Digital technology contains almost endless possibilities and especially tablets have within the last five years become highly popular among young children. This has led to a heated public debate where critics assert that children’s health is at risk since applications and digital games encourage sedentary activities (Rowan, 2003, p.61). Some also consider tablet activities a time waster and not as “proper play” (Johansen, 2014, p.86).

It is a known fact, that especially young children need physical experiences to develop their cognitive, emotional, spacious, sensuous, social and motor understanding (Ahlmann, 2008, p.9; Blenstrup, 2003). This usually occurs through children’s exploratory bodily movements and interaction and experimentation with the physical world – acts often associated with play (Smith & Gesser, 2005). The aim of this thesis is to examine how the popular touch-based screen’s can facilitate physical play and body movement when children interact with them. The purpose of the study in particular is to contribute with a set of guidelines that can assist development of digital experience products for children.

By examining the basic elements of the user experience and using Constructive Design Research and abstract experiments, firstly a framework to assess whether a digital product is able to facilitate play in the interaction is established. The framework consists of seven characteristics and seven main types of play that are able to facilitate various degrees of physical activity.

Subsequently key elements from the physical and digital world respectively is identified and it becomes apparent that the digital world indeed is able to facilitate experiences that match up with the seven characteristics of play. The key to physical movement lies in the digital’s ability to connect with the physical world. It is thus in the interaction between the digital and physical worlds, that movement and physical play can be facilitated.

Lastly it is demonstrated that in order to decide weather or not children are able to play with digital media one have to study their current use of digital devices. This gave valuable inspiration on how upcoming digital experience products can facilitate physical play and movement.

The knowledge gained from examining the basic elements of the user experience made it possible to construct four guidelines that developers of digital experience products for children can use to ensure children’s physical play and movement in interaction with future digital experience products.