All-Day Care 2026: What Changes for Children's Media Use?

In the summer of 2026, daily life shifts noticeably for many families with primary-school children: starting with the 2026/27 school year, Germany's legal entitlement to all-day care (Ganztagsbetreuung) comes into force – initially for every child entering first grade, and rolling out gradually through fourth grade in the following years. With this change, more than just the location of children's afternoons shifts. So does when, where, and with what kind of guidance they use digital media.

For many parents, this feels like a promise: more predictability, clearer care hours, less of the daily juggling act. At the same time, new questions arise that no legal text addresses. How much screen time still makes sense after eight hours of school and after-school care? What if your child wants to "finally relax" in the evening – and equates that with YouTube? This article puts the reform in context and shows how you can use the new situation as an opportunity for calmer, more confident media education.

What the legal entitlement actually means

The All-Day Care Funding Act (GaFöG) was passed back in October 2021 and integrated into Germany's Eighth Social Code (SGB VIII, §24a). It takes effect on 1 August 2026 for first-graders and expands by one grade level each school year until 2029/30¹. In practical terms: from the 2029/30 school year onwards, every primary-school child in Germany will have a right to all-day support.

The entitlement covers eight hours on five weekdays – including regular school hours. It applies during school holidays too, though states may set a closure window of up to four weeks per year. Important to know: this is a right, not a requirement. Parents can freely decide whether to use the offer fully, partially, or not at all. The initiative "Recht auf Ganztag" explicitly stresses that family choice remains intact².

More school, less screen? The effect on media use

When children are in school or care until late afternoon, less time remains for unstructured screen use at home. At first glance, this looks like an automatic relief – hours of tablet use in the afternoon simply disappear because the child isn't there. Research consistently shows that primary-age children spend a significant portion of their free time online³, a figure that could structurally decrease for all-day-care children.

The reality, however, is more layered. Three effects deserve attention:

Shift into the evening: What disappears from the afternoon can move to the hour before bedtime. From a sleep-medicine perspective, that hour is particularly sensitive.
Higher media hunger after long days: After eight hours of external structure, the need for retreat grows. Screen media often becomes the quickest path to self-regulation – and a flashpoint for conflict.
Media use inside the care setting itself: Many all-day programs integrate digital learning. The screen time accumulated there often stays invisible to parents.

Common Sense Media emphasizes the importance of staying in regular conversation with both child and care provider – not in a controlling way, but with genuine interest⁴. Knowing what your child has experienced digitally during the day allows you to design the evening more deliberately.

New routines for the family evening

When the afternoon happens at school, the family evening carries new weight. Often only two or three hours of deliberate shared time remain – and this is precisely where it's decided whether media connect or divide. The following principles have proven their value in practice:

Arrive first, screen later: A calm transition phase after pickup – snack, movement, conversation – noticeably lowers stress. Screens right at the door amplify sensory overload.
A clear time window instead of an open end: When only 90 minutes of free time remain anyway, 20 to 30 minutes of media time should be enough and agreed in advance. Tools like FamFlow make the remaining time budget visible to children themselves – without parents having to keep reminding.
At least 60 minutes screen-free before sleep: This rule isn't new, but it gains additional importance for all-day-care children because their days are more tightly packed.
One screen-free family ritual day per week: Whether a game night, cooking together, or a walk – a recurring anchor relaxes the entire family rhythm.

What parents should know about the care setting

With the new entitlement, schools and providers also take on greater responsibility to take a clear position on media education. Parents can – and should – ask during the enrollment meeting or the first parent evening:

Which digital devices are used in all-day care, and to what extent?
Is there a media-education concept that goes beyond mere usage?
How are children's personal devices (smartwatches, phones) handled?
What rules apply during homework supervision when research or learning apps are involved?

The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes that media education only succeeds when school and home pull in the same direction⁵. Open two-way communication is the foundation for this.

Age-appropriate recommendations for all-day-care children

The legal entitlement applies to children between six and ten – a span during which self-regulation and media literacy develop rapidly. The World Health Organization (WHO) sets concrete screen-time limits primarily for children under five (a maximum of one hour per day, with adult guidance), but the principle of conscious and guided media use applies across all age groups⁶.

First-graders (6–7 years)

Starting school is already a huge adjustment – add all-day care, and children are often exhausted in the evening. A maximum of 30 minutes of screen time per day is advisable here, ideally in parental company. Content should be calm, familiar, and age-appropriate.

Second to fourth grade (8–10 years)

At this age, children begin actively demanding screen time – often under social pressure from friends. A sensible approach is a weekly time budget of roughly five to seven hours that children manage themselves. Tools like FamFlow make this kind of self-responsibility visible and concrete – and they train exactly the skill children will need as teenagers.

The unspoken downside

For all the relief the reform promises, one thing should not be overlooked: the entitlement stands and falls with the actual availability of places. Research institutes and advocacy groups have been pointing to substantial gaps for years – both in care slots and in the necessary qualified staff. In several federal states, the supply rate falls significantly short of demand.

For parents, this means: even after August 2026, the situation will vary considerably by region. Those who receive no place or only a partial one will continue to face the same work-family question as before – only with higher expectations. In this situation too, conscious media use is not a "stopgap" but part of realistic family organization. The key is that screen time doesn't quietly fill the gap left by missing care without parents actively guiding it.

Fazit: A chance for more clarity

The legal entitlement to all-day care is more than a school-policy reform – it reaches deep into family life and changes the conditions for good media education. When school structures the afternoon, parents gain breathing room for what truly connects: shared meals, conversations, rituals without screens.

At the same time, new responsibilities emerge. Parents become architects of an evening that must allow for recovery and connection after a long day in care – not additional stimulation. Those who prepare early with clear routines, transparent rules, and honest dialogue with the care provider can use the 2026 reform for what it should be: a gain in time, predictability, and shared quality of life.

BMBFSFJ – All-Day Care Funding Act (GaFöG): bmbfsfj.bund.de ↩
Recht auf Ganztag – Das Ganztagsförderungsgesetz: recht-auf-ganztag.de ↩
Common Sense Media – The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens: commonsensemedia.org/research ↩
Common Sense Media – Tips for Parents on Media and Tech: commonsensemedia.org/articles ↩
American Academy of Pediatrics – Media and Children Communication Toolkit: aap.org ↩
WHO – Guidelines on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep for Children under 5 Years of Age: who.int/publications/i/item/9789241550536 ↩