Screen Time Availability and Teacher Practices
Limit or eliminate screen time for young children's health.
The best practices (per GO NAPSACC) and the related resources in this section focus on child care providers establishing program practices that reduce or eliminate screen time — particularly low-quality, sedentary screen time — and promoting other activities that instill healthier habits at this early age. Providers should not do practices that particularly promote screen time, such as using it as a reward. Too much screen time for young children may lead to attention problems, difficulty at school, and obesity later in life.
Best practices
The resources in this category are the same for the following seven GO NAPSACC best practices:
- "There are no televisions or televisions are stored outside of classrooms and are not regularly available to children."
- "Children 2 years of age and older are allowed 30 minutes of screen time* or less each week. (Half-day: Less than 15 minutes or no screen time is allowed)"
- "For children under 2 years of age, no screen time* is allowed."
- "When television or videos are shown to children, this programming is always educational and
commercial free." - "When screen time is offered, children are always given the opportunity to do an alternative activity."
- "Screen time is rarely or never used as a reward."
- "When screen time is offered, teachers always talk with children about what they are seeing and learning."
Resources
Action Guide: For Child Care Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies
Summary: A guide for creating policies including rationale, steps for creating policies, and policy recommendations.
Source: Connecticut State Department of Education
Early Care and Education Nutrition and Physical Activity Guide
Summary: Designed for community champions who want to build or strengthen nutrition and physical activity in their early childhood programs. Find practical steps, examples, and tools for getting started.
Source: Michigan University State Extension
“Get Moving” Physical Activity Early Childhood Facilitator Guide
Summary: Six lessons for childcare providers to use in teaching children ages 3-5 about physical activity. Includes teacher resources to implement each lesson, as well as corresponding materials to share with families.
Source: Michigan University State Extension
Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments
Summary: Free for providers. Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the appropriate assessment opens a suite of planning, learning, professional development, and implementation tools to understand further what the best practices are and how to make them happen in your child care.
Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)
Healthy Kids, Healthy Future
Summary: This part of the website, under the "Reduce Screen Time" section, includes facts about and tips for reducing screen time. Find activities for children and resources for adults, including handouts, trainings, alternative sleep strategies, and guidance on appropriate use of technology.
Source: The Nemours Foundation
Media and Children
Summary: This website includes information about media time and how it impacts children. It also has parent resources, such as “Beyond Screen Time: A Parent’s Guide to Media Use” and “Family Media Plan.”
Source: The American Academy of Pediatrics
Model Policies for Creating a Healthy Nutrition and Physical Activity Environment in Child Care Settings
Summary: Nutrition toolkit that describes model policies and provides tips to on how to fulfill them.
Source: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Community Food and Nutrition Assistance
Nutrition and Wellness Tips for Young Children
Summary: Collection of tip sheets for nutrition and physical activity. Each tip sheet focuses on a specific topic and includes a practical application section to help apply the tips to a child care program for children ages 2 through 5 years old. See pages 63-71.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Policy Brief on Early Learning and Use of Technology
Summary: This is a policy brief about the early learning and use of technology with specific reasons and policies around the use of different types of technology and the use of them in early learning.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Sample Child Care Physical Activity Policy
Summary: Example of a child care physical activity policy. It outlines the amount of expected daily play, roles of staff members, screen time, and appropriate clothing, and discipline.
Source: South Carolina Early Child Care and Education
Screen Time Reduction Early Childhood Facilitator Guide
Summary: Six lessons for childcare providers to use in teaching children ages 2-5 about reducing screen time. Includes teacher resources to implement each lesson, as well as corresponding materials to share with families.
Source: Michigan University State Extension
Screen Time Reduction Toolkit for Child Care Providers
Summary: Includes tips to reduce screen time, letter to parents, tips to reduce screen time, games to reduce screen time. Policy Examples are provided on page 8.
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