08/09/2026
📱🌱 SCREEN TIME & THE EARLY YEARS – THE 2026 UPDATE 🌱📱
There has been a significant update to the guidance around screen use for children aged 0–5 in England.
And importantly for Early Years practitioners, this isn't simply about counting minutes on a screen.
The new guidance asks us to think much more carefully about HOW, WHY and IN WHAT CONTEXT screens are being used.
👶 UNDER 2s
The government guidance recommends avoiding screen time altogether, except in exceptional circumstances such as video calls with parents or carers.
🧒 AGES 2–5
The recommendation is to try to keep screen time to no more than 1 hour a day – and less if possible.
It also recommends avoiding screens:
🚫 At mealtimes
🚫 In the hour before bedtime
But the guidance is very clear that screen time isn't the whole story.
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👀 SCREEN TIME vs SCREEN USE
The new Early Years guidance makes an important distinction.
Screen time = how long a child spends looking at a screen.
Screen use = how, why and in what context the screen is being used.
This includes:
✔️ The quality of the content
✔️ The pace of the content
✔️ The purpose
✔️ How engaged the child is
✔️ Whether an adult is interacting with them
So a child passively watching a fast-paced video is very different from an adult and child looking at photographs together, talking, predicting and discussing what they can see.
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👩🏫 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EARLY YEARS SETTINGS?
The government guidance says screen use in settings should be:
LIMITED + CAREFULLY PLANNED + PURPOSEFUL
It should have a clear learning and development aim.
Before using a screen, practitioners can ask:
💭 Is the screen necessary?
💭 Could we achieve this more effectively through a hands-on, real-world experience?
💭 Does this extend and enhance learning – or replace the educator?
💭 Are children actively interacting, talking, thinking and responding?
💭 Is the content genuinely appropriate for Early Years?
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🌳 WHAT SHOULD SCREENS NOT REPLACE?
Young children need opportunities for:
🗣️ Talking and back-and-forth interaction
📚 Stories and books
🧸 Imaginative play
🎨 Creativity
🌱 Exploration
🏃♀️ Physical activity
🌳 Outdoor play
👥 Relationships with other children and adults
😴 Sleep and rest
The guidance specifically says screens should not replace high-quality educator-child interactions.
A digital story, song or nursery rhyme cannot replicate the richness of an engaged adult who makes eye contact, changes their voice, responds to children's reactions and follows their interests.
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📺 WHAT ABOUT SCREENS IN THE BACKGROUND?
The guidance recommends not having screens on in the background.
Background screens can distract children from:
🗣️ Social interaction
🧸 Play
🏃♀️ Active learning
👥 Engagement with adults and other children
It also recommends avoiding screens as a way of:
🚫 Occupying children
🚫 Managing behaviour
🚫 Calming children
🚫 Filling transitions
🚫 Keeping children passively entertained
Instead, children should be supported to develop their own self-regulation through relationships, co-regulation, play and meaningful interaction.
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🎬 WHAT CONTENT SHOULD WE CHOOSE?
If a screen is being used, content should be:
✔️ Age appropriate
✔️ Slow-paced
✔️ Predictable
✔️ Repetitive where appropriate
✔️ Advert-free
✔️ Free from scrolling and autoplay
✔️ Checked by an adult BEFORE being shown
The guidance specifically recommends avoiding:
⚠️ Fast-paced, over-stimulating content
⚠️ Lots of rapid cuts and movement
⚠️ Flashing images
⚠️ Fast-talking characters
⚠️ Overlapping music and dialogue
⚠️ Complex plots
⚠️ Algorithm-driven content
And interestingly, the guidance says apps and software aren't automatically educational or safe simply because they are marketed as being for children.
Professional judgement is still essential.
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🤖 WHAT ABOUT AI?
The guidance currently recommends avoiding children's use of AI until better evidence is available about its impact on young children.
This includes toys with built-in AI features.
That's a particularly interesting development for Early Years as AI becomes increasingly embedded in children's toys, apps and digital experiences.
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♿ WHAT ABOUT SEND?
This is really important.
The 1-hour guidance does NOT apply to screen-based assistive technology for children with SEND.
For some children, technology can be essential for:
🗣️ Communication
❤️ Wellbeing
🌍 Participation
🧩 Access to learning
💬 Quality of life
This is not simply "screen time".
It is assistive technology, and the guidance recognises the vital role it can play.
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📸 WHAT ABOUT IPADS, PHOTOGRAPHS & OBSERVATIONS?
Digital devices still have a legitimate role in Early Years settings.
For example:
📸 Taking photographs of children's learning
🔎 Researching a question together
🎵 Supporting a purposeful music or movement experience
📖 Sharing a digital resource alongside real books
🎨 Supporting creativity
💬 Supporting communication
🧩 Using assistive technology
📝 Recording assessments
However, digital devices should be used proportionately and in short stints, without taking practitioners away from interacting with children.
The guidance also reminds settings to minimise photographs/videos of children and ensure they are shared securely.
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🏃♀️ AND THIS IS WHERE THE BIGGER PICTURE MATTERS...
The latest UK Chief Medical Officers' guidance says children aged 1–5 should aim for at least 180 minutes of physical activity across the day.
That can include:
🏃 Running
🧗 Climbing
🎨 Messy play
💃 Dancing
🎯 Throwing and catching
🧸 Object play
🚶 Walking
🛴 Scooting
🚲 Cycling
🌳 Outdoor play
🏊 Swimming
Every movement counts.
So when we think about screen use, the question isn't simply:
"How many minutes were they on a screen?"
We should also be asking:
👉 What did that screen time replace?
Did it replace:
📚 a story?
🧸 play?
🌳 outdoor exploration?
🗣️ conversation?
🏃 movement?
👥 social interaction?
😴 sleep?
That is where the real Early Years conversation needs to happen.
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🌱 AND FROM 1 SEPTEMBER 2026...
There is another important change.
The updated EYFS framework states that Early Years providers must have regard to the screen-use guidance for Early Years settings.
So this isn't just a conversation for parents.
It is becoming part of the wider expectations around Early Years practice.
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💭 A QUESTION FOR EVERY EARLY YEARS PRACTITIONER
Before reaching for the screen, ask:
"What does this screen add that a real-life, hands-on experience couldn't?"
And if there is a genuine reason to use it...
Use it intentionally.
Use it briefly.
Use it together.
Talk about it.
Interact with it.
Then switch it off. 📱➡️🌱
Because technology has a place in children's lives.
But it shouldn't take the place of childhood. ❤️
📚 OFFICIAL SOURCES – EARLY YEARS SCREEN USE 2026
📱 Screen Use – Help for Early Years Providers
https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/screen-use
📋 Changes to the EYFS Framework from 1 September 2026
https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/support-for-practitioners/changes-to-the-eyfs-framework
👶 Screen Use by Children Aged Under 5 – Independent Report
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/screen-use-by-children-aged-under-5
👨👩👧 New Screen-Time Guidance for Parents of Under-5s
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-screen-time-guidance-for-parents-of-under-5s
🏃♀️ Physical Activity for Early Years – Birth to 5 Years
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/physical-activity-guidelines-early-years-under-5s/physical-activity-for-early-years-birth-to-5-years-text-of-the-infographic
