By Karly Smith
In today’s digital age, it’s almost impossible to avoid screen time. From online learning and entertainment to social interactions and gaming, tech is woven into nearly every aspect of daily life for kids. While screens offer undeniable benefits, Carley McGauran (psychologist and cyber safety educator) advocates the importance of balancing screen time with green time.
“Green time and balancing that with screen time is going to help your kids set up healthy habits and routines that will support them while growing up in this digital world.”
What is green time?
Carley breaks it down into activities that encourage outdoor play, physical activity, social interaction, mindfulness, and creative exploration by engaging with the world around them. It’s an approach rooted in her own family routines over the years with her three children (now all teenagers). She describes it as non-negotiable, just like other simple health concepts such as the importance of brushing your teeth or eating healthy foods.
So, what does green time actually look like?
Outdoor time
“Green time definitely includes traditional outside time—getting out and about in nature,” Carley explains. With the sun starting to shine, this could mean exploring local spots like Williamstown and Altona Beach, Newport Lakes, Cheetham Wetlands, or Point Cook Coastal Park, for some fresh air.
Moving time
Physical activity is a big part of green time, and Carley encourages any kind of “moving time” that gets kids active. This can range from playing a game of tag to riding a bike. Recently, she bought two inexpensive scooters online for her daughter and a friend, which has been hugely successful in encouraging fun outdoor social time while also getting exercise.
Mindfulness
Carley highlights growing scientific evidence that supports how beneficial mindfulness is for children’s developing brains (and for all of us, really). Mindfulness could be as simple as playing with playdough, doing a jigsaw, listening to meditation music, or simply asking your children to pay attention to as many sounds as they can for two minutes whilst on a walk. “Mindfulness doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s just about slowing down and tuning in,” she says.
Social time
Carley explains that her daughter’s screen time is largely focused on communicating with her friends through various platforms. Acknowledging this, green time also provides an opportunity to fulfil the social needs but in a different way. A great example is her daughter’s enjoyment of using scooters with a friend, combining moving time, outside time, and social time in one activity.
Reading time
We understand that some kids naturally love to read, while others may be less keen. “It’s about being creative with how to weave some reading time into their day.” This does not always have to be explicit reading time, but could be reading a recipe, instructions for a board game, street signs or listening to an audio book.
Unstructured (or ‘boring’) time
Carley is a strong advocate for what she says kids might call “boring time.” This is unstructured time when kids put away screens and are challenged to find something to do on their own. “At first, you’ll probably hear the whining and moaning, but give it a little time, and their brains will naturally start to explore and be creative. Not only is feeling bored not a bad thing for our kids, it’s actually critical to their development”.
Green time isn’t a one size fits all approach. There are a plethora of options that can be tailored to each child’s unique needs and can be even more powerful when combined. Although Carley emphasises green time as a non-negotiable, it isn’t about strict schedules or rigid rules. Rather it is about creating a balanced week that includes both screen time and healthy activities that support essential life skills and capacities. By weaving in green time daily, you’re setting up habits that help kids stay active, connected, and engaged with the world around them.
Karly Smith, along with Carley McGauran (psychologist and cyber safety educator), are part of the Inform & Empower team. Inform & Empower is a Trusted eSafety Provider based in Footscray who partner with over 200 primary schools around Australia.
