When I was a kid, you could give me a brick and a piece of blue lint I'd be happy for a month. Gimme some red lint and I'd be too hyper to sleep for week. Nowdays though, kids want everything. They want it shiny, flashing, sugary and they want it now. Give a modern child a toy truck and he'll want to know where the controller is. Toys are apparently not fun unless they are made in China and need batteries.
"So what?" I hear you say. Maybe we had to use our imagination a bit more when we were kids to have fun. Maybe we played with the kid next door a bit more. Is it all really that bad that kids nowdays spend more time strapped to screens? Well, according social researchers, child psychologists and childcare experts it probably is.
The thing is, you need play at a young age to develop your imagination, learn social skills and problem solving skills. The common childhood game of Doctor or Monopoly doesn't just need to be seen as fun, but as a chance for necessary life-skills to be developed at an early stage. Just because it may be fun for the children involved doesn't mean it's not important, as play seems to be a much better teacher than most people think.
As a side note, if you're nearing your thirties and still spending hundreds of dollars on Star Wars Lego every year, then this isn't a justification.
References & links...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562673/Modern-life-is-destroying-childrens-play.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1497905/Too-much-learning-and-not-enough-play-stunts-childrens-development.html
http://www.learningchild.com.au/ccd/play
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