Christmas gift kids life better
Can a Christmas gift actually make your kid's life better?
Here's what the research says about screens vs building sets.
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1. Their brain
Kids 8 to 11 who kept fun screen time to 2 hours a day or less scored higher on thinking tests. The average kid gets 3.6 hours.
Pediatricians say play builds the skill of chasing a goal and ignoring distractions. A build is one goal, step by step.
Lancet Child & Adolescent Health 2018 (4,520 kids) · American Academy of Pediatrics 2018
2. Their mood
More tablet time at age 3½ was linked to more anger outbursts a year later, and angrier kids then used tablets more. It's a cycle.
Pediatricians say playing together with a parent helps kids handle stress.
JAMA Pediatrics 2024 · American Academy of Pediatrics 2018
3. Fun while they build. A win when they finish.
80% of kids' apps use tricks like streaks and rewards to keep them playing. The game never really ends, and when the screen goes off, there's nothing to show for it.
Our sets are made to be fun from the first brick. Then they finish, and they're holding something they built themselves: “I made that.”
JAMA Network Open 2022 (133 apps) · Journal of Consumer Psychology 2012, “The IKEA effect”
4. Their sleep
Kids who use a device at bedtime have about twice the odds of not sleeping enough. Pediatricians recommend no screens in the hour before bed.
Zero screens, zero glow, and no “one more level.”
JAMA Pediatrics 2016 (20 studies, 125,198 kids) · American Academy of Pediatrics 2016
5. Everyone can play. No practice needed.
To play their game with them, you'd need at least 200 hours in. Otherwise you're stuck at the start, so you're not having fun and neither is your son, because you can't keep up.
With a set, there's nothing to get good at. From the first minute, you're as good at it as someone who's built a hundred. If you can follow the pictures, you're in. One of you reads the step and the other snaps it on, so Dad, Grandpa, anyone can join in.
6. Skills for later
Kids aged 8 to 12 average 5½ hours a day of entertainment screens.
Kids aged 4 to 7 who often played with blocks and puzzles had stronger spatial skills, which is the ability to turn a picture into a real thing.
Common Sense Media 2021 · Psychological Science 2015 (847 kids)
Humvee H1
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- 96 ABS brick pieces
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Sources
- Walsh et al., Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2018. Link
- Yogman et al., “The Power of Play,” Pediatrics (AAP), 2018. Link
- Fitzpatrick et al., “Early-Childhood Tablet Use and Outbursts of Anger,” JAMA Pediatrics, 2024. Link
- Radesky et al., “Manipulative Design in Mobile Applications Used by Children,” JAMA Network Open, 2022. Link
- Norton, Mochon, Ariely, “The IKEA effect,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2012. Link
- Carter et al., “Portable Screen-Based Media Device Access or Use and Sleep Outcomes,” JAMA Pediatrics, 2016. Link
- AAP Council on Communications and Media, “Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents,” Pediatrics, 2016. Link
- Common Sense Media, “Media Use by Tweens and Teens,” 2021. Link
- Jirout & Newcombe, “Building Blocks for Developing Spatial Skills,” Psychological Science, 2015. Link
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