How much screen time is OK for learning apps?

Quick answer

The AAP's best-known guidance (2016) is no screens except video chat before 18 months and about 1 hour a day of high-quality media, shared with a parent, for ages 2 to 5. For school-age kids, and in its 2026 update, the AAP focuses on a family media plan and what screens crowd out rather than one number. Short sessions with an ad-free, well-designed learning app fit that approach.

Learning apps sit in a confusing middle ground: they're screens, but they promise to teach. Here is what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) actually recommends at each age, how learning apps differ from videos, a checklist for choosing a math app worth your child's time, and simple routines that keep screen time healthy.

What the AAP recommends, by age

The numbers most parents have heard come from the AAP's 2016 policy statement Media and Young Minds:

For school-age kids, the AAP says it is “moving beyond the 2-hour rule.” Its 5 C's of media guidance ask you to think about your Child (temperament and needs), the Content, Calm (how your child settles emotions and falls asleep), Crowding out (what screens replace) and Communication (talking about media early and often). For ages 5 to 10, the AAP's school-age advice adds: make a family media plan together, watch and play together, and put devices away at bedtime.

What changed in 2026

In January 2026 the AAP published a new policy statement, Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents, which it says replaces its earlier media guidance (AAP announcement). The announcement doesn't add a new minutes-per-day number. For families, it emphasizes a Family Media Plan, the 5 C's, modeling healthy habits, and media-free times and places such as the car or dinner. It also asks tech companies to design for children: autoplay off, no targeted ads to minors, and fewer features built to keep kids using a product longer.

If you want a number for a preschooler, the 2016 guidance of about an hour a day of high-quality media, shared with you, is still a sensible starting point. Just pair it with the 5 C's questions.

Is screen time bad for kids?

Not automatically. The AAP's current approach focuses less on the clock and more on what your child is doing, whether you're involved, and what screens push out of the day. An hour of fast-paced videos that ends in a meltdown and a late bedtime is a very different thing from ten minutes of a calm math game played next to you after school.

Signs that screens are taking up too much room: fights or tears every time they end, trouble falling asleep, less interest in play, books or friends, or homework slipping. The AAP's advice for toddlers and preschoolers also suggests not reaching for a device every time a child is upset or bored, so kids learn other ways to calm down.

How learning apps differ from passive video

A good learning app asks your child to do something: choose an answer, move counters, try again. It can give feedback right away and adjust the difficulty. That can make it closer to a card game or a workbook than to a cartoon.

Two cautions. First, “educational” in an app store is a marketing label, not a certification; anyone can use it. Second, many apps wrap a little learning in a lot of distraction: flashing rewards, mini-games, pop-ups and ads that pull attention away from the math. The AAP's 2016 statement advised steering young children away from fast-paced programs and apps with a lot of distracting content.

And no app replaces you. Real objects, conversation and play are still the foundation, especially for preschoolers; see how to make math fun at home and our no-prep kindergarten math games. Apps work best as one short piece of practice.

Checklist: what makes a good math app for kids

• Clear learning goals and a sensible order. You can tell which skill is being practiced, and skills build step by step, such as sums to 5, then to 10, then to 20.
• Adapts to your child. Missed facts come back later; the app moves on when your child is ready.
• Shows the math, not just right or wrong. Dots, ten-frames and number lines help children understand, not just guess.
• No ads and no manipulative design. Avoid loot boxes or random paid rewards, pay-to-skip, guilt messages, streaks that punish a missed day, and endless “one more” loops.
• Short sessions with natural stopping points. Levels that end make it easy to stop without a fight.
• Respects privacy. Under the federal COPPA rule, apps directed to children under 13 must get verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from them, with a few narrow exceptions. Read the privacy policy and the App Store privacy label: the less data an app collects, the better, and nothing should be used to track your child.
• A parental gate in front of purchases, settings and outside links.
• Works offline, which is handy in the car or on a plane.
• A progress view for parents showing what's mastered and what's still tricky.
• Kind to mistakes. No harsh buzzers or lost lives. This matters even more for anxious kids; see when a child struggles with math.

Routines that keep learning apps healthy

• Co-play at first. Sit together for the first few sessions and ask, “How did you solve that?”
• Pick a regular time and place, like after an afternoon snack in the living room, rather than whenever boredom strikes.
• Stop at a natural end. “Two levels, then we go outside” works better than an open-ended timer.
• Keep it short. Around 10 minutes is usually plenty of math practice for a young child, and short sessions spaced over time help learning last.
• Keep screens out of bedtime. The AAP recommends putting devices away at bedtime.
• Write it into your family media plan, so everyone knows when apps fit into the day.

How Mathing approaches screen time

We make Mathing, so we're not neutral, and we'd encourage you to put it through the same checklist. Here is how we designed it: there are no ads, no tracking and no timers, and your child's information stays on the device. Each level is a short set of 6 to 8 problems that ends with a plush prize, a natural place to stop. Missed facts come back in later games until they're mastered. The grown-ups area sits behind a parental gate and shows progress, including minutes played per day, and the app works offline. Mathing is a subscription app for iPhone and iPad, coming soon to the App Store; you can try the free browser demo today.

Frequently asked questions

How much screen time should a 5 year old have?

The AAP's 2016 guidance for ages 2 to 5 is about 1 hour a day of high-quality programming, ideally shared with a parent. The AAP's newer guidance puts less weight on a single number and more on a family media plan, good content, and making sure screens don't crowd out sleep, active play, reading and time together.

Does educational screen time count as screen time?

Yes, it still counts, but not all screen time is equal. A short, calm math game played next to a parent is very different from an hour of autoplay videos. The AAP's 5 C's approach asks you to look at your child, the content, how it affects calm and sleep, what it crowds out, and how you talk about it together.

Is screen time bad for kids?

Not automatically. Problems tend to come from what screens replace, such as sleep, active play and family time, and from content full of ads or designs that make it hard to stop. High-quality content, used for a reasonable amount of time and talked about together, is a different experience. Watch for fights when screens end, sleep trouble or lost interest in play.

What makes a good math app for kids?

A good math app teaches clear skills in a sensible order, adapts to your child's level, shows the math with pictures like dots and number lines, and has no ads, loot boxes or pressure streaks. It should have short sessions with natural stopping points, collect little or no personal data, keep purchases and settings behind a parental gate, and show you your child's progress.

How long should my child use a math app each day?

For most young children, a short session of around 10 minutes is plenty of practice. Short sessions spread over the week tend to help facts stick better than one long session. Use the end of a level or game as the stopping point, so finishing feels natural instead of being cut off mid-game.

At what age can kids start using learning apps?

The AAP advises avoiding screen media other than video chatting before 18 months. For toddlers and preschoolers, the AAP's guidance emphasizes high-quality content used together with a parent. Math apps make the most sense once a child is counting and starting to combine small groups, usually around ages 4 to 5. Hands-on play with real objects remains the foundation at every age.

Sources

• Media and Young Minds (policy statement), Pediatrics, 2016 — American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Academy of Pediatrics Calls for Creating a Child-Friendly Digital World (news release, January 2026) — American Academy of Pediatrics
• Kids & Screen Time: How to Use the 5 C's of Media Guidance — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Kids & Screen Time: 5 C's Questions for Toddlers & Preschoolers — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Kids & Screen Time: 5 C's Questions for School-Age Children — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Family Media Plan — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning (practice guide) — Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse
• Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions — Federal Trade Commission

Written by The Mathing Team for parents and teachers. Grade expectations follow the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics; your state or school may sequence skills a little differently.