A stick, a cardboard box, and a whole free afternoon ahead: that was enough to get many kids who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s through school days, long summer vacations and weekends. Childhood has changed beyond recognition in just two generations.
Back then, boredom wasn't a problem that needed fixing straight away; it was the essential catalyst for sparking imagination and independence through make-it-up-as-you-go street play.
Today, in a world of packed schedules, overstimulation and screens that offer instant hits, children's ability to cope with waiting and frustration is at an all-time low.
Together with psychologist María Jesús Andrés, we look at how simple, screen-free play shapes a child’s brain, why boredom is a crucial psychological driver, and how to support the modern generation without giving in to guilt or overparenting.
© Getty ImagesWhen a child in the 1970s or 1980s turned a simple cardboard box into a car, or a stick into a sword, what cognitive and brain mechanisms were being activated compared with a highly structured game or a screen?
"When a child transforms a box into a car, they have to picture something that isn't actually there. To do this, they tap into imagination, symbolic thinking, planning, and cognitive flexibility. The box stops being just a box and takes on different meanings depending on the game. That ability to assign new functions to an everyday object is a classic example of divergent thinking—finding multiple possibilities within the same reality.
"Executive functions also come into play: the child has to hatch an idea, work out the steps to build it, maintain focus, tweak things when they aren't working and control their impulses to stick to the rules—even ones they’ve made up on the spot.
"With a structured game or a screen, a lot of that heavy lifting is already done. The characters, rules, goals, and visuals are pre-packaged. That doesn't mean all video games or electronic toys are useless—some still require strategy, memory, and problem-solving. The difference lies in active engagement: the more fixed the game is, the less the child needs to imagine what to do with it."
© Getty ImagesBack then, boredom was the inevitable stepping stone to play. From a psychological perspective, why is getting bored a necessary push for the brain to develop initiative and creative problem-solving?
"Boredom creates a mild sense of discomfort: that 'I don't know what to do' feeling. But that exact discomfort is often the spark for initiative. When no one steps in with a ready-made activity, the child has to scan their environment, figure out what interests them, make a choice, and turn an idea into action.
"This process builds genuine independence. The child stops relying on external entertainment and learns that they can generate fun using their own inner resources. They also build patience, observation skills, and resourcefulness.
'Boredom creates a mild sense of discomfort, but that exact discomfort is often the spark for initiative... and a process that builds independence'
"This isn't about advocating total neglect or endless boredom. Boredom works best in a safe environment, with time, simple materials, and an adult who is present without taking over. It’s a space where a bit of restlessness opens the door to invention."
Screens and hi-tech toys hand over a ready-made story and immediate rewards. How is this instant gratification chipping away at a child's ability to keep trying and handle things when they go wrong?
"When children get used to constant hits of high intensity, novelty, and quick wins, tasks that require patience, repetition, or effort start to feel like a chore. Reading, building a model, doing a jigsaw, or learning a new skill all involve hitting walls where the reward isn't instant.
"If every moment of boredom or frustration is patched over with a screen, children miss out on discovering that discomfort passes and that genuine satisfaction comes from sticking at something. You don't learn tolerance for frustration through a lecture; you learn it by living through small failures, trying a different tack, and eventually cracking it or accepting the outcome.
"We can't blame screens for everything, of course. Parenting styles, sleep, temperament, age, and family life all play a part. But a heavy diet of instant gratification makes it much harder to build up the stamina to wait and persevere."
© Getty Images/iStockphotoWe've gone from whole afternoons playing out on the street to days planned down to the minute with after-school clubs and organised activities. What happens to a child's mindset when there's never any room for self-direction or "controlled chaos"?
"When every activity is managed by adults, children can become brilliant at following instructions, but struggle to figure out what they actually want to do when left to their own devices. They develop a reliance on external direction: 'What shall I do now?', 'What are we playing?', or 'I'm bored' become constant demands aimed at parents.
© Getty Images"Free play lets children test out choices with low stakes. They make decisions, mess up, change their minds, negotiate, and work out what they actually like. Controlled chaos doesn't mean a free-for-all; it means freedom within sensible boundaries.
"After-school clubs are great, but they cross a line when they swallow up every bit of spare time—often driven more by parental anxiety about productiveness than the child's actual needs. Childhood needs unstructured downtime where there's no agenda, no progress to track, and nothing to prove."
We're seeing more children throw huge tantrums when something doesn't work first time or when the iPad gets put away. Is there a direct link between a lack of simple, offline play and this emotional fragility?
"It's hard to point to a single cause, because tantrums are a normal part of growing up and depend on all sorts of things: age, temperament, tiredness, hunger, language skills, and parenting styles.
"That said, unstructured play provides a natural testing ground for frustration. A tower gets knocked over, a piece won't fit, a friend changes the rules, or the game falls flat. In those moments, the child has to pause, adapt, ask for help, try again, or accept defeat.
"It wouldn't be fair to say the past was objectively better. Kids definitely had more free play and far less screen distraction in the 1970s and 1980s, but there was also much less awareness of children's mental health, less supervision in unsafe situations and plenty of emotional needs went unnoticed"
"When a child's daily life is dominated by hyper-stimulating activities designed to prevent any lull, they get fewer chances to practise those coping skills. On top of that, turning off a screen causes a sudden crash from a high-dopamine activity, triggering a sharp reaction. The answer isn't to ban tech completely, but to set clear boundaries and balance it with slower, hands-on, open-ended play."
© Getty ImagesIn the '70s and '80s, by making up the rules as they went along, children learned to negotiate, compromise, and sort out arguments on their own. How does having adults constantly hovering—or spending hours isolated in front of screens—impact these basic social skills?
"When children make up a game together, they have to agree on the rules, hand out roles, resolve disputes, and figure out what happens when someone cheats. These micro-interactions build empathy, communication, negotiation and conflict resolution.
"If an adult leaps in to solve every disagreement, children learn that solutions always come from above. We need to draw a line between genuine safety risks or bullying—which absolutely require adult intervention—and typical peer disagreements, where adults should stand back, observe, and give them space to sort it out themselves.
"Equally, spending too much time isolated behind a screen cuts down on real-world practice: reading body language, picking up on tones of voice, and dealing with real emotional responses. Digital connection has its place, but it can't replicate the raw social learning that happens face-to-face."
In a culture that pushes constant digital consumption, how can parents ditch the guilt of seeing their kids "bored" and help them transition without becoming full-time entertainers?
"First, parents need to realize that a child being bored for a bit isn't suffering, nor is it a sign of bad parenting. You don't need to fill every empty gap. You can simply validate how they feel: 'I know, it's annoying when you don't know what to do,' without instantly handing over a tablet or organising an activity.
"It also helps to create routine screen-free windows and leave out loose-ended materials: boxes, Lego, paints, fancy dress, offcuts of fabric, books, or stuff collected from the park. These are items that don't come with an instruction manual.
"It's a tough sell asking a child to sit with boredom if the adults around them reach for a smartphone the second there’s a pause in the day"
"At first, expect some pushback or demands for attention. If a child is used to non-stop input, they'll go through an adjustment phase. You can nudge them along with a quick question—'What could you build with these?'—and then step away. That’s very different from taking over the game.
"Finally, we have to look at our own habits. It’s a tough sell asking a child to sit with boredom if the adults around them reach for a smartphone the second there’s a pause in the day."
Looking back at how things used to be compared to now, was the past simply better?
"It wouldn't be fair to say the past was objectively better. Kids definitely had more free play and far less screen distraction in the 1970s and 1980s, but there was also much less awareness of children's mental health, less supervision in unsafe situations and plenty of emotional needs went unnoticed.
"Today brings huge advantages: incredible access to information, brilliant educational resources, and a much deeper understanding of child development. The problem isn't modern life or technology itself—it's the lack of balance.
"We don't need to recreate a 1980s childhood, but we do need to rescue its best bits: unstructured time, child-led play, messing about outdoors with friends, room for imagination and learning to sit with a bit of boredom. The goal isn't to banish screens, but to make sure they don't crowd out the spaces where children learn to invent, wait, fail and try again."
