How we got our kids to put the screen down, without a single argument

By Emma · Mother of two · 22 August 2026 · 5 min read

I promised myself I would never become one of those parents who nags about screen time. Then I had kids who discovered Roblox and YouTube, and suddenly I was that parent. Every day. At every dinner.

Does that sound familiar? You’re not alone. And it turns out it’s not just a feeling we parents have—the numbers are actually worse than I thought.

The numbers that made me act

One evening, after a particularly stubborn screen-time argument, I started digging into the research, and what I found in the Pep Report, one of the largest reviews of children’s health in Sweden, honestly made me feel a little sick:

The Public Health Agency’s recommendation is an average of 60 minutes of activity that raises the heart rate per day. Our kids ended up at maybe 60 minutes a week. The rest was screen time.

And here’s what I realized: you can’t nag a screen away. The screen is more fun than the nagging, every time. The only thing that works is offering something more fun than the screen.

That’s how we found the solution (by chance)

It was my sister who tipped me off. Her kids had stopped fighting about the tablet after she put up, and I quote, a "boxing thing with lights" on the wall in the hallway. I was skeptical. We have a box at home full of "activity stuff" that was used for a week.

But the video she sent made me order it that same evening: her two kids were QUEUING in the hallway. To get to train.

The thing is called Gymfit Music Boxing Trainer and it’s simpler than it sounds: a board mounted on the wall with six striking pads that light up in different patterns. The kids connect their own music via Bluetooth, the lights flash in time, and they have to punch the right pad in time. The score appears on a display.

So it’s a game. But unlike the games on the tablet, you stand up, move your whole body, and really work up a sweat.

What happened at our place

The first evening: both kids played until we had to tell them to stop so the neighbors below us could sleep. (Ironically, the neighbors heard nothing—the striking pads are cushioned. It was the laughter that made noise.)

After three months, our everyday life looks like this:

• The kids go to the wall on their own after school, no one has to say anything
• The family leaderboard is on the fridge, the loser clears the table
• The siblings compete WITH each other instead of arguing over the tablet
• The speed is adjusted so the eight-year-old and twelve-year-old play at their own level
• My husband and I do our own rounds after bedtime, better than we’d like to admit

Is screen time zero now? No, of course not. But that hour a day the Public Health Agency talks about? We now manage it without me having to open my mouth. That’s the beauty of it—it does the nagging for me.

For those of you who want to try it

Boxing gloves are included in the package, assembly took maybe ten minutes, and it works from about age six and up (adults included, trust me). Right now, Gymfit also has an offer that makes it cheaper than a couple of months of streaming subscriptions:

Special offer right now

Gymfit Music Boxing Trainer

1 299 kr 699 kr Save 600 kr

Gloves included 30-day guarantee Free shipping over 699 kr

See the offer here →

If it doesn’t become a hit at your place, you have a 30-day guarantee, so the risk is zero. But I suspect that, just like us, you’ll wonder why you didn’t put it up sooner.

Emma, 38

Mother of two, coffee addict, and blog founder. Writes about family life, everyday chaos, and things that actually work. This post contains affiliate links.