A screen time calculator for kids — per day, per year and to 18
A couple of hours a day does not sound like much — until you add it up. This screen time calculator turns your child’s screen time on school days and weekends into an average per day, hours a week, hours a year and the total until age 18, and shows what share of their waking hours it takes. It then compares the figure with the World Health Organization’s limits for under-fives and helps you write a simple family media plan.
It is meant to start a conversation, not to judge. Screens can be creative and social, and no number fits every family. Everything runs in your browser; the plan you tick is remembered on this device only.
How to use the Screen Time Calculator
- Choose your child’s age.
- Enter typical recreational screen time on a school day and on a weekend day, in hours and minutes.
- Enter school or nursery hours to see how a whole school day fits into 24 hours, and an optional daily target.
- Read the yearly total, the share of waking hours and the guidance for that age.
- Tick the rules that suit your family and tap Copy our plan to share it.
Screen Time Calculator features
Year and lifetime totals
Hours a week, a year (365.25 days) and until the 18th birthday, plus equivalent full days.
Guidance by age
WHO limits for babies, toddlers and preschoolers; WHO and AAP advice for older children and teens.
24-hour day budget
Sleep (from the AASM ranges), school, active play, screens and everything else on one bar.
Target and savings
Set a daily target and see how many hours a year it frees for other things.
Family media plan
Eight common device-free rules to tick and copy, remembered on this device.
Screen time recommendations by age
In January 2026 the American Academy of Pediatrics replaced its earlier media guidance with the policy statement “Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents”. It moves away from a single time limit and focuses on the quality of what children use, on how apps are designed, and on families agreeing their own plan. The older AAP figures many websites still quote — no screens except video calls under 18 months and an hour a day for 2- to 5-year-olds — came from the statement it replaced.
| Age | Guidance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | Screen time not recommended | WHO 2019 |
| 1 year | Sedentary screen time not recommended | WHO 2019 |
| 2–4 years | No more than 1 hour a day; less is better | WHO 2019 |
| 5–17 years | Limit recreational screen time; 60 minutes of active play a day on average | WHO 2020 |
| All ages | A family media plan, device-free times and places (meals, car rides, weekends), grown-ups modelling good habits | AAP 2026 |
How the totals are worked out
Weekly = school-day time × 5 + weekend-day time × 2. Daily average = weekly ÷ 7. Yearly = weekly × 365.25 ÷ 7, and the total to age 18 multiplies the yearly hours by the years left. The share of waking hours uses the middle of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine range for the age — 9 to 12 hours a night for 6- to 12-year-olds, for example.
Worked example: an 8-year-old with 2 hours on school days and 4 hours on weekend days has 18 hours a week, about 2 h 34 min a day — 939 hours a year, or 39 full days. At the same rate until 18 that is about 9,400 hours, a little over a year of 24-hour days.
Making a plan that sticks
- Agree the plan together and write it down; children keep rules they helped to make.
- Protect sleep first: screens off an hour before bed and devices out of bedrooms overnight.
- Swap, do not just cut: plan what fills the time — outdoor play, reading, clubs, friends.
- Use built-in parental controls and turn off autoplay where you can.
- Track progress with the habit tracker, and check bedtimes with the baby sleep schedule for younger children.
Screen Time Calculator FAQ
How much screen time is too much for a child?
For under-fives the WHO gives clear limits: none under 2 and no more than an hour a day for 2- to 4-year-olds. For older children there is no single number; watch whether screens push out sleep, activity, homework and time with family.
How does the screen time calculator work out a year?
It adds five school days and two weekend days for a weekly total, then multiplies by 365.25 ÷ 7 weeks.
Should schoolwork count as screen time?
Usually not. The guidance is about recreational, sedentary screen time. Count TV, videos, games and social media, and leave out homework and video calls with family.
What is a family media plan?
A short set of rules your family agrees on — when and where screens are used, what is off-limits and how grown-ups set an example. The AAP recommends one for every family.
Does the AAP still say 1 hour a day for 2- to 5-year-olds?
That figure came from AAP guidance that its 2026 policy statement replaced. The WHO limit of no more than 1 hour a day for 2- to 4-year-olds still applies.
Is this medical advice?
No. It is general information as of October 2026. If screen use is affecting sleep, mood or school, talk to your child’s doctor.