We did not ban screens this year. We tried something gentler: making everything else a bit more tempting. A basket of books by the sofa. Paper and tape on the kitchen table. A standing invitation to the park after school.
The first two weeks were loud. Then something shifted. The children started inventing games with rules nobody else understood. Our son built a cardboard boat that took over the living room for a month.
Screens did not disappear. Friday night is still movie night, and it is better for being rare. But most afternoons now end with grass stains rather than a battle over the tablet.
