Screen time over half-term: 5 tips for families, without the rows

October half-term runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 in most of England and in Wales; in Northern Ireland, it’s Thursday 29 and Friday 30, and most Scottish schools have already had their October break (half-term dates by nation). The clocks also go back on Sunday 25 October, at the start of the break, which can shift bedtimes for a few days. More free time, more time to fill, and often more screens. That’s normal, and it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.

This article is mainly for parents: five ideas for fitting screens into half-term without a row every time an episode ends. Take the ones that suit you and leave the rest.

Full disclosure before I start: I make pourquoi.app, an app that asks a question when you open certain apps. So I have a stake in this. I’ll come back to it at the end, and you can use every one of these ideas without it.

5 tips for screen time over half-term

1. Agree two or three screen-free times together

The simplest thing is to set a few screen-free times in advance. Meals. Short car journeys. The first hour of the morning. The hour before bed. It doesn’t matter which ones, as long as you decide beforehand, not when the phone is already in someone’s hand.

That’s also what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends in its family media plan: screen-free times at meals and before bed, rules you adapt to your family and talk through with your children, and a plan you revisit now and then. The holidays are a good time for that.

If you’re working for part of half-term, or they’re with grandparents or at a holiday club, keep it to one or two times everyone can stick to, such as meals and bedtime, and tell whoever’s looking after them.

A plan doesn’t always stick the first time, and it’s normal to have to remind everyone.

2. A short pause before opening an app, for them and for you

Five seconds. “What am I going on it for?” If the answer is “checking the weather” or “replying to Sophie”, go ahead. If it’s “no idea”, you can still go ahead. At least this time you noticed.

It doesn’t stop you doing anything; it just gives you a moment to choose. With a child, you can ask the question out loud before the tablet goes on: “What are you going to watch?” For yourself, it’s the same question, asked in your head.

The AAP also suggests turning off autoplay and notifications, which are designed to hold children’s attention. YouTube and Netflix each have a setting that stops videos or episodes from playing one after another automatically.

3. Set a time to stop, not a daily limit

“Screens off at 7pm” is easier to stick to, and to explain, than “an hour a day”. Everyone can see when it ends, and nobody has to keep an eye on the clock. That’s common sense rather than a research finding. Whatever time you pick, leave a screen-free stretch before bed, as the AAP suggests.

On a child’s iPhone, the Screen Time Schedule in iOS 27 parental controls can make whole categories of apps, such as games, unavailable after a set time; on Android, Family Link can cut off access at set times too.

4. Plan something other than screens

If a screen-free time is left empty, the phone soon fills it. Plan something else: a board game, a walk, a book, a game of cards, cooking together. Ideally it’s something people actually want to do, not a chore. Ask everyone what they’d enjoy.

5. Talk about screens without blame

With a younger child, “What are you watching?” opens more conversations than “Are you on your phone again?” The first shows you’re interested; the second sounds like a telling-off. With a teenager, it’s a bit different: see below.

And grown-ups’ phones count too: the AAP points out that parents are part of the plan, because children often copy them. The article on teens who bypass parental controls has more on this under “And your own phone”.

When your child won’t stop: 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds

You say it’s time to switch off, and back comes the answer: “Five more minutes!” That’s normal. Hardly anyone enjoys stopping a video or a game halfway through. Here are a few common-sense ideas, not research findings.

• Around age 9: give them a warning first, “Ten minutes left”, then “When this episode finishes, we stop”. Try not to stop them in the middle of a level, and say what comes next: tea, a walk, a bedtime story. With games that never really end, like Minecraft or Roblox, agree a stopping point instead, such as when they’ve finished what they’re building.
• Around age 13: agree the stopping time with them the night before or that morning, rather than while they’re on it. It can be later for a teenager, but still with a screen-free stretch before bed. Let them negotiate a bit: if they’ve had a say in the rule, it’s partly theirs. With a teenager, even a friendly “What are you watching?” can quickly sound like snooping; “What time do you think we should stop tonight?” can go down better.
• If it kicks off: “Let’s talk about it tomorrow morning.” In the evening, when everyone’s tired, nobody negotiates well.

As for age guidelines, England’s guidance for 5 to 16-year-olds is due this autumn, and the government says it will avoid blanket rules. For parents who want a number, the AAP suggests around one to two hours of entertainment screen time a day for school-age children and teenagers, not counting schoolwork, or more depending on the family. On social media, the UK government announced in June 2026 that it plans to stop platforms offering their services to under-16s, with the restrictions due to come into force in 2027. The article on what the studies on screens and children’s brains actually show goes through these guidelines in detail.

A rainy day, a long journey: what if things slip?

It will happen: a rainy day, a long journey, a Halloween film night, a box set you watch in one go. It’s not a failure, just one of those days. The next day, you go back to the ideas you’d picked, or you try a different one. These ideas are meant to fit the way you live, not the other way round.

Where pourquoi.app fits

pourquoi.app is an app I make for iPhone and Android (“pourquoi” is French for “why”). It’s mainly for you: pourquoi.app asks you “Why are you opening this app?” On iPhone, the question only comes up when you open one of the apps you’ve chosen. On Android, it comes up when you unlock your phone, and you can also have it come up for particular apps. You tap one of the suggested answers and carry on. Nothing is blocked. It helps most with the second idea, the short pause before opening an app.

Your teenager can use it too, on their own phone, if they want to. You can talk it through together, but it stays theirs. It isn’t a parental control: they set it up themselves, you don’t see their answers, and you can’t manage it from your phone. Their answers and stats stay on their phone. If they want to show you, that’s a good starting point for a chat. The one thing to avoid is installing it without talking to them first: the article on teens who bypass parental controls explains how to suggest it.

With the free version, the questions are unlimited, and you get your stats for today and the last seven days. Premium adds the full history and the weekly recap, and prices are on the home page. No study has tested the app over the holidays or with children, and I’m not promising it will cut your screen time. It helps you notice when you reach for your phone, that’s all. Setup takes a few minutes: iPhone guide, Android guide.

Frequently asked questions

How much screen time a day is OK over half-term?

There’s no number that works for everyone. England’s guidance for 5 to 16-year-olds is due this autumn, and the government says it will avoid blanket rules. For parents who want a number, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests around one to two hours of entertainment screen time a day for school-age children and teenagers, not counting schoolwork, or more depending on the family, alongside screen-free times at meals and before bed.

Should you ban screens over the holidays?

Not necessarily. A screen can mean a video call with the grandparents, a family film or a game played together. What matters is choosing when it’s on, rather than letting it fill every spare moment.

Is a film on a long car journey a failure?

No. A film you’ve chosen for part of the journey isn’t a failure. The difference is that you decided on it before setting off, rather than putting it on because nothing else was planned.

How do you get back into a routine after half-term?

Go back to the school-day routine two or three days before term starts, beginning with the time screens go off in the evening. One change at a time is enough.

About the author

I’m Nicolas Carrion, and I designed and built pourquoi.app, an app for people who don’t want to give up their smartphone but want to choose when it gets their attention. I’m not a paediatrician or a researcher: every figure links to its source, and I checked them all on 19 October 2026. My background and how to reach me are on the about page. I’ll update this article before the Christmas holidays.