Screen Time and Speech Development: What Parents Should Know
By Kimberlee Lewis, M.S., CCC-SLP
Screen time is a part of everyday life for most families. Between TVs, tablets, phones, YouTube, and educational apps, it can be hard to avoid—and you don't necessarily have to.
I know screen time can be a stressful topic for parents, especially when there are so many different opinions about how much is too much. Instead of feeling guilty about every minute your child spends watching a screen, I encourage parents to think about something else: Is screen time taking away from opportunities for my child to talk, play, and interact with others?
That's where the connection to speech and language development becomes important.
Why Interaction Is So Important
Children learn language by interacting with the people around them. They listen to us, watch what we're doing, imitate us, point to things, ask for what they want, and eventually begin using more and more words on their own.
And honestly, some of the best opportunities to build language happen during really simple moments.
Let's say your child points to a dog outside and says, “Dog!”
You might respond, “Yes, a dog! That's a big brown dog!”
That's it. You just added new words to something your child was already interested in.
Or maybe you're getting your child dressed and say, “Shoes on. Let's put your shoes on!”
You're building language without sitting down and doing a specific “speech activity.”
These little interactions throughout the day matter because your child isn't only hearing words—they're learning how communication works between two people.
So, Is Screen Time Bad?
Not necessarily.
You don't have to throw away the iPad or stop letting your child watch their favorite show. What matters is finding a balance.
If a child is spending a lot of time watching a screen by themselves, that's time they aren't necessarily spending talking, playing, exploring, or interacting with another person.
But screen time can look very different from family to family.
Watching a show together and talking about what's happening is different from your child watching videos alone for hours. You can make screen time much more interactive just by joining in every once in a while.
And it doesn't have to feel like therapy!
Try Talking About What They're Watching
If you're sitting with your child while they're watching something, make a few comments about what you see.
“Wow, that's a BIG truck!”
“Uh-oh! He fell!”
“Look at the puppy!”
You can also give choices like, “Do you want Bluey or Mickey?”
You don't have to constantly ask questions either. Sometimes simply commenting on what your child is interested in gives them more useful language to hear.
Another thing I love is taking something your child enjoys on a screen and bringing it into real life.
If they watched a show about baking cookies, you could pretend to make cookies together later. While you're playing, you might use words like mix, pour, cookie, hot, more, eat, or all done.
Now you've taken something they were already interested in and created another opportunity for communication.
Building Language at Home Doesn't Have to Be Complicated
One thing I always want parents to know is that you do not need to buy a bunch of special toys or create Pinterest-worthy activities to help your child's language development.
Use what you're already doing!
Talk while you're making dinner. Give your child choices when they're getting dressed. Sing songs in the car. Look at books together. Talk about what you see at the grocery store. Play with whatever toys your child already loves.
Even asking:
“Do you want the red cup or the blue cup?” gives your child an opportunity to listen, understand, make a choice, and communicate.
Another simple thing you can do is wait.
Sometimes we ask our children a question and, when they don't respond right away, we repeat the question or answer it for them. Try giving your child a few extra seconds. They may just need a little more time to process what you said and figure out how they want to respond.
What If My Child Already Has a Speech Delay?
If your child has difficulty with speech or language, please don't assume that screen time is the reason why.
There are many different factors that can affect communication development, and every child is different. Simply taking away a tablet isn't necessarily going to resolve a speech or language delay.
If you've noticed that your child isn't using as many words as you expected, has difficulty understanding what you say, gets frustrated when trying to communicate, or you just have that feeling that something isn't quite where it should be, it's okay to ask questions.
A speech-language pathologist can help you better understand your child's communication skills and determine whether they may benefit from additional support.
What I Want Parents to Remember
You don't have to be perfect about screen time.
Instead, focus on making sure your child has plenty of opportunities throughout the day to talk, play, listen, explore, read, make choices, ask for things, and interact with you.
You don't need to turn every moment into a speech therapy session either. Talk to your child. Follow what they're interested in. Play together. Give them opportunities to communicate.
Those everyday moments can go a long way.
Kimberlee Lewis, M.S., CCC-SLP
Confident Communication Speech Therapy
