It is true (and truly amazing!) that most children pick up on new words and figure out ways to play with new toys rather quickly and (almost) effortlessly. I use the word almost in parentheses for a reason. Think about this for a moment- if you as a caregiver or a teacher haven't spent much time modeling for your little one what to do with that puzzle you've just bought, or, more importantly, how truly amazed you are at all the pieces eventually coming together... Or if you haven't engaged with your child in full on (emotions and everything) pretend play with that newly purchased Doctor Kit to make your very ill panda bear feel all better again- how will your child know that play can be THAT much more fun? The point I'm trying to make here is this- we want our children to develop the ability for sustained attention and sustained deeper play and we HAVE the power to shape it too. So if you want your child to stop demanding screen time all day long and start wanting to build castles with good old blocks- why don't you try and show him/her the way!