What ‘Toy Story 5’ Gets Right About Your Kid and Their Tablet

Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 hit theaters June 19 with a plot ripped straight from the family dinner table: 8-year-old Bonnie abandons her beloved toys the moment a kid-friendly tablet named Lilypad arrives in the mail. The film became the biggest opening weekend of 2026, earning $160 million domestically — and pediatricians say the screen time anxieties it captures are just as real as the box office numbers.

Kids Really Do Ditch Toys for Screens

The movie's central tension isn't just fiction. A new study from Aura, an online safety company, analyzed data from nearly 30,000 devices alongside surveys of 2,000 parents and kids and found that 75% of children ages 7 to 11 would rather watch videos than play with physical toys. For children in that age range, screen use jumps roughly 30% during the summer compared to the school year — the equivalent of four additional hours per week on devices.

Teens experience a smaller but still significant bump: about 15% more screen time in summer versus the school year. Younger kids lean toward YouTube videos and the gaming platform Roblox, while teens spend more time on social media apps. Nearly 70% of children are on their devices by mid-afternoon, and 1 in 10 are still active on screens at midnight.

"Summer is a particularly vulnerable period for higher screen use," said Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician who researches online behaviors of children and teens at the University of California, San Francisco. Without school's built-in structure and routine, he says, reaching for a device becomes the default.

What the Research Says About Health Effects

High summer screen time doesn't just mean fewer hours outside. The Aura report found that as summer progresses, 1 in 3 children score low on the company's Digital Wellbeing Index, a measure that correlates screen habits with sleep quality, mood, social isolation and emotional regulation.

"Time that is generally spent on screens is often displacing sleep, physical activity or outdoor time," Nagata said. Those factors — adequate sleep, outdoor time, physical activity and in-person socializing — matter especially during summer when kids lack the daily engagement school provides.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimated in 2025 that children ages 8 to 18 average 7.5 hours of daily screen time in the United States.

Kids Aren't Totally Happy About It Either

There's a nuance that Toy Story 5 gestures toward in its third act: even kids recognize the pull of screens isn't always good for them. More than half of children and teens surveyed in the Aura study acknowledge that too much screen time isn't healthy. When asked to rank their preferences, more kids chose spending time with friends (36%) and going outside (24%) over tablet use (20%).

Nagata said this lines up with what other research shows. "Many children and teens themselves report that they actually don't want to be glued to their phones over the summer," he said. "It's just oftentimes, they're a little bit bored." Apps designed to maximize engagement — constant notifications, autoplay, algorithmically tuned feeds — make it harder for boredom to translate into something else.

What Parents Can Do

Experts suggest four main strategies for families heading into summer.

First, provide real alternatives. Nagata recommends activities with a physical barrier to devices — swimming, for instance, where phones simply can't go. Summer camps are another option; a 2023 survey by the American Camp Association found that 90% of camps ban phones and tablets entirely.

Second, involve kids in planning. Merve Lapus, vice president of education at Common Sense Media, recommends letting children help shape screen-free days. Some families create "bingo sheets" of activities — kayaking, water balloon fights, cooking projects — and draw from a jar when boredom hits. Giving kids ownership over alternatives makes them more likely to follow through.

Third, set household rules that apply to everyone. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends individualized family media plans that designate device-free times — like meals — and device-free spaces, like bedrooms. The key word is family: rules that apply only to children and not to parents tend not to stick.

Fourth, model the behavior you want to see. Recent research suggests children mirror their parents' device habits closely. Josephine Hunt, a public school teacher and children's mental health advocate based in Park Ridge, New Jersey, noted that children can't tell the difference between a parent answering work emails and a parent mindlessly scrolling. What they see is a screen.

The Bigger Picture

Critics have noted that Toy Story 5 doesn't frame technology as purely villainous. Lilypad helps Bonnie connect socially after struggling to make friends — a dynamic many parents recognize from their own kids' lives. Children who don't have devices risk being left out of the group chats and online social spaces where much of peer interaction now happens.

The film ultimately lands on balance rather than prohibition. By the end, Lilypad becomes one toy among many rather than a replacement for all the others — a resolution that mirrors what most pediatricians actually recommend: not abstinence from screens, but mindful, structured use within a life that still has room for sleep, play and the Jordan twins across the street.

Curious for more stories that keep you informed and entertained? From the latest headlines to everyday insights, YourLifeBuzz has more to explore. Dive into what’s next.