Guides · Parents
Turn screen time into family time
Screens are not going away, and banning them rarely works. What parents can change is how screens are used: alone and scrolling, or together, talking and laughing. Experts who study children and media often make the same point: screen time with a parent who joins in is not the same as screen time alone.
What changes when you play together
- Conversation. "Why is Chile so long?" "Have you heard of Madagascar?" A shared map starts questions.
- Turn-taking and fair play. Racing, helping a younger sibling in Team trip, losing a close round gracefully.
- An ending. A game has rounds and a result screen. A feed never ends.
An easy way to start
- Pick two evenings a week for a 20-minute "map night".
- Play two short adventures, then let the children choose a bedtime story topic.
- Leave the phones in another room for those 20 minutes, grown-ups included.
Bedtime Atlas was made for exactly this: it has no ads, no feeds and no rewards designed to keep anyone playing alone, and every game ends.
Quick quiz: how well do you know the map?
Try it tonight, free. No ads, no sign-up for children, runs in the browser.
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Questions
Is screen time with a game better than watching videos?
When it is shared and active, it involves talking, thinking and taking turns. That is very different from scrolling alone.
How long should a session be?
Twenty minutes is plenty: a couple of rounds and a short story. Every game in Bedtime Atlas has a clear end.