How much screen time is good for children?

With “Smart Daycare Centers,” Jena Shows How Media Education Can Succeed Even Among the Youngest Children

Smart City Jena presents a training series at the Thuringian Conference on Early Childhood Education—generating significant interest from other municipalities and daycare centers

A video on a smartphone, a favorite show on a tablet, or looking at photos together: Digital media have long been part of everyday family life. But especially when children are still young, parents and early childhood educators face many questions. At what age does it make sense to introduce media use? How much screen time is appropriate? And how can children learn to use digital media responsibly?

The Jena Smart City Project is also addressing these questions. Through the “Smart Daycare Centers” training series, the city supports early childhood educators in introducing children to digital media in an age-appropriate way and in advising parents on how to handle smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

The fact that Jena has taken up this important topic was evident on October 7, 2026, at the 6th Thuringian Symposium on Early Childhood Education in Daycare. Under the theme “Shaping Best Practices Together—Early Childhood in the Digital World,” more than 100 participants gathered to discuss opportunities, challenges, and the responsible use of digital media in the early years of life.

Not as early as possible, but as mindfully as possible

A key message from the symposium: Digital education does not mean that even the youngest children should spend as much time as possible in front of screens. On the contrary. During the first three years of life, the use of screen-based media should be avoided as much as possible. Even after that, it’s important to use digital media for limited periods of time, in an age-appropriate manner, and together with adults.

This is exactly where “Smarte Kitas” comes in. The training series teaches early childhood educators how to meaningfully integrate media education into the daily routine at daycare centers. It’s not just about technical devices, but above all about a mindful, safe, and creative approach to digital media.

Collaboration with parents also plays an important role, as many questions about media use arise at home. Well-informed early childhood educators can provide families with guidance, address concerns, and work with them to find ways to ensure age-appropriate media use.

What was developed in Jena is intended to help others as well

At the symposium organized by the Thuringian Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, education manager Stefanie Teichmann and Sandra Wiegand-Neumann—a specialist advisor for daycare centers and coordinator of “Smarte Kitas”—presented the Jena training concept.

At their booth at the “Market of Opportunities,” they engaged in conversation with representatives from other Thuringian municipalities, daycare providers, and early childhood educators. There was great interest, particularly in how the experiences from Jena could be applied to other institutions.

After all, the training series was not developed exclusively for Jena. The city also wants to share its experiences and demonstrate how other municipalities and daycare providers can establish similar training programs for early childhood educators and media coaches—or adopt individual components of the program.

“Through the Smart City initiative, we were able to address the topic of responsible media use in early childhood education at an early stage. The symposium has reinforced our commitment to continuing on this path. It is important to us that early childhood educators gain confidence in working with digital media and can provide parents with sound advice. At the same time, we are pleased if our experiences can also help other municipalities,” says Stefanie Teichmann, education manager and subproject leader for the Smart City project in Jena.

Smart City Starts in Preschool, Too

The “Smart Daycare Centers” initiative demonstrates that digitalization is far more than just new technology. It also addresses how to prepare children for an increasingly digital world, what support families need, and how early childhood educators can be supported in this process.

With this training series, Smart City Jena is therefore investing not in maximizing screen time, but in knowledge, guidance, and the responsible use of digital media.

And the discussions at the Thuringian symposium show that what is being tested in Jena can also provide inspiration beyond the city limits. This is entirely in line with the guiding principle of the Smart City initiative: Jena digitizes, learns, and shares.