Updated August 28, 2026
Smart devices are not automatically good or bad for family life. What matters is what you do with them, who participates, what safeguards are in place, and whether screens crowd out sleep, movement, schoolwork, or face-to-face time.
Used intentionally, technology can help relatives stay close across distance, give families new ways to create and play, and make everyday communication easier. The goal is not to put a device at the centre of family life. It is to use the device as a tool for a shared experience.
The short version: choose activities that invite conversation or cooperation, join your child when you can, ask permission before sharing family information, and agree on times when everyone puts devices away.
How can technology bring families together?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages families to look beyond a single screen-time number and consider the quality, context, and purpose of digital media. Its current digital-media guidance for families recognizes that screens can offer social, creative, and educational benefits. It also warns that attention-grabbing features can interfere with sleep, play, and family time.
These eight ideas turn that balanced approach into practical family activities.
1. Watch, listen, or play together
Co-viewing and co-playing change a screen from a solitary activity into something the family can discuss. Pick one episode, short video, podcast, or age-appropriate game and experience it together. Ask what surprised your child, which choice they would have made, or whether the message felt realistic.
For younger children, talk about what is happening and connect it to real life. With older children and teens, let them show you a creator, game, or trend they enjoy. Curiosity usually opens a better conversation than an interrogation.
The AAP’s co-viewing guidance recommends making shared media active and using it to build conversation and healthy habits. You might pause to predict the ending, try a dance or cooking idea, or carry the conversation offline when the screen is done.
2. Create a regular video-call ritual
Video calls are most connecting when they have a simple purpose. A grandparent might read one chapter every Sunday, cousins can show one project they made that week, or a travelling parent can join breakfast for ten minutes. A predictable ritual removes the pressure to fill a long, unstructured call.
Keep the activity appropriate to the child’s attention span. A preschooler may enjoy showing a toy more than answering questions. A teen may prefer a shorter call built around a shared interest. Connection matters more than call length.
3. Build a family memory project—with permission
Use a shared album to collect photos from a trip, scan older family pictures, record a relative telling a story, or build a digital family recipe book. Add names, dates, and short captions while people still remember the details.
Preserving a memory does not require posting it publicly. Ask before uploading someone else’s photo or story, especially when children are involved. Avoid sharing school details, regular locations, travel plans, or other information that could reveal where a child can be found. Give older children and teens a meaningful say in which images become part of their online footprint.
4. Make something together
A device can supply instructions while the real activity happens away from the screen. Choose a recipe, simple repair, craft, drawing lesson, music tutorial, or backyard project. Assign each person a role: one reads the steps, one gathers supplies, one photographs the process, and one handles cleanup.
For online instructions, check the full materials list before starting and have an adult review any step involving heat, tools, chemicals, or small parts. The family result does not need to look like the video. The useful part is solving problems together.
5. Use games that reward cooperation
Choose a game where family members solve, build, move, or plan together. That might be a cooperative console game, digital trivia, a music challenge, a scavenger hunt using photo clues, or a map-based activity that leads to an offline walk.
Set expectations before playing: how long the session will last, whether in-game purchases are allowed, who may use voice or text chat, and what happens if the game stops being fun. Adults should check the game’s current age rating, communication features, and privacy settings rather than relying only on the title or artwork.
6. Let messages open the door to a real conversation
Some children and teens find it easier to begin a difficult subject in writing. A message such as “Can we talk later?” or “I need help with something” can provide a low-pressure first step. Parents can respond calmly, thank the child for reaching out, and make time for an attentive conversation.
Messaging should be a bridge, not a replacement for support. If a child may be in immediate danger, has been threatened, or talks about self-harm, move beyond casual texting and contact appropriate urgent help. In Canada, the official 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline is available by call or text at any time; call 9-1-1 when someone’s safety is at immediate risk. Outside Canada, use the appropriate local crisis or emergency service.
For more offline relationship ideas, see how to connect with your kids.
7. Plan family life together
A shared calendar, grocery list, meal board, or trip document can help children see how a household works. Younger children can add a picture for library day. Older children can enter practice times, suggest a meal, or help compare travel options within a budget.
Keep the system simple and do not turn every family interaction into an alert. Decide which notifications are useful, switch off the rest, and review who can see each calendar or document. A planning tool should reduce mental clutter, not create another stream of interruptions.
8. Learn digital safety as a family
Privacy and safety conversations are more effective when they are ongoing and apply to adults too. Before trying a new app or platform, review what information it collects, who can contact the account, whether posts are public, how location sharing works, and whether purchases or targeted advertising can be limited.
Invite children to point out questionable ads, exaggerated claims, manipulated images, and pressure to keep scrolling. Adults can model the same habits by asking before posting a child’s photo, putting phones away during conversations, and admitting when a notification distracted them.
Parental controls can support safer use, but they work best alongside trust and communication. The AAP’s guidance on parental controls and media limits recommends relationship-building, shared use, and regular conversations rather than relying on controls alone. If your family needs software-level help, start with the features and limitations in this guide to comparing parental-control apps.
Create a family media plan that protects connection
Positive activities work better when everyone knows the boundaries. Build a short family media plan together and revisit it as children grow, schedules change, and new apps appear.
- Name the purpose. Decide whether a device is being used to learn, create, communicate, plan, or relax.
- Protect routines. Keep devices from interrupting sleep, meals, homework, physical activity, and important conversations.
- Create screen-free places and times. Meals and the period before bed are practical starting points.
- Use one screen at a time. Turn off background video and unused devices to reduce distraction.
- Disable attention traps where possible. Review autoplay, endless notifications, and personalized recommendations.
- Set safety rules. Cover downloads, purchases, contacts, public posting, location sharing, and what to do when something feels wrong.
- Apply the plan to adults. Children notice when grown-ups ignore the rules they created.
- Review instead of spying. Check the plan together and adjust it when a rule is not working.
The AAP’s family media plan guidance includes screen-free zones, quality content, privacy settings, parental controls, and adult role-modelling.
Frequently asked questions
Are smart devices bad for family relationships?
Not automatically. A device can distract from a conversation, but it can also support a video call, shared game, creative project, or family plan. Look at the content, context, people involved, and what the activity displaces.
Can screen time count as family time?
It can when family members are actively participating, communicating, or creating together. Watching separate feeds in the same room is different from co-playing a game, discussing a film, or using a tutorial to complete an offline project.
How do I stop phones from taking over family time?
Start with one shared rule that applies to adults and children, such as no phones during meals or charging devices outside bedrooms overnight. Turn off nonessential notifications and decide in advance when the shared activity will end.
Should parents monitor everything a child does online?
Supervision should match the child’s age, maturity, and the risks of the platform. Use age-appropriate controls and check-ins, explain what you are reviewing and why, and make it easy for children to report uncomfortable content or contact. Safety tools should support communication rather than replace it.
Technology is most useful to families when it points back to people: a conversation, a shared laugh, a project, a memory, or a plan. Choose one activity that fits your household, try it together, and protect enough device-free time for the relationships the technology is meant to support.
