EXERCISING AN ACTIVE IMAGINATION
Since the Science Daily article was published, electronic toys have gotten fancier. These days parents and researchers alike are more adamant that they’re simply not as beneficial as their non-electronic counterparts (or plain old one-on-one time with a parent). This summer, Wired’s Jenny Williams began an experiment in which she drastically limited (or eliminated when possible) her children’s access to electronics. Last month, she wrote, that the experiment has been an “unqualified success”. Her kids complained less about being bored, read more, played outside, and played with their toys much more.Williams theorized that when kids play with electronics, they “get immediate feedback, immediate gratification. When you read books, play with toys, or go outside and use your imagination, you have to do a bit more work. You’re actively using your brain instead of passively using it.”
