KidzCoins launched by Kent mums Gail Isted and Vanessa Brown

Two Kent mums believe they have come up with the solution to managing your child's screen time.

They have teamed up to launch KidzCoins, which children trade in return for reducing the time they spend with their gadgets.

The idea has the backing of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in London, which sees it as a way of tackling childhood obesity.

KidzCoins are the brainchild of Gail Isted and Vanessa Brown from Wateringbury.

Mum-of-two Gail said: "After chatting to lots of parents on the school run it became clear that many shared our frustration about the growing impact of gadgets on family life.

"We sat round a kitchen table and, over a few cups of coffee, created a simple and positive way to help parents with managing screen time while motivating children to take some responsibility too.

"It’s about trying to establish good habits early on which should mean our children will have a healthier lifestyle balance in the long run. All the feedback we’ve had from parents in the village who’ve tested the product has been extremely positive.

"Although the product is aimed mainly at 3 to 11-year-olds, it has also been used successfully in trials involving 12 and 13-year-olds. Some families even said it had made the adults examine their own digital habits too.”

Vanessa, mum to two boys, explained how KidzCoins work: “Families agree a screen time limit each day or week with their child, they then receive coins which have time values on them (15, 30 and 60 minutes) up to that limit and the children have to trade a coin in when they want some recreational screen time.

"When they run out of coins, they run out of screen time so they quickly learn to manage their time. It’s simple but effective. It’s also very flexible which means the coins can be used to suit the needs of individual children or family circumstances."

Packs of coins are available to buy from the website.

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