Step into many family homes in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and you will find a familiar scene: a toddler swiping a tablet, or a child watching a flashing, talking plastic toy. Screens and electronic toys promise quiet, entertainment and "educational" games. Parents reasonably wonder whether screen-free toys are genuinely better, or whether that is just nostalgia.
The honest answer is that the evidence is more modest than the headlines suggest. This guide looks at what published studies actually found, what they do not show, and how to choose toys that get your child (and you) playing together.
Written by the Toyspry Team. Last updated October 2026.
What the Research Found
Parents talk less during electronic toy play
The best-known study is a controlled experiment by Anna Sosa, published in JAMA Pediatrics in 2016. It recorded 26 parent-and-infant pairs (babies aged 10 to 16 months) playing at home with three sets of items: electronic toys, traditional toys such as wooden puzzles and blocks, and board books. During play with electronic toys, parents used fewer words, took fewer conversational turns and responded less to their babies. Books produced the most talk, and traditional toys fell in between. You can read a plain-language summary of the Sosa study.
A later research letter in JAMA Pediatrics found a similar pattern in children with and without autism: parents produced fewer utterances during electronic toy play than during traditional toy play.
What these studies do not show
- The samples are small and the play sessions were short, so the findings are a starting point, not a final verdict.
- They measure how much adults talk during play, not later school results or long-term brain development.
- They show an association, so they do not prove that electronic toys harm children or that wooden toys build better brains.
The takeaway is practical rather than dramatic: toys that invite conversation and back-and-forth play give children more language to hear and use.
What Makes a Toy Good for Play
| Type of play | What the child does | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic or automated toys | Presses buttons and reacts to sounds and lights | Use in moderation and talk alongside the toy |
| Wooden toys and building toys | Stacks, sorts and builds, deciding what happens next | Open-ended pieces that invite conversation |
| Puzzles and games | Matches patterns and solves problems | The right difficulty for the child's age |
| Pretend-play sets | Invents stories and acts out roles | Simple sets that leave room for imagination |
Practical Tips for More Screen-Free Play
- Rotate toys. Keep a small number of open-ended toys on low shelves and store the rest, swapping them every couple of weeks.
- Create a child-led play zone. Set aside an area where toys are easy for small hands to reach.
- Start the play together. Spend five minutes building a simple structure or sorting puzzle pieces, then let your child take over.
- Talk during play. Name what your child is doing, ask open questions ("what should we build next?") and use spatial words like "under" and "next to".
- Add books. In the Sosa study, books prompted the most parent talk of the three play types.
For ideas, see our guides to when babies start playing with blocks and wooden toys vs electronic toys.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are electronic toys bad for children?
The evidence does not say that. It suggests parents tend to talk less during electronic toy play, so it helps to balance electronic toys with books and open-ended toys, and to talk with your child while they play.
Are wooden toys better than plastic electronic toys?
They offer something different. Wooden and other traditional toys leave the action to the child, which tends to invite more conversation. Quality varies by product, so check the age label and materials on any toy you buy.
My child gets bored with traditional toys quickly. What can I do?
Reduce the number of toys on display, rotate them regularly, and begin the play together for a few minutes. Open-ended toys such as magnetic tiles or play dough can hold interest longer than toys that do everything on their own.
Does Toyspry deliver across the UAE?
Yes. We deliver across the UAE within 1 to 3 days. Delivery is free on orders above AED 100, and cash on delivery is available.
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