Are Americans playing enough with their children?

According to a new study, the average child spends about 10 hours playing with their parents, others and alone on any given day.

A new survey of 2,000 parents of children aged 0-6 found that three-quarters of parents still believe this is not enough and want their child to spend more time engaging in free, creative play .

According to almost every parent (92%), their child’s play is important for their overall growth and development.

The survey found that children spend around three-and-a-half hours playing with their parents each day, while three hours are spent playing alone and the remaining three are spent playing with friends, siblings or classmates – that’s a total of nearly 3,650 game hour every. year.

Physical play, such as dancing or ball games, ranked as the top choice for preferred types of play (31%), followed by social play, such as playing with others, taking turns and sharing (22%).

Although they may be considered childhood staples for some, games with rules, such as Duck Duck Goose and board games, were found to be the least favorite type of play today.

On average, children spend around two hours in front of a screen each day and 86% of parents believe it is important to encourage their child to play outside of the screen.

However, almost two-thirds (64%) think that digital play, such as screen time or online games, is at least somewhat effective for their child’s growth and development.

Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of The Goddard School, the survey also explored the natural curiosity of young children and found that parents ask an average of 14 different questions a day.

More than nine in 10 parents (92%) think it is important to cultivate their child’s inquisitive and curious nature. As a result, nearly three-quarters of parents (74%) often educate themselves about topics their child is curious about.

To foster their child’s inquisitive nature, parents are encouraging them to play and use their imagination (51%), keeping an open mind (50%) and letting them explore the world around them (48 %).

In addition, almost half (47%) read them either with their child and encourage them to ask questions (43%).

“Young children are naturally curious and it is imperative to nurture this curiosity to help them develop socially, emotionally and academically,” said Dr. Lauren Loquasto, senior vice president and chief academic officer at The Goddard School. “To do this, parents, carers and educators can ensure that the children in their care are constantly engaged in creative play and exploring their interests through questions, experiments and experiences.”

The top three areas in which parents believe their child needs more support include learning social skills (37%), gaining social-emotional intelligence (36%) and learning how to be independent (33 %).

Today, 84% of respondents send their child to school or daycare, and these parents believe that attending school or daycare benefits their child by helping them make friends (53%), learning social skills ( 52%) and developing social-emotional intelligence. (45%).

“The survey found that parents believe social-emotional learning is most important to their child’s growth and development,” added Loquasto. “When choosing a preschool, I encourage parents to carefully consider how the curriculum and educational philosophy supports social-emotional learning. Focus on programs that provide child-led play-based experiences that help children learn about themselves and the world around them by exploring their interests, investigating concepts, and asking questions.

Survey methodology:

This random double-choice survey of 2,000 parents of children aged 0-6 was commissioned by The Goddard School between May 24 and May 31, 2024. It was conducted by market research company Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Association for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).