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One of my friends back home has been a kindergarten teacher for over 15 years. Recently, she shared with me a trend she’s noticed over the past five years—one that every parent should know about.
She’s seen a major shift in the way kids approach learning and play. And it’s not just the usual kindergarten wiggly energy—it’s something deeper.
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Kids Struggling to Pay Attention
During read-aloud time, she can’t even get through a single sentence without one or two children drifting off—sometimes literally wandering away. What concerns her most is that it’s no longer just one or two kids; it’s the majority of the class.
She explained that children today often struggle to stay on task unless activities are highly gamified. This makes classroom management harder and puts strain on teachers and kids alike.
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Losing the Art of Play
Even during “brain breaks,” she told me, children often don’t actually play. Instead, they wander from one activity to another, pulling things off shelves but never really engaging. It’s as if they don’t know what to do without detailed instructions.
This is especially worrying because lower elementary years are historically when children are at their most creative. Play isn’t just “fun”—it’s where problem-solving, imagination, and innovation take root. If creativity is declining in early childhood, we’re limiting future potential before it has a chance to bloom.
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The Decline of Independent Play
Decades ago, kids spent long hours in independent or sibling play, inventing games and stories, exploring, building, and role-playing. Today? The average 4–7 year old gets about 3.5 hours of screen time daily, even though the recommendation is just one hour (for 4-year-olds) or 90 minutes (for 5–7 year olds).
Screen time itself isn’t “bad,” but the loss of independent play is. Independent play is where children build fine and gross motor skills, develop emotional regulation, learn resilience, and practice problem-solving.
My teacher friend said, “I spend over 60% of my day managing behaviors. The kids I’m working with have such limited emotional resilience.”
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The Wonder of Screen-Free Play
Here’s the hopeful part: we can bring back independent play. We can give children tools that encourage imagination without dictating every move. That’s where Wondertivity Busy Books come in.
Our books are thoughtfully designed to spark curiosity and creativity. Each felt page is interactive yet open-ended—whether it’s zipping, buckling, sorting, or storytelling. Kids don’t just push buttons and get rewarded; they engage, explore, and invent their own narratives.
This type of screen-free, hands-on play builds the very skills that are missing:
• Focus & attention span – turning a page, completing a task, staying immersed.
• Problem-solving & creativity – figuring out how pieces fit together, creating their own stories.
• Fine motor development – strengthening little hands with laces, snaps, and textures.
• Emotional resilience – learning to try, struggle, and succeed at their own pace.
Unlike a screen, a Wondertivity Busy Book doesn’t do the work for them. It invites them to play, learn, and grow independently.
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Building Resilience Through Play
Our children’s skills are not “lost”—they just need the right environment to thrive. By giving them more opportunities for unstructured, screen-free play, we can help them rediscover focus, creativity, and resilience.
So next time you worry that your child doesn’t know how to play independently, remember: it’s not about keeping them endlessly entertained. It’s about giving them the space and the right tools to learn how to play again.
And sometimes, all it takes is a simple, handmade felt book that sparks their imagination—page by page.
👉 Explore the Wondertivity collection today and give your child the gift of play that grows with them.
