Have you ever observed how agitated children become when you take away their phones while they are using them?

Over the past few years, virtual autism has become a major concern for parents, teachers, and health providers. A condition believed to result from excessive screen time, this unexplained epidemic impairs children’s development and leads to problems with social engagement, much like actual autism. As kids spend more time with gadgets and digital media, many develop addictive behaviours that seriously affect their cognitive and social well-being. The effects can be drastic: from speech and language delays to problems with social interaction and emotional self-control.

The adverse effects of too much screen time can be countered by STEM toys as they inspire children to play with physical objects, thereby fostering interactive experiences— a departure from passive consumption. Instead of just using their eyes and ears to consume content on a screen, kids use their hands and minds to build the toy, which then becomes a prop that aids in exploration and creation.

USE OF STEM TOYS

The use of STEM toys can lead to fighting against the downsides that arise due to excessive screen time by motivating children to play with tangible items that breed hands-on experiences — where users are involved. Instead of being passive consumers of what is displayed on a screen, children get actively involved in playing with toys; they use their hands and brains to come up with designs and later investigate them. Cognitive growth can be encouraged by active involvement in such thinking activities that trigger the development of the brain, thereby increasing the retention of what is learned.

The toys offer benefits such as educational value which goes beyond personal use. They are great tools for collaborative learning because when children play with these toys, they have to work together, come up with ideas and solve problems as a team. Developing social skills and teamwork through this cooperative play helps in fighting against loneliness— which is common with too much individual play.

The toys have an educational value that goes beyond personal use; which makes them great tools for group learning. Children are motivated to work together and come up with solutions as a team while playing with these toys— this aspect of cooperation during play helps in developing social skills and teamwork. It also helps in curbing the effects of loneliness (which is usually connected to) too much individualistic play.

Abbas Gabajiwala, founder of Blix Education says, “In today’s world of aggressive stimulation for kids, they need to calm down. They need to do things that provide delayed gratification. Something they can concentrate on for certain periods of time. It’s extremely therapeutic for their minds, because at that moment they’re entire focus is on one thing. On solving that one problem. You can see what’s happening inside their minds, but there is a reset that takes place”.

FINAL WORDS

Thus, to summarise, virtual autism continues to challenge our era of technology but note the emerging innovative solution— STEM-based toys. They offer an alternative by developing a child’s attention from screens to interactive educational play and thus not only solving the problem at hand but ensuring that we have a future generation of individuals who are: curious, creative, capable. “We aim to make learning a joyful journey, where children develop a lifelong love for exploration,” says one educational toy company.

Let us then use materials during playtime as symbols for two things; joy in learning and thrill in making discoveries each day— so that we can support healthy child development meaningfully.