What’s the Link Between Video Games and Imagination in Children?

Understanding the Role of Imagination in a Screen-Filled World

If you're a parent of a child aged 6 to 12, chances are you've asked yourself—maybe more than once—if video games are helping or hurting your child’s creativity. Especially after you've tried to distract them from screens with crafts, books, or open-ended play, only to find them drifting back to their gaming console. It's not a simple issue. On one hand, video games are engaging, interactive, and often richly imaginative themselves. On the other, you're concerned about balance, mental health, and whether your child is flexing their imaginative muscles in other ways, too.

Imagination and Cognitive Development: Where Do Video Games Fit?

Childhood imagination isn’t just about drawing unicorns or building pillow forts. It plays a fundamental role in abstract thinking, creativity, and academic problem-solving. Between ages 6 and 12, kids’ brains are busy developing stories, experimenting with emotions, and solving social situations in their heads before they occur in real life. This is also the age when school pressure increases, and where creative outlets become emotional lifelines.

So where do video games enter the picture? Not all games are created equal. Some video games, especially sandbox ones like Minecraft or story-driven role-playing games, can actually encourage creative thinking. They invite children to build, experiment, and co-create in virtual worlds. However, others—fast-paced, reward-based games—might limit creativity by focusing on reactive thinking and repetitive actions.

When Are Video Games Helpful for Imagination?

Let’s be realistic: banning screen time entirely isn’t just impractical, it might also overlook the positive potential of gaming. The key lies in how games are used, and—perhaps more importantly—what else surrounds your child’s digital time.

Here are moments when video games can align well with imaginative development:

• Collaborative play: Games that allow kids to build or create with friends, such as building simulations, can mimic the creative collaboration they experience in real-world play.
• Story-driven adventures: Titles with deep narratives can expand vocabulary, empathy, and storytelling skills.
• Exploratory environments: Open-world games often put children in the driver’s seat of solving problems through creativity rather than prescribed solutions.

The Trouble with Overuse (And What to Do Instead)

A concern many parents share is that prolonged gaming seems to flatten imagination over time. A child who once spent whole afternoons inventing characters or writing stories might now find it hard to start drawing without reverting to the game world they just left. It’s not about demonizing screens—it’s about supporting flexibility. When screen time edges out other sensory, emotional, or mental playgrounds, that’s when imagination can suffer.

Integrating screen breaks—especially those anchored around engaging alternatives—can make a world of difference. You might find inspiration in articles like Unplugging as a Family: Creative Offline Ideas or How to Help Your Child Reduce Screen Time During School Holidays, which offer constructive paths forward for even the most screen-loving kids.

Nudging Creativity Beyond the Screen

If your child gravitates toward story-rich games, consider how you can expand on that storytelling passion off-screen. For example, you could ask them to write “extra chapters” for their favorite game worlds or create cardboard costumes of characters they love. Another effective approach? Introducing them to immersive audio storytelling experiences.

The iOS and Android versions of the LISN Kids App offer original audiobooks and series designed specifically for children ages 3 to 12. With a variety of genres—adventure, humor, fantasy—played through warm voices, this audio-based experience lets children 'see' stories in their mind without any visual aid, strengthening their mental imagery and focus.

Supporting a Healthier Relationship Between Gaming and Creative Play

Rather than setting strict boundaries, think about creating rhythms that flex with your child’s needs. Some days may involve an hour of gaming followed by time spent outside drawing or building. Other days, screen-free moments might happen in the car thanks to a podcast or audio story. What matters most is the variety of mental environments your child experiences throughout the day.

Curious about how to keep calm moments part of the equation? You might appreciate this piece on Creating Calm Moments Even for Kids Addicted to Video Games, which offers deeper reflections on attention, overstimulation, and emotional regulation.

In the End, It’s Not About Screens vs. Imagination

Video games don’t have to be the enemy. In fact, many can act as launching pads for creativity—if they exist within a well-nourished ecosystem of physical play, quiet exploration, interpersonal connection, and restful downtime. Imagination is like a garden. Video games can be part of that garden, but they can’t be the only sunlight or water it receives.

Take the long view. Your child’s creative spark doesn’t depend on removing all digital influences—it depends on providing diverse and meaningful ways to play, think, and dream.