Although 45% of boys and girls play outdoors for less time than recommended by experts, today they do so 12 minutes more than before the pandemic, an average of 1 hour and 7 minutes a day.
The data comes from the study on the consequences of lack of play in childhood, carried out by the Technological Institute of Children's Products and Leisure - AIJU, with more than 600 families living in Spain and with daughters and sons between 0 and 12 years old.
The other side of the coin indicates that girls and boys spend an average of 1 hour and 41 minutes in front of screens a day, which represents an increase of 6 minutes compared to the years before confinement.
The study was presented today together with the 33rd edition of the AIJU Guide 2023-2024, which brought together all the actors in the national toy sector and was attended by the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón and the Minister of Innovation. , Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Nuria Montes.
The coordinator of the Children's Research area at AIJU, Pablo Busó, explained that the main activity that children under 12 years of age carry out in their leisure time is playing (34% of the time). Consumption in front of screens takes up 24% of their time, followed by playing sports (18%), doing homework (10%), other non-sporting extracurricular activities (7%) and reading (7%).
"96 percent of the families participating in the study think that the main benefits of play are creativity, followed by fun and entertainment, mental health and autonomy and psycho-motor development and only 56% of the families affirm that they take advantage of any opportunity to play with their children, while 46% affirm that some days go by without them having had time to play with their children," explained the expert.
The study shows that 38% of those surveyed practice sports or physical exercise less than the time recommended by experts, reaching 45% in the 10 to 12 year age group. Furthermore, 75% of boys and girls exceed the maximum time limit for exposure to screens recommended by experts. A percentage that rises to 84% in the case of minors between 1 and 3 years of age and up to 88 percent in the age group of 4 to 6 years.
The AIJU report states that "outdoor play encourages physical activity and reduces symptoms of depression in children and adolescents and is related to healthier eating. In addition, it promotes the development of good physical health, improves imagination, memory and self-confidence, facilitates sociability and improves academic performance.
On the other hand, the authors of the study point out that "a lack of outdoor play is related to an increase in the Body Mass Index to levels of overweight in boys and girls and even to myopia, and excessive screen time is associated with to aggressive behaviors, attention deficit, and hyperactivity, as well as worse executive function, cognitive development, and obesity."
According to AIJU sources, "it continues to be the only existing guide in the national context endorsed by consumer institutions in which only products that have passed pedagogical and usability studies with more than 100 hours of free play are recommended."
To make it easier to locate and consult, the toys recommended in this guide have been classified by theme. As a novelty, this edition includes a category introduction with a sheet that provides data on where, how, with whom or what boys and girls play.
In addition, AIJU has taken advantage of the presentation of the Guide to officially inaugurate its “AIJU Toylab Experience”, the AIJU international innovation center for children, a play space for children whose main objective is to transmit to society the importance of play in childhood, through information based on scientific methodologies.
It is a play space of more than 230 square meters, in which children can play freely or participate in fun innovation and citizen participation workshops through the application of game dynamics (gamification) related to topics such as science, sustainability, healthy living, art or playing for change (accessibility, gender equality and multiculturalism).
In it, the participation of minors as citizens is encouraged, allowing them to influence and be heard in the aspects that affect them in their daily lives, such as, for example, the distribution of play areas in a school playground, the design of town or neighborhood playgrounds, etc.
