Finding Classic Play Patterns in Digital Toys

by David Kleeman View Bio

David Kleeman

Strategist, analyst, author, speaker, connector — David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, child-friendly practices for more than 30 years. He began this work as president of the American Center for Children and Media and is now Senior Vice President of Global Trends for Dubit, a strategy/research consultancy and digital studio.

When he began this work, “children’s media” meant television. Today, he is fascinated by, and passionate about, kids’ wide range of possibilities for entertainment, engagement, play and learning. David uses research, insights and experience to show that much may change, but children’s developmental path and needs remain constant.

David is advisory board chair to the international children’s TV festival PRIX JEUNESSE, Board Vice President for the National Association for Media Literacy Education, and on the board of the Children’s Media Association and the Advisory Board of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. He was a Senior Fellow of the Fred Rogers Center.

David travels worldwide seeking best practices in children’s entertainment and learning. He has spoken (and, more important, listened!) on six continents and writes extensively for varied audiences.

In many ways, it’s a Golden Age for children and play. There are more options – physical toys, games, digital devices and content – than ever before. There’s a downside to more play options, though – too many choices make it harder to find high-quality toys ideally suited to a specific child’s needs, interests, and abilities.

While child development milestones haven’t changed, the context in which children grow, play, and learn has … radically. Kids go through the same physical, intellectual, and social/emotional stages as previous generations, but ubiquitous technology is still evolving. Moreover, it’s “additive:” balls, dolls, board games, and books didn’t disappear when digital devices arrived.

When I first began exploring this topic, my mind drifted to something I owned as a child – a toy telephone. Mine – in the sixties – was a rectangular box with a handset and rotary dial. In the 1970s, the toy got an updated touch-tone keypad. In the nineties kids played with plastic flip phones. A decade ago, the toy smartphone arrived, and today you can get a pretend smartwatch. Over 50 years, even with constant change of context, the toy’s timeless developmental function remained – to enable a child to imitate the adults in his or her life.

Even in a digital world, our research has found that it’s important to draw on classic play patterns that children have enjoyed for decades, such as coddling a doll, kicking or throwing a ball, learning to follow the rules of a board game.

According to The Genius of Play, whose mission is to raise awareness about the pivotal role of play in child development, play is essential for children to reach healthy physical, cognitive, social, and emotional developmental milestones. These play patterns - are innate and essential, so applying them – even to digital toys – results in products that are easy for children to understand and use.

Joan Almon, founder of the Alliance for Childhood, said that “the best toys are 90 percent child and 10 percent toy.” That’s a great guide when choosing a new plaything:  what is the child’s contribution vs. the value that the toy (physical or digital) adds?

Here are some ways to look for classic play experiences when considering which digital toy or game to choose for your child:

• Does equipping a doll with technology change the way your child can play with it? Can the doll still be carried, fed, and bathed? If the doll uses artificial intelligence to “communicate” with children, does the AI guide or restrict the conversation so much that it’s no longer spontaneous or imaginative?
• Does adding tech to a ball make it difficult to roll, throw or kick? If so, is it in fact still a ball?
• Does a digital board game make all the decisions so that the players are left watching the computer play?
• Is a screen-based construction app like a bottomless box of pieces with which the child can freely envision and create, or is building limited to a few pre-programmed models?

For more inspiration and play ideas, visit www.TheGeniusofPlay.org and follow @GeniusofPlay on Facebook and Instagram!

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• Questions to Ask When Choosing Digital Toys & Games

  • Does technology change the way your child can play with the toy or enhance the play patter?
  • Does a digital board game make all the decisions so that the players are left watching the computer play?
  • Does the app allow the child to freely envision and create, or is it limited to a few pre-programmed models?