reading, playing outside or sleeping, the screen is competing with things you value.
Our top 10 learning tools lists the learning apps families use most, and what each one asks of a parent. How long should kids read? covers the same idea of short sessions for reading.
How to set a plan
- Pick the number for your child's age from the table, then lower it if sleep or school is suffering.
- Write it down with the times when screens are off: meals, the hour before bed, and the bedroom overnight.
- Set internet rules separately: which apps, which accounts, and who the child can message.
- Review it every few months. A plan that suits a seven-year-old needs changing by the time they are ten.
Peabody
Peabody is a reading and learning app with games and a library of stories. Its games are free through the end of 2026, with no sign-up. Whatever you use, the table above is the number to go by.
Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics, media and young minds guidance (2016), and its Family Media Plan tool.
- World Health Organization, guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years (2019).
- Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (2019).
Guidance changes. Check the AAP and WHO websites for their latest versions before you set a plan.
Checked against how Peabody works on 18 October 2026. Written with help from AI. Peabody is a reading app, not a reading assessment: if you're worried about your child's reading, talk to their teacher.