Screens or wooden blocks?

Apps or sandboxes?

The answer is not either/or.

It's both.

In the age of touchscreens and tablets, we're faced with a false comparison. Digital or physical play? The answer isn't in choosing sides. It's in embracing the spectrum.

Digital Play like StoryTime offers a safe, ad-free, instant, and portable solution to parents. A well-designed app can bring benefits to kids when done right.

But it raises a question: can it replace the physical wooden block? How about the risk of addiction?

Physical play offers what digital play cannot. It gives tactile, spatial, and social benefits. It helps develop fine and gross motor skills. But what about safety when letting kids play outside?

These are some of the dilemmas.

But the answer need not be either/or.

The answer is not in choosing but in blending.

We should mix it up.

Set limits and boundaries, but don't obsess over screen time.

Rather, see screen time as a tool in your bag.

Remember, open-ended is key.

Whether it's digital or physical.

The best learning happens through play.

What should we do?

We engage. We ask and wonder together with our kids.

We have to be present, whether the play is in a pixelated or tangible form.

The most important thing is, we be there as our kids' guide, not an instructor.

Because in the end, it's not just about digital or physical play. It's about the quality of play that allows kids to wonder.

And as long as kids can play and learn through it, the question of digital or physical might not matter much anymore.