“What are you making?” I asked my kids as I dropped  into their basement play area. I glanced quickly around and noted several cut up cardboard boxes, a couple of old Tic Tac containers, multiple rolls of duct tape, and the remains of various lego kits. They were clearly creating something that didn’t come with assembly instructions. 

“We aren’t done yet,” my youngest responded. He quickly followed up with, “Do we have a box cutter?”

While at first glance this scene seemed chaotic and even a bit risky, it also encapsulates the magic of free play. Completely absorbed in their project, they were bringing something from their imaginations to life. 

Having been witness to hundreds of projects like these, I knew that the visible record of all my kids’ work would be far from refined. I also knew that the less visible skills they were practicing are invaluable. Executive function skills like emotional regulation, creative problem solving, persistence, empathy, negotiation and communication. 

We now have a mountain of research that tells us that this kind of free play is a brain building gymnasium. In the absence of rigid rules or adult directions, kids experiment, make mistakes, adapt, problem solve, and create. These experiences are so important to children’s learning, health, and development that the American Academy of Pediatrics has proposed that doctors start writing “prescriptions for play.” 

Can we plug into play?

Let’s be clear that my kids’ lives are far from some idyllic adventure playground. They, like most kids, are just as likely to seek out their tablets or computers for entertainment. And, admittedly, screen time often feels like a far cry from the rich learning of basement cardboard land. 

Our kids choose screens for all kinds of reasons including happy distraction, fun, and entertainment. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. Yet surveys indicate that parents often turn to apps and games with learning in mind. Indeed, “educational” apps dominate the app store and promise all kinds of powerful outcomes for kids and teens alike. 

High-quality apps used in educational settings can boost important foundational literacy and math skills for young children. But for most of us, a closer look at the commercial app store reveals that the word “educational” just means that the developer labeled it as such. According to one group of researchers, the marketplace for education apps remains “chaotic and unregulated.” Too many of them leave what we know about the science of learning behind and focus on passive rote skills instead. 

Research backs this up. An analysis of literacy apps shows that the vast majority take a “drill and practice” approach to the basics. This can be helpful for some kids in specific situations. It most certainly prompts many adults to beam with pride and marvel at their child’s tangible learning. Yet the foundation for learning is often less visible – including practicing those messy, complex and harder-to-see life skills. 

As author of the book Screen Time Lisa Guernsey prompts, we should “Ask not ‘What is coming out of the iPad?’ But, ‘What is going into it?” 

Choosing Tech With Play in Mind

That’s why kids need plenty of screen-free time to grow and practice the executive function skills that fuel academic learning and protect mental health. But we shouldn’t write off all screen use as entirely antithetical to this. Instead, we can look beyond “educational” marketing labels and choose apps and games through the lens of play. 

For starters, this will help us resist the urge to only download apps that operate under what founding editor of The Children’s Technology Review Warren Buckleitner calls “smother mode.” Smother mode operates in stark contrast to the principles of play and instead delivers:

• Rigid instructions, 
• Constant rewards, 
• Prescribed tasks. 

Joan Almon of the Alliance for Childhood said that good toys should be “90% child and 10% toy.” While the tools at kids’ fingertips may be a lot more sophisticated than blocks or cardboard, there is still a lot of wisdom in this advice.

Instead of smother mode, think about the skills that kids bring to cardboard, clay, or canvas. Ask if they can bring the same to any of their digital spaces. In other words, as author of the book Screen Time Lisa Guernsey prompts, “Ask not ‘What is coming out of the iPad?’ But, ‘What is going into it?” 

Does the app/game/platform:

• Center youth or children in the design and operation? (This is important for both young children and teens alike.)
• Have the age appropriate safeguards and security needed for exploration?
• Encourage imagination and creativity?
• Allow for open-ended exploration and experimentation (like sandbox or world-building components)?
• Encourage perspective-taking and problem solving?
• Allow for safe collaboration, interaction, and connection? 
• Have a compelling storyline and diverse representations of characters that children can expand on offline? 

If you are looking for specific recommendations, checkout this list of sites that help you select high quality apps. We also shouldn’t forget that the basics like video, photo, or audio can spur creative play that bridges to real world experiences and relationships. Explore these five ways to use media creatively with your child. 

And if you think the principles of play are just useful for young children, think again. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s latest report Digital Play for Global Citizens, provides examples of digital play for tweens and teens that encourage reflection, perspective taking, exploration, and collaboration.

Kids Need to Play: Online and Offline

Joan Almon of the Alliance for Childhood said that good toys should be “90% child and 10% toy.” While the tools at kids’ fingertips may be a lot more sophisticated than blocks or cardboard, there is still a lot of wisdom in this advice.

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with some screen time that is just a happy distraction or entertainment. But when we are choosing technology in hopes that it will help our kids and teens grow and learn, let’s not forget to let them play. 

When we are choosing technology in hopes that it will help our kids and teens grow and learn, let’s not forget to let them play.