We are not here to shame anyone for handing over a phone in a hard moment. We know exactly how real those moments are.
A long wait for food. A restless toddler in the car. A flight delay. A child who is done, and a parent who just needs something that works.
Speel exists because screens are often the easiest option in the moment, but not always the option parents feel best about. This page pulls together the research that helped shape our thinking.
The goal is not perfection. It is having a better option when you need one.
Across recent reviews and large-scale studies, the same themes come up again and again:
That nuance matters to us. This is not about fear or guilt. It is about balance, boundaries, and giving families practical screen-free options for real life.
Wallace et al. (2023) — Scientific Reports
Researchers followed nearly 4,000 Canadian teenagers over five years, tracking daily screen use alongside attention, memory, and impulsivity. They found that higher screen time, especially social media use, was linked to more ADHD-related symptoms over time.
The most important finding was not just attention itself, but impulsivity. The study suggests that screens may increase impulsive behaviour, and that impulsivity then helps drive later struggles with attention and hyperactivity. Social media showed the most lasting effect, with its influence carrying into the following year.
For parents, this adds to a growing body of research suggesting that the type of screen use matters, and that repeated, highly stimulating digital experiences may affect how children regulate attention over time.
Liu et al. (2022) — Journal of Pediatric Health Care
This review brought together findings from many studies looking at how screen overuse affects children’s health and development. The patterns were consistent: too much screen time was associated with shorter and poorer-quality sleep, a higher likelihood of overweight and obesity, weaker executive functioning, lower academic performance, and increased anxiety and depression.
One of the most helpful insights from this review is that the relationship often works both ways. Children who are already struggling with sleep, behaviour, or emotional wellbeing may turn to screens more, and more screen use may then deepen those same difficulties.
In other words, screen time is rarely just about entertainment. It often sits inside a bigger picture of routine, regulation, energy, and family life.
Muppalla et al. (2023) — Cureus
This review looked at four major areas of child development: cognitive development, language development, social and emotional development, and physical health.
The authors found that while screens can support learning in limited and age-appropriate ways, overuse was linked to disrupted language development, less parent-child interaction, emotional difficulties, aggression, obesity, sleep problems, anxiety, and depression.
What stands out most is that the strongest protective factors were not complicated. Parents being aware, setting clear boundaries, and modelling healthy habits made the biggest difference.
That matters because most parents are not looking for a perfect system. They are looking for practical ways to make everyday life feel calmer and more intentional.
Kar et al. (2025) — Children (MDPI)
This structured review examined 34 studies across ten years of research, covering children from birth to 18 years old across physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and language development.
The findings showed that excessive or passive screen use was linked to attention difficulties, delayed language, reduced physical activity, poor sleep, and challenges with emotional regulation and social skills.
Importantly, this review also makes space for nuance. Not all screen time is harmful. Educational content used with parental involvement may support learning and development. The authors emphasise that duration, content, and context all matter.
That is a big part of how we think about this at Speel too. This is not an all-or-nothing conversation. It is about what children are watching, how long they are on screens, and what those screens are replacing.
Dai & Ouyang (2025) — Preprint
Using data from more than 50,000 children and adolescents in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study looked at how screen time connects to anxiety, depression, behavioural problems, and ADHD.
Children with four or more hours of daily screen time showed significantly higher risks across all four outcomes. The key finding was that physical activity and sleep explained much of that connection. In simple terms, screen time often displaced movement and disrupted bedtime routines, and those changes then affected mental health and behaviour.
Physical activity showed the strongest protective effect, followed by regular sleep habits.
That matters because reducing screen time is usually most effective when it is not just about taking something away. It works better when it is paired with something better to do instead.
Kucirkova (2026) — Aeon
An early childhood education researcher with academic posts in Norway and the UK argues that how much screen time a child gets matters less than how quickly that time moves. Two children can watch the exact same 20 minutes and come away with completely different experiences, depending on whether the story gives them time to follow it or rushes them through scene after scene.
Fast-cut, reward-driven shows and apps can hold a child’s eyes on the screen while leaving almost no space to process what just happened, sit with a feeling, or notice how one character’s actions affected another. Slower-paced media build in pauses and repetition that give children room to actually take in what they’re watching.
This lines up with UK Department for Education guidance from 2026, which specifically told parents of under-fives to choose slow-paced content, and with the author’s own research comparing how different children’s shows organise a child’s attention over time.
That’s why screen time on its own is such a blunt way to think about the problem. It’s not only what’s on the screen or how long it runs, it’s whether a child gets a moment to focus, notice, and respond, which is exactly the pace that screen-free play naturally sets.
Different researchers, different age groups, and different methods still point back to a few shared ideas:
Screens are not always the problem on their own. The bigger issue is often what they crowd out.
-Sleep.
-Movement.
-Conversation.
-Quiet play.
-Boredom that turns into imagination.
-Shared moments between parent and child.
The research also makes something else clear: not all screen time is equal, and not every family situation is the same. Educational content with a parent nearby is not the same as passive, high-volume screen use that becomes the default in every hard moment.
That is why we try to keep this conversation grounded in empathy, not judgement.
Speel is not about pretending screens do not have a place.
It is about helping parents have another option ready before the tension rises.
Something screen-free. Something mess-free. Something easy to carry. Something that can hold their attention long enough to get through the wait, the meal, the car ride, or the in-between moment without turning every outing into a battle.
Because often, that is what parents are really looking for:
Explore Speel’s play kits and reusable travel journals designed for restaurants, travel days, waiting rooms, and everyday outings.
