How do you do a digital detox with kids?

7 days, with one small change added each day, is a realistic first digital detox for most families. You do not need a cabin in the woods or a locked drawer of devices. You need a plan that builds slowly, a few ready-made things to do instead, and adults who are willing to do it too. This page gives you that plan, day by day, plus what to expect and how to keep the good parts afterwards.

A quick note: this is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child’s wellbeing or how they use screens, speak to your GP. If you are wondering whether your child’s phone use has gone beyond a habit, our piece on what to do if your child is addicted to their phone is a better starting point.

What is a digital detox for kids?

A planned break from optional screens, followed by a deliberate decision about which ones come back. It is not a punishment and it is not forever. Schoolwork, video calls with family and anything a child needs for health or accessibility stay put. What goes is the default screen: the tablet at breakfast, the programme on in the background, the phone in bed, the “just five more minutes” that becomes an hour.

The aim is not zero screens. Research on teenagers suggests that moderate use is not intrinsically harmful.^[4] The aim is to find out what your family’s days look like without the defaults, and choose what to keep.

How long should a digital detox for kids last?

7 days is a good first target. It is long enough for a new routine to start feeling normal, and short enough to feel doable. A weekend tends to be too short: it feels like a treat or a punishment rather than a change. A month is a big ask as a first attempt, though some families extend once they see how the week went.

If your family is used to a lot of screen time, start with the week below as written. If screens are already fairly limited, you can compress the first few days.

What is a 7-day digital detox plan for kids?

One new change a day, and every change stays once it is added:

1. Day 1: Screen-free meals. No phones, tablets or television at the table, for anyone. Put devices in a basket in another room. UK guidance for under-5s already advises keeping screens out of mealtimes.^[2]
2. Day 2: Screens out of bedrooms at night. Charge every device, adults’ included, somewhere downstairs or in the hall.
3. Day 3: A screen-free hour before bed. Replace it with a bath, a book, a board game, a chat. The same UK guidance advises keeping screens out of the hour before bed for young children.^[2]
4. Day 4: No background screens. The television goes off when nobody is actively watching it, and autoplay is turned off on every service.
5. Day 5: A daily screen-free hour. Pick the same hour each day, after school or before tea, and make it a family thing. Our guide to the phone-free family hour shows how to set one up.
6. Day 6: Plan the screen-free day. Sit down together and choose what you will do tomorrow: a walk, a trip to the library, baking, a den. Children who help plan it complain far less.
7. Day 7: A screen-free day. From breakfast to bedtime, optional screens stay off for everyone. Keep it simple and outdoors where you can.

On day 8, hold a short family meeting. Which changes were easy? Which made the biggest difference? Keep at least two or three of them for good.

Do digital detoxes work for children?

There is not much research, but one study is encouraging. In a field experiment, 51 preteens spent five days at an overnight outdoor education camp where television, computers and mobile phones were not allowed. They were compared with 54 similar pupils at school who kept their usual media habits.^[1] Both groups were tested before and after on reading emotions from photographs of faces and from videotaped scenes with the words removed. The camp group improved significantly more on both.^[1]

The caveats are real. It was one small study, and the camp children got more face-to-face time with each other as well as less screen time, so it cannot say which mattered more. The authors themselves describe the effect as coming from the combination.^[1] For a family detox, that is actually the useful lesson: removing screens helps most when the time is refilled with people.

How do you start a digital detox without a fight?

Tell them why, tell them when, and do it with them. A few things make the difference:

• Explain it as an experiment, not a punishment. “We are trying a week to see what happens” lands far better than “you are on screens too much”.
• Give notice. Announce the plan a few days before Day 1, and put it on the fridge.
• Let children choose something. The Day 7 activity, the screen-free hour’s time slot, the reward at the end.
• Keep the rules the same every day. Consistency removes the negotiation. Negotiation is where most meltdowns start.
• Warn before endings. A five-minute warning before a screen goes off is easier than a sudden switch.

Expect the first few days to be the hardest. Complaints of “I’m bored” are not a sign the detox is failing. They are a sign it is working.

What should kids do instead of screens?

Have the alternatives ready before you need them. The moment a screen goes off is not the moment to start thinking of ideas. A short list by the door helps: things to make, things to do outside, things to do alone and things to do together. Our list of screen-free activities for kids by age has ideas for every stage, from toddlers to teenagers.

Leave some time unfilled, too. Boredom is uncomfortable for children who are used to constant entertainment, but it is where they learn to entertain themselves, and it usually passes faster than parents expect.

How does a digital detox change for teenagers?

A teenager needs a say, not a set of orders. Their friendships run partly through their phones, and a plan imposed from above tends to go underground. Try this instead:

• Negotiate the week together. Agree the rules, including what happens with group chats.
• Keep the night rule firm. Phones charging outside bedrooms is the one worth holding.
• Offer something back. A lift to see friends in person, a later bedtime on the screen-free day, a reward they choose.

The UK government has said guidance on healthy screen use for children aged 5 to 16 is due in autumn 2026, and that it will avoid blanket rules and help families make informed choices.^[3] That approach, rules the family chooses rather than a single number, suits teenagers well.

Should parents do the digital detox too?

Yes. This is the part that decides whether it works. Children copy what we do far more than what we say, and a rule that only applies to them feels unfair, because it is. Put your phone in the same basket at meals. Charge it in the same place at night. If you need your phone for work in the evening, say so, and step out of the room to use it.

For your own version, our guide on how to do a digital detox covers the adult side in more depth.

What happens after the detox?

You decide what comes back. Most families find a few of the changes feel so obviously better that nobody wants to undo them: meals without screens and phones out of bedrooms are the usual survivors. Other screens return, but on purpose rather than by default.

Check in again after a month. Habits drift, and a short reset each school holiday is easier than one big overhaul a year. If you want a ready-made structure for the hour that matters most, the Family Phone-Free Hour Kit has everything you need to make it a habit that lasts.