Where Did the Play Go? How Screens are Reshaping Childhood

The Shiny Screen and the Silent Playground

Walking into McDonald’s, I look around for the play area. There it is: two, brightly lit screens with two cushioned stools in front. That’s it. Outside, displayed above the dumpster is a big, red, hollow car, the last remnant of the classic plastic Playplace. Where did the play go?

While well-intentioned, the shift towards screen-based entertainment in children’s spaces, including some ministries, can inadvertently detract from the vital developmental benefits of active play. Screens and entertainment are passive. Play is active and engaging.

This movement to screens instead of active play isn’t just showing up in fast-food restaurants. It has made its way into churches. But globally, churches are joining a “screen-free church” movement to minimize or eliminate screens in favor of more embodied worship and discipleship.

The Decline of Active Play: What Children Lose

My local McDonald’s replaced their Playplace a couple of years ago, moving it from an outside amenity to an indoor one, to better suit our Pacific Northwest weather. It isn’t often that I drive past and don’t see families taking advantage of the space.

Yet, more and more McDonald’s, schools, churches, families, and more are opting for screen-based entertainment. It is a societal trend. And, I understand the short-term ease, safety, and cleanliness involved in choosing screens. But what are the long-term impacts of this trend?

The Importance of Physical Play

Play is how God designed children to learn. But, screens are not play. They are entertainment.

Physical play has critical benefits that help children develop fully and healthily. It is through physical play and movement that children learn to use and control their bodies. It develops their coordination, as well as both gross and fine motor skills.

Imagine a child flying down the tube slide in a Playplace for the first time. They go so fast they soar off the end of the slide and plop onto the cushion underneath. The next time the child goes down, they put their feet or hands out near the bottom to slow themselves down. No plop. This is learning through play.

Physical play also allows the child to engage their imagination and grow their creativity. It involves problem-solving and social skills. The screens allow for limited social interaction. Through physical play, they learn more than sharing and turn-taking. They learn limits on how hard they can tag a friend without hurting them. Children learn empathy. They can experience and grow from others’ feelings and responses.

Jesus offers us a full and abundant life, including children. Play is a necessary part of that abundant life. Throughout the Old Testament, we see people rejoicing in God using the verb “gîyl” for “to rejoice.” But this isn’t just an emotional rejoicing; this is a full-bodied rejoicing that often leads to spinning, as kids tend to do in play. Because in God’s “presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11 ESV).

The Pitfalls of Passive Entertainment

When we consistently replace play with screens and passive entertainment, we steal, kill, and destroy an essential part of the childhood God intended for little ones. We rob children of opportunities to create, imagine, and engage in the world around them.

A recent study on play by Mattel suggests that “digital gaming remains the most common way to play from age 6 to 60.” Not only does this demonstrate a misunderstanding of the concept of true play, but it also carries many risks and pitfalls.

Passive entertainment in balance with active, true play can be a stress reliever through the release of endorphins, but at the risk of attention problems, social development, and depression. It also does not allow the practice of gross and fine motor skills for younger children and can cause overstimulation through current editing practices.

Playful Learning: Benefits for a Child’s Development and Faith

When I consider the benefits of play for children, I am reminded of how the psalmist praises God in Psalm 92:5.

“How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!”

(Psalm 92:5)

Play allows our children to create great works while thinking deeply, in a developmentally appropriate way that screens and other passive entertainment cannot.

Embodied Learning and Experiencing God’s Creation

Jesus calls us to “love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] mind and with all [our] strength.” (Mark 12:30).  He calls us to fully embodied worship, and it is for children, too.

God designed children to learn through their bodies using movement, exploration, and experimentation. It is God’s intentional design. Each wiggle, jump, crawl, roll, and spin helps build their bodies and brains. And when we invite God into that play, it becomes even more formative.

As concrete thinkers, touching, smelling, tasting, and exploring allow children to understand the world around them. Imagine the difference between watching a nature show and being in nature, smelling the flowers, touching the leaves, tasting the wild blackberries, and having your hair tousled by the wind. Pair this with conversation, questions, and wondering about God creating everything around, wow! This embodied experience in Creation helps children to know and believe with their whole embodied selves who God is, what he is capable of, and where they fit into his Creation.

Social Interaction and Building Community

Despite all of our “social networks,” we are in a time of extreme loneliness. Socializing through screens is not an abundant life. God created us for community. Children cannot learn to live in community through screens. They need to play.

Inviting children to participate in collaborative play provides opportunities to practice empathy, communication, and conflict resolution. Child-led play especially allows kids to learn through trial and error, to forgive, express their ideas, and meet others’ needs.

Playing with other children teaches them to cooperate, share their gifts, and serve others. These social skills help children build community and experience what it means to be a part of the Church.

Imagine children playing out the story of a paralytic man whose four friends lowered him through a roof to meet Jesus and be healed. They carry a doll on a mat. The doll falls off, and they have to figure out how to walk together at the same pace. One child might need to slow down, while another needs to pick up their speed. The key here is that the children had space and time to figure out why the doll was falling and to work together to find out how to solve the problem. What a lovely way for children to play through a Bible story, practice community, and develop their social skills.

Imaginative Play and Understanding Spiritual Concepts

Imaginative play opens up even more possibilities for children to explore and understand spiritual concepts. It can be challenging for children under 7 or 8 to differentiate between their pretend and genuine emotions. This age range offers a golden opportunity for pretend and imaginative play for growing in their faith.

Children who pretend to count the stars in awe with Abraham or imagine being on the boat with the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm have truly felt the awe of God’s infinite promise, the anxiety of the wind and the waves, and the peace and amazement of Jesus saying, “Be still.”

Role-playing allows children to make the Bible stories personal and then take those experiences with them into the rest of their lives. Through role-playing, children can also discover where they fit in the church, their family, and God’s world.

Imaginative play could be reenacting the stories, using dolls, puppets, stuffed animals, or even storytelling through pictures or art. The possibilities are endless, but a key to the benefits is that the child wants to participate.

Reclaiming Active Engagement

While I am not firmly in the completely screen-free church camp, I do see a tendency to overuse screens in many Kids’ Ministries. Most often, the reasons for using screens lean towards volunteer-centric motives. Using screens to share the Bible story means that leaders have less to prepare, making it easier for volunteers.

Some may also feel that kids like screens more than volunteers. But children want a connection over a screen. Any adult genuinely making an effort to share the joy of the Lord with enthusiasm and authenticity will be engaging for children.

It is all about relationships if we want to minister to children like Jesus. Screens don’t make that impossible, but we potentially miss many opportunities for meaningful interaction and authentic learning. A screen will not wonder, laugh, pray, or empathize with children as a leader can.

Passive entertainment does not embody the abundant life we want children to know.

Strategies for Active, Playful Learning in Church

What do we do instead of screens? We play, and we allow children the opportunity to lead us. We use our space as the third teacher, equipping our environment with toys and tools to explore the Bible and our faith. The beauty of child-led play is that it doesn’t require minute-by-minute planning that exhausts many teachers and leads to burnout. It empowers children’s curiosity to show us the way.

Children will learn best from the adults they have relationships with, reading Bible stories from children’s Bibles or even full-text Bibles. Choose a translation appropriate for your denomination and the age of the children, then read with gusto and enthusiasm. God’s Word is exciting and alive! We can help bring it to life for the kids.

Next, we don’t need to spend time cutting out twenty of the same craft. We can provide more open-ended art supplies for children to reflect on the lesson through their creativity. Then ask questions and have conversations while creating, instead of leading children step-by-step through a craft.

Spending time outside is another fabulous way to replace Sunday screen time. Group games, free play, and nature adventures allow children to witness God’s handiwork through play.

One important thing to remember for making the most of play is that when we allow children to play, we do not just sit back and watch. We model the abundant life and joy of being in his presence. Play is about relationships; we all grow through our playing with children.

Play is Important to Spiritual Development

Active play is not just for social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. In Luke 2:52, Jesus’s growth, “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man,” models spiritual development alongside the other developmental domains.

What better way to honor God’s intentional design for childhood than to allow, invite, and join children in active play? Active play teaches children to bring their whole selves to God and worship him joyfully with body, mind, heart, and soul.

Just as Christ “became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” through active play we too can enter into the world of children (John 1:14). Allowing play to help us practice embodied worship and the abundant life.

Play is a rich and deep gift that God offers the church, especially through kids. Following their lead in play, we can show children we value them and their contribution to the community.

Finally, play is the best way to allow children to practice the creativity that they inherited from their Father, the Creator. Though many of us outgrow creativity, children are overflowing with it. By embracing that creativity in ministry with children, we can honor and encourage them to grow into it, instead of outgrow it.

Cultivating a Culture of Playful Faith

In conclusion, though it isn’t as easy as pushing play on a screen, genuine, active play carries many benefits for children, their development, and their faith. Play allows them to make meaning of Bible stories and experiences, encourages creativity, builds community, facilitates problem-solving, and invites empathy. When children actively play, relationships can grow, emotions can be explored, and wonder can be expressed.

So, whether you are a parent, educator, or ministry leader, the next time you consider pressing play, lean into active play instead. Consider the risks of screen time versus the benefits of play. How can you limit screens to be the exception, not the expectation, in your ministry at home, church, or whatever your setting?

Cultivating a culture of playful faith is an investment in children’s holistic development and their relationship with God. For play is not just fun, it is an expression of God’s goodness with an immediate and eternal impact.