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Good news, moms and dads. Recent research found there’s one simple thing you can do with your kids from a young age that will almost guarantee they won’t be addicted to screens as they get older.

Screen time has become almost blasphemy in the parenting space, but it can be hard to avoid. There’s so much data that speaks to the perils of relying on screens as a parenting tool that it’s almost scary. But like with most things, the best defense is a good offense, and that’s exactly what researchers are offering parents.

Parents who prioritize playing with their babies before age 3 usually raise kids who would rather be outside than on screens.

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The study published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics found that children who regularly played with their parents, kept screen time under an hour a day, and slept enough were more likely to be physically active at 12. 

It sounds simple enough, but in our modern world, most parents are pressed for time. That doesn’t mean they should skip out on playtime, however. What’s really sad is that researchers found that only about one-third of toddlers were playing with a parent at least once a day.

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Both active play and limited screen time led to more outdoor play for kids.

Through the experiment, parents reported their 2.5-year-old’s daily habits: how often they played sports, hobbies, or games together; how much screen time the child got; and how long the child slept. Ten years later, they reported how much time their kids spent outdoors and how active they were during free time.

Needless to say, the majority of parents failed to meet active play requirements and had limited screen activity. A decade later, boys averaged about 80 minutes of outdoor play per day while girls averaged about 72 minutes.

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Roughly half of all children reported little or no physical activity during leisure time. Another 29% of boys and 31.5% of girls fell into a moderately active category, while only 24.5% of boys and 14.9% of girls met the study’s threshold for being classified as active. 

Among all the habits studied, though, parents and kids playing together showed up as one of the strongest predictors of outdoor play at age 12 for both boys and girls.

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There are many benefits to parents actively playing with their kids.

Studies have shown that parents who play with their kids can help promote their cognitive development, and as they get older, they’ll even do better with language and math skills. Play also helps promote physical development. 

“The roots of playfulness sprout early; even infants respond to interactions with their family, whether it’s singing songs, gentle rocking, or vigorous movement,” explained psychologists Kat Scherer and Elizabeth Sylvester. “Simple engagements like eye contact, smiles, or vocalizations capture the attention of newborns, laying the foundation for essential connection, trust, and reciprocal play. Through these seemingly ordinary yet meaningful interactions, play begins.”

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They continued, “Despite its many benefits, free play has declined in recent years, a casualty of the swift pace of modern life and an increase in structured activities. Profound consequences are observed as children miss out on enriching and exploratory play that fosters spontaneous delight.”

Parents having active play with their kids on a daily basis doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. It can be something as simple as playing outside or just being present and engaging with them as they play with toys. What matters most is consistency, and by doing so, parents will see the benefits in the future.

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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.