If you have landed here it’s a safe bet you are concerned or questioning how screens are impacting child development. You aren’t alone. According to a survey by Pew Research, 71% of parents are concerned that their child might spend too much time on screens. These challenges are often also in conflict with differing parental feelings or experiences around screen time and concerns.

We are with you. Before I became a children’s shop owner and mom to four, I was an Early Childhood Development expert with a research focus on screens. And parent alongside a software engineer and technology instructor. And even deep in the trenches of this work, we find we sometimes struggle and need to review our family relationship with technology.

How much screen time is too much? Does screen time cause ADHD? How do we prevent cyberbullying? How can we track what our kids are doing online? Can I prevent predators from communicating with my child? What the heck is Minecraft? My goodness, what does it all mean? There is so much information out there that it is hard to know where to start. Through our series of guides, we’ve broken down our research into consumable chunks of actionable information you can apply today. This guide is specifically about the child development aspects of screen time.

What does the research say? Continue reading for a collection of key points from several journals and studies on how screen time affects child development.

Wooden blocks have been a childhood staple for generations—and for good reason. They’re often one of the first toys we bring home for our kids, and at Marley & Moose, we’re big believers in their magic.

These simple toys support open-ended, imaginative play while building important skills like coordination, problem-solving, and fine motor development. And yes, fine motor skills are—pun fully intended—the building blocks for writing, drawing, and so much more down the road.

No more dad (mom?) jokes. (Okay, no promises.)

Here are 6 kid-approved, super fun ways to play with wooden blocks—and get the most out of every stack, tumble, and tower.