Summer is the perfect time for families to unplug, get off their screens and spend time with one another. But when you hear the phrase “screen-free summer,” realistically, what comes to mind? Does the idea of truly unplugging sound fun, impossible, relaxing, daunting? Perhaps all of these? 

Several years ago, when my kids were young, we turned off the T.V. at the beginning of summer and kept it off for the entire months of June, July, and August. This was before social media and smartphones, when T.V. was the center of our kids’ lives. 

I’ll be honest, the first two weeks of summer were miserable. We were so used to noise and distraction, we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. But eventually, our kids got used to it. They began inviting friends over, we spent more time together as a family, and by the time September rolled around, they didn’t even want to turn the T.V. back on!

Now, you may be thinking getting your kids away from their phones and iPads for an entire summer would be much harder than this, but don’t give up on the idea just yet. You can successfully have a screen-free (or, mostly screen-free…