Saying things like, “My child is so busy,” has become a bit of a status symbol for parents who want to raise kids who are prepared for the real world. Ironically, overscheduled kids are actually ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Why experts (and parents) are concerned about play deficit disorder. (Photo illustration: Victoria Ellis/Yahoo News; photo: Getty ...

Less screen time means less bad behavior. In as little as two weeks, parents could see significant improvements in their child’s mental health and behavior by reducing children’s leisure screen time ...

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our ...

My research explored how children make decisions when playing outside. The findings suggested that when young children hold ...

Preschool-age children are most engaged in pretend play 10–15 minutes after playing begins. In addition, girls exhibit higher organizational skills, according to a study conducted by researchers from ...

The first time that Megan Roth, an urban planner in Calgary, Canada, Googled independent play, her daughter had just received a number of toys for her second birthday. None engaged her for long. The ...

Julian Nowogrodzki is a science writer and editor in Boston, Massachusetts. On a warm, sunny beach near Melbourne, Australia, Alethea Jerebine watched her daughters scrambling up a jumble of rocks.

Prioritizing play offers a variety of benefits for children, from helping them grow their vocabulary to managing their big feelings with fewer behavioral problems. Play also benefits children’s ...