As part of its Art of Storytelling campaign, Playmobil spent the recent summer surveying 2,000 parents and 2,000 children aged 4–9. The findings tell an intriguing story.
It found that children were also more than twice as likely to reach for a screen when they’re bored as to make up a game or story. This is supported by how 27% of parents say their children spend three to four hours a day on screens during the holidays while they’re working. Perhaps this is linked to the other finding of one in five parents (21%) running out of ideas for imaginative play with their children.
The emphasis of screen time is obvious. Yet, this does not mean all children have lost interest in creativity. 13% of children said they’ll never be too old for pretend games.
Playmobil has coined this the ‘Imagination gap’: screens are preventing kids from exercising their creativity in practical ways. This does not mean children are no longer creative. It is that screen time has crowded out opportunities to be so.
Commenting on the news, Adam Moore, Marketing Communications Manager at Playmobil, said:
“As the government develops its new screen-time guidance, it’s important to remember that the balance children need doesn’t stop at the school gates. At home, it’s also about helping children find opportunities for imagination and play in the world around them. Our research found three in four parents (75%) feel children now have less room to invent their own play, and 60% believe they were more imaginative as children than today’s generation.
“Imaginative play is where children practise the skills clinicians are worried about: talking, problem-solving and thinking for themselves. But parents tell us it isn’t always easy to get started. Nearly a third (31%) say requests for phones, tablets or TV make it harder to encourage, and one in five (21%) admit they run out of ideas.”
“Screen free play doesn’t take elaborate activities, just a simple story prompt, a handful of figures and a few minutes of a grown-up joining in before letting the child decide what happens next.”
Playmobil’s Art of Storytelling campaign has led to the creation of a collection of imagination prompt cards. In collaboration with children’s presenter Maddie Moate and child psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer, these prompt cards are designed to promote creative play. Each card begins with an open-ended story starter, encouraging children utilise their creativity to create their own characters and adventures with their toys or themselves.
More information can be found at https://www.playmobil.com/en-gb/
