Nursery World - Happy doing nothing

We should resist putting screens in front of children, and instead encourage them to entertain – and think for – themselves

Maybe I’m starting to show my age, but the length of screen time (three hours in the latest Childwise survey) afforded to children under the age of five makes me feel as if we are letting children down. This was emphasised when I saw a child trying to ‘swipe’ a book. Quality early education emphasises the importance of moving the ‘concrete’ into the ‘representational’, and anything viewed on a screen has to fall into the category of the symbolic.

The danger is that we don’t give children the opportunity to spend time in the material world, losing the opportunity to refine their core skills and knowledge that aren’t always available from a programmed device. I am often surprised and moved by children’s take on the world, their imagination, creativity and the way they ‘play’ with ideas; a delight in ‘non-sense’. Jean Piaget documented the joy in early symbolism, and Lev Vygotsky and the American developmental psychologist Howard Gardner demonstrate how it winds its way ever upward on a social path. If too many experiences exist in the dominion of screens, is depth lost?

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included