While most people can agree that doing enjoyable activities with your children can develop new skills, there are some that claim that the benefits from doing so may even exceed the benefits of reading. In the present essay, I argue that engaging in different types of activities could improve a child’s skills, however, this does not replace the impact of reading.
Firstly, in today’s technology-centered era, there is significant value in spending time off screens and connecting with real life experiences, such as going hiking, cooking or drawing directly on paper. These activities allow kids both to deepen their understanding of their surroundings, as well as to socialize with their pairs or other groups of people, improving their awareness and effective communication skills.
It can be said that other enjoyable activities, such as playing video games or watching TV, also promote the development of certain abilities, for example, learning from foreign cultures or creatively solving problems among pairs while conducting a video game campaign. However, as stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), exposure of kids to technological devices should always be kept under observation and parents should limit the access to screens as it can have a negative impact on their development.
Moreover, the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic exposed how this screen-mediated education method delayed the reading learning process, which is now targeted as one of the causes of a decreasing development of critical thinking in younger generations.
In conclusion, a variety of activities is highly recommended to stimulate children to develop an extensive set of skills that can be applied in different contexts during their learning process and adulthood.