From Screen Time to Dream Time: Balancing Tech Use and Play-Based Learning

Play-based learning remains a fundamental aspect of early childhood education, fostering creativity, social skills, and cognitive abilities. At the same time, children are growing up surrounded by technology, raising concerns about the impact of excessive screen time on their development. Finding the right balance between technology use and play-based learning is crucial for promoting holistic child development. This article explores the challenges and opportunities of navigating both screen time and play time, as well as offering insights into strategies for creating a healthy tech-play balance both at home and in educational settings.
Negative Effects of Excessive Screen Time
A recent study on the Effects of Excessive Screen Time on Child Development found that children’s heavy reliance on screen media can harm their cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional growth. They then suggest that setting boundaries, utilizing parental controls, and demonstrating good screen behavior are all techniques that caregivers may use to manage children’s screen usage.
Positive Effects of Early Computer Literacy
However, the positive effects of early computer literacy in our digitally dependent world are also significant. Why Children need MORE Technology Time takes a look at the right kinds of activities to offer students to ensure they are using their screen time well.
Take Age Into Consideration
Appropriate screentime guidelines depend a good deal upon the age of the learner. The educational needs of a child change and grow as they do. This not only applies to the amount of screen time recommended, but also to the types of technology use most beneficial for learning. Our Tech Tips for Tots: Using Technology for Early Childhood Education has very helpful tips for getting started with positive screen time suggestions for preschool.
Balance is Key
Clearly, technology use and play-based learning can be balanced. One important place to look when attempting this balance is the fulcrum on which your children’s learning rests. Ask yourself on what considerations you are basing your decisions about what kind of technology to incorporate in your routine?
Accomplish Your Main Objectives
As with any task, knowing what your objectives are is rather integral to actually achieving them. In this case, you should review if the tech you’re planning to use is accomplishing the objective in the most effective way. Sometimes, your objective is going to be related to technological literacy and should therefore be the primary consideration. At other times, your main objective will be in another academic discipline, and at that point you need to ponder further how to best accomplish your goals. Does that objective always have to be accomplished with tech or can it be screen free (and vice versa)?
Encouraging Kids to be Content Creators Instead of Content Consumers has some ideas on how to use technology in more innovative ways that accomplish both tech and academic objectives simultaneously.

Incorporating Tech Tools into Play-Based Learning
Educational apps and digital tools can actually foster play-based learning! They offer interactive experiences that engage children and reinforce key educational concepts in a fun and memorable way. Keep play at the heart of your learning experiences by using technology to enhance exploration, creativity, and collaboration.
Conversely, there are also many ways to teach basic computer skills while remaining unplugged. Check out our Computer Basics Booklist for some excellent and informative physical resources. How to Teach Basic Computer Skills to Preschool Students has more great ideas about how to accomplish this as well.
It’s all about hanging onto the best of both worlds!
The Role of Individuality
Some students thrive on variety, while others need routine. Some respond better to the flashy graphics, while others find them distracting. Some need story-telling components to pique their interest, while others respond to timed or competitive games. Similarly, there is no one perfect amount of screen time that works for every child.
Resources

Screen Time Booklet
Introduce a lesson on Digital Citizenship with this eBook that goes over Screen Time. In this booklet students learn about what screen time is and how to balance screen time and physical movement activities. Share the PDF with students for a paperless experience or print the nonfiction text out as a booklet.
Conclusion
Balance screen time with activities that inspire hands-on exploration, artistic expression, and open-ended play to nurture a well-rounded skill set. In conclusion, be mindful of the effects of technology use, set clear boundaries, and embrace the power of unstructured play. Tailor these guidelines to the needs of each individual child whenever possible. Parents and educators can then create environments that nurture creativity, imagination, and holistic learning experiences for children. Ultimately, finding harmony between tech use and play can lead to richer, more fulfilling childhoods that lay the foundation for lifelong skills and wellbeing.

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