Reframing Children's Digital Wellbeing as a Developmental Process - Integrating Creative Learning Practice, Research and Participant Perspectives

Background Children's digital wellbeing has become an increasingly important concern across education, psychology, healthcare, technology, and public policy. Existing research has generated valuable insights into screen time, online safety, digital literacy, and mental health; however, these perspectives often examine isolated aspects of children's digital experiences rather than the broader developmental processes through which children learn, create, relate, and participate within increasingly interconnected physical and digital environments. Purpose This working paper proposes a reframing of children's digital wellbeing as a developmental process embedded within interconnected ecological systems rather than as a fixed outcome or technology-management problem. It aims to establish a preliminary conceptual foundation to guide future intervention design, empirical research, and doctoral investigation. Approach The paper synthesises five years of practice-based inquiry through the Guiding Light Art Company (GLAC) and the Innovative Learning Centre (ILC) Project with interdisciplinary literature and qualitative insights from 54 participants, including educators, healthcare professionals, technology specialists, researchers, parents, caregivers, and 19 Gen Z participants representing 15 countries across four continents. The analysis is further informed by the work of Jonathan Haidt, Andreas Lieberoth, Michaela Glöckler, and Dion Sommer, whose complementary perspectives provide a developmental lens for identifying areas of convergence, divergence, and emerging patterns. The proposed intervention design is further inspired by Hanne Hede Jørgensen and Helle Marie Skovbjerg's work in LEGE Design i Skole og SFO, which informs the project's emphasis on play-based, participatory, and iterative learning design. The paper outlines a proposed theoretical and methodological foundation for future doctoral research, drawing upon socio-cultural theory, Self-Determination Theory, embodied learning perspectives, the WHO/UNICEF Nurturing Care Framework, UNESCO's Digital Kids Asia-Pacific (DKAP) Framework, and selected principles from Indian educational philosophy. Contribution The paper presents a preliminary developmental framework comprising six design principles, an integrated intervention–evaluation framework, fourteen practice-informed thematic focus areas, and the Children's Digital Experience Pathway, which is introduced as a conceptual synthesis to guide future empirical validation rather than as a validated model. Collectively, these contributions provide an initial theoretical and methodological foundation for investigating children's digital wellbeing through creative, embodied, play-based, and relational learning approaches. Conclusion Rather than offering definitive solutions, this working paper reframes children's digital wellbeing as an evolving developmental process that extends beyond screen-time debates towards holistic child development. It provides a foundation for future intervention design, longitudinal empirical validation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the continued development of the ILC Project, while contributing to the broader digital wellbeing ecosystem.