I think ultramarina's fears are understandable, and am convinced that the type of activity matters greatly. Still, I don't think there's something magical about holding something in the hand versus manipulating a virtual object on-screen, and I do think that using the computer as a creative tool is bound to be non-harmful as long as there's no "junk" in the mix.
I've let DS6 play games like Axis and Allies, Warcraft 3, and the like on the PC. To me, that doesn't seem much different from using a set of army men-- except that I can't buy him a set of tiny robotic army men that look and behave like orcs and build things on their own, or roam around a countryside firing miniature toy shells complete with simulated explosions. Nor can I buy him a set that lets him build a tiny robot city, like Sim City, or control a galactic empire. I think that these sorts of computer activities can have a lot of aspects of good board games and building sets about them, except that there's the extra aspect of simulation involved, and of course a great deal more of detail.
There are some educational activities, like computer programming, that can't be done or would be ridiculous to teach without a computer. For the best of those, I refuse to believe that there's anything negative about using a computer-- even for an extended period of time, if so desired by the child-- except possibly eyesight degradation, where I wouldn't be able to have an informed opinion without further reading.
Probably the only thing where I'm not so sure about the long-term effects is our movie watching. I have a two-year-old who loved sitting through the entirety of "2001" (and at the end said "Again!" though we didn't comply
), and who attended his first theater showing before the age of two. While the example of "2001" is a work of art and intellectually stimulating, watching a long movie is indisputably a physically passive activity that lasts for hours (and intellectually passive in at least some ways, as not involving much creative thought during the watching).
All I can say is that DS6 has watched a ton of movies starting from a young age, and I think that the particular movies I picked have sparked or accentuated a lot of creativity in him. I have some powerful symbols from my youth tucked away mostly in my subconscious mind, and it's been fun work remembering and trying to locate them as an adult.
I remember being terrified of a particular scene of the Nautilus from the old Disney "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" movie, which from the glimpse I got as a child seemed like a house lit by eldritch light tearing along the sea bottom. I had nightmares about it for years, and there are plenty of other examples. But I agree with people like Maurice Sendak who feel that children shouldn't be shielded from intense emotions, and that they usually know that death, violence, etc. exist. I think that scary movies, books, etc. (within reason) give a safe way to think and imagine such things, and may drive emotional growth-- and certainly creative growth. In my experience children typically are enthralled with the macabre if given the chance.
I could well be wrong about the effects of the movies on DS6, though-- maybe he would have been different and better in some ways without the movies, and maybe even more creative. (I doubt it, but it's possible.)
One aspect of the movie and TV watching that I'm fairly sure about is that it spurred DS6's capacity for thinking about more and more involved plots, characters, etc. He can recite every twist and turn of his favorite movies (including a lot of the lines, usually) and I wouldn't have had the time to read such complicated stories to him early on. Now he's showing a tendency to prefer books unless there's something he wants to watch, and what he prefers to watch is either a movie with some redeeming qualities or an educational show.
