Have screens replaced toys? Not exactly. But they have changed the way many children play. Here's why different types of play still matter, and how parents can help children find a healthy balance.

Key takeaways

• Children need different types of play, not just screen time or traditional toys.
• Gaming can be a healthy form of play when it encourages creativity, problem-solving, or social interaction.
• Healthy play changes as children grow, but it remains essential throughout childhood and adolescence.
• Parents should focus on what screens are replacing rather than counting every minute.
• Routines, positive alternatives, and parental controls can help children build healthier digital habits.

What Toy Story 5 gets right about childhood today

For nearly 30 years, Toy Story movies have been about toys competing for a child's attention. Whether it was a shiny new action figure or a forgotten cowboy, Woody and his friends have always faced the same fear: being replaced. In Toy Story 5, they're up against a very different kind of rival. Pixar's latest film introduces Lilypad, a frog-shaped tablet that quickly captures the attention of 8-year-old Bonnie as she's trying to navigate new friendships. The studio describes the story as "Toy meets Tech."

It's a storyline that's likely to touch many parents’ anxieties:  Is my child spending too much time on screens? Do they play enough? Could all this screen time affect their development?

To help answer these questions, we spoke with a therapist about what healthy play looks like in a world where physical toys, outdoor adventures, board games, video games, and creative apps can all be part of childhood. How can we help children experience enough of every type of play they need to grow, learn, build relationships, and stay healthy?

Why different types of play matter for child development

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, play supports healthy brain development and helps children build language, problem-solving abilities, emotional regulation, creativity, resilience, and social skills. But no single activity develops all of these equally. A child who spends every afternoon playing soccer benefits differently from one who builds elaborate LEGO worlds, pretends to run a restaurant with friends, or creates stories through drawing. Together, these experiences complement one another.

As clinical psychologist and cognitive behavioral psychotherapist Anca Ivu explains, children develop best when they experience a variety of play rather than relying on just one form of entertainment.

Different types of play nurture different skills:

• Free play encourages independence, creativity, and decision-making because children choose what to do and how to do it.
• Imaginative play helps children practice language, understand emotions, and experiment with different social roles.
• Physical play strengthens coordination, confidence, and overall health while reducing stress.
• Creative activities such as drawing, music, crafts, or building develop problem-solving and flexible thinking.
• Social play teaches cooperation, empathy, communication, and conflict resolution.
• Games with rules, including board games and many sports, help children develop patience, self-control, strategic thinking, and resilience when things don't go their way.
• Digital play, when age-appropriate and balanced with other activities, can also have value. Building in Minecraft, designing digital art, creating videos, coding, or solving puzzles encourage creativity and problem-solving rather than passive consumption.

Parents don't have to replace digital play with traditional toys. Instead, they can aim for variety. Over the course of a typical week, children should have opportunities to move, imagine, create, connect with others, solve problems, and, as they grow older, use technology in ways that encourage active participation rather than passive scrolling.

Healthy play by age: what children need as they grow

Research in developmental psychology shows that play evolves alongside children's cognitive, emotional, and social development. As children grow, the way they play changes, but its importance never disappears.

Ages 2–5: Discovering the world through play

During the preschool years, play is children's primary way of learning. According to Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children learn largely through symbolic play. A cardboard box becomes a castle, a blanket becomes a cave, and a spoon becomes an airplane. These imaginative scenarios help develop language, creativity, executive function, and emotional understanding.

At this age, healthy play includes plenty of free, unstructured play, pretend games, sensory exploration, daily movement outdoors, and regular opportunities to play alongside parents or other caregivers.

Ages 6–12: Play becomes more social and challenging

As children enter school, their thinking becomes more logical and they begin enjoying activities with rules, teamwork, and achievable challenges. Friendships also become increasingly important, making play a valuable way to practice communication, cooperation, and problem-solving.

Healthy play during these years includes outdoor play, sports and physical activity, board games, creative hobbies, time with friends, and age-appropriate video games. Imaginative play also continues to have value, even if it becomes less frequent. Many children still invent stories, build fictional worlds, or create characters well into late childhood, supporting creativity and cognitive flexibility.

Teenagers: Play doesn't disappear, it changes

Although teenagers may no longer spend afternoons pretending to be pirates or superheroes, they still need play. It simply takes different forms.

From a developmental perspective, adolescence is the period when young people build their identity. According to Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, hobbies and recreational activities help teenagers discover who they are, develop independence, and strengthen relationships with others.

Healthy play for teenagers can include sports, music, photography, drawing, creative projects, board games, gaming, coding, designing virtual worlds, or other activities that encourage creativity, challenge, and social connection.

As Anca Ivu explains, when we look at child development as a whole, healthy play means that, over the course of an ordinary week, children have opportunities to run, imagine, create, connect with others, solve problems, and, as they grow older, use technology in active and meaningful ways. Each experience stimulates different aspects of development, and together they help children become curious, adaptable, and resilient adults.

Is gaming considered play?

Yes, gaming can absolutely be a form of play.

For years, much of the research around video games focused on their risks. But a growing body of evidence suggests that certain games can also support children's development when they're age-appropriate and part of a balanced "play diet." Researchers have found that some video games can strengthen cognitive skills, perseverance, social interaction, and problem-solving, although the benefits depend largely on the type of game and how it's played. 

As Anca Ivu explains: "Gaming can be a genuine form of play when it encourages children to explore, solve problems, create something new, or collaborate with others. The important question isn't simply whether a child is using a screen, but what they're actually doing while they're using it."

Not all online activities offer the same developmental value: building a world in Minecraft encourages creativity and problem-solving, playing Mario Kart with siblings can strengthen social skills. On the other hand, watching YouTube Shorts, endlessly scrolling social media, or jumping from one short video to the next is largely passive consumption.

Rather than asking whether gaming is good or bad, parents can ask: Is this activity helping my child create, think, move, connect with others, or learn something?

If the answer is yes, gaming can absolutely be a healthy part of childhood. The key is making sure it complements, not replaces, the many other kinds of play children need to thrive.

Signs screen time is replacing healthy play

"The concern isn't that children enjoy screens. It's when the screen becomes their only source of entertainment and they stop seeking other ways to play, explore, or connect with people", says Anca Ivu.

Here are a few signs that the balance may need adjusting:

They struggle to entertain themselves without a screen. It's perfectly normal for children to say they're bored. In fact, boredom often sparks creativity and encourages them to invent games, build something, or use their imagination. The bigger concern is when they no longer know what to do without a device and automatically reach for a screen whenever they have free time.

Related: Your Child Says “I’m Bored” After Screen Time? Here’s How to Respond

They move less than they used to. If screen time consistently replaces running, climbing, riding a bike, playing sports, or simply being active outdoors, children miss out on the physical activity their growing bodies and brains need.

Real-life friendships become less important.  Online games can absolutely be social, but they shouldn't replace face-to-face interactions altogether. If a child regularly turns down opportunities to spend time with friends or family because they'd rather stay on a device, they may be missing experiences that help develop empathy, cooperation, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.

Sleep, school, or family life start to suffer.  Difficulty falling asleep, feeling tired in the morning, neglecting homework, or frequent arguments about putting devices away can all be signs that screen use is becoming difficult to manage.

Related: How to Move Your Child’s Bedtime Earlier and Make It Easier for Everyone

Anca Ivu also highlights a less obvious consequence of replacing real-world play with constant digital stimulation.

"When children spend less time in real-life play, they have fewer opportunities to practice tolerating discomfort. Video games offer immediate stimulation and fast feedback, but everyday life requires waiting, negotiating, dealing with frustration, and trying again after failure. These experiences are essential for developing patience, flexibility, and emotional self-regulation, skills children will rely on throughout their lives." 

How parents can encourage a healthy balance between play and screens

"Children usually don't give up a fun activity unless there's another enjoyable alternative waiting for them. Instead of focusing only on taking screens away, parents should focus on creating opportunities that naturally invite children to play, explore, and connect.", the therapist recommends. 

Here are a few ways to encourage a healthier balance:

• Look at what screens are replacing. Instead of focusing only on the amount of screen time, ask yourself what activity has disappeared. Has your child stopped playing outside? Reading? Drawing? Spending time with friends?
• Make offline activities easy and inviting. Children are much more likely to put a device down when there's something else they genuinely want to do. Keep art supplies within reach, leave building toys out, suggest a bike ride, start a family board game, or simply make it easy for friends to come over. You don't have to entertain your child all day, just create opportunities for play to happen.
• Replace daily negotiations with predictable routines. Clear family routines reduce arguments because everyone knows what to expect. For example, homework comes before gaming, devices stay away during family meals, screens are turned off before bedtime, and everyone spends some time outdoors each day. Consistency matters more than perfection.

Related: 10 Screen Time Rules Every Parent Should Set for a Healthy Digital Balance

• Use parental controls as a support tool, not a punishment. Parental controls work best when they're introduced as part of the family's routines, not as a consequence for bad behavior. Explain that they're there to help build healthy habits, just like bedtime routines or bike helmets, rather than to "catch" children doing something wrong.
• Remember that children notice your digital habits, too. If phones are always on the dinner table or conversations are constantly interrupted by notifications, children learn that screens always come first. Modeling healthy boundaries yourself is one of the most effective lessons you can teach.

Related: Are you “phubbing” your child? What it means for their digital safety

• Frame limits as something that protects your child, not something that takes things away. Instead of saying, "Time's up because I said so," try explaining why the break matters. For example: "Let's stop for now because your brain needs a chance to rest." Helping children understand that limits protect their sleep, attention, creativity, and wellbeing makes those boundaries easier to accept.

Related: How to set screen time rules with grandparents, babysitters, and nannies

Tools can help, too. Bitdefender Family Plans include Parental Control, which lets parents set daily internet time limits, create schedules and downtime, manage app usage, and encourage healthier digital habits without turning every screen-time conversation into an argument. Beyond helping families build routines, a Bitdefender Family Plan also protects children's devices, online privacy, and accounts from scams, malicious websites, phishing attempts, and other online threats, making them a useful companion to the conversations and boundaries that help children thrive online.

Find out more about your family safety plan, here.

FAQs

Can screen time replace traditional play?

No. Digital play can complement childhood, but children also need physical activity, outdoor play, imaginative play, and face-to-face social interaction for healthy development.

Is gaming considered play for children?

Yes. Games that encourage creativity, exploration, collaboration, or problem-solving can be a healthy form of play when balanced with physical, outdoor, imaginative, and social activities.

Can video games benefit child development?

Some age-appropriate video games can help children develop problem-solving skills, creativity, perseverance, and teamwork. The benefits depend on the type of game and how it fits into a balanced lifestyle.

How much play do children need every day?

There is no universal number of hours for play, but experts recommend children have regular opportunities to move, create, imagine, explore, and connect with others every day.

What are signs my child spends too much time on screens?

Warning signs include losing interest in offline activities, moving less, avoiding friends or family, sleep problems, school difficulties, and relying on screens as the only source of entertainment.

Are parental controls a good way to manage screen time?

Yes. Used as part of a family's routines—not as a punishment—parental controls can help parents set healthy screen time limits, schedules, downtime, and app limits while encouraging balanced digital habits.