Beyond the Screen: How Trading Cards Support Learning in a Digital Age

Parents, teachers, and even pediatricians have tried everything to manage kids’ screen time — banning phones from bedrooms, requiring outdoor play, encouraging reading, even prescribing medications. But the pull of technology isn’t going away. Social media, streaming platforms, and artificial intelligence tools are programmed to grab the attention of young people with remarkable effectiveness.



Dr. Tisha Lewis Ellison

That has raised alarms and prompted calls for a solution to what some describe as the attention crisis among young people. Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy proposed warning labels on social media platforms, blaming them for the youth mental health crisis. Lawmakers at both the state and federal levels are considering new limits on how young people use these platforms. But banning – or severely restricting – digital technologies won’t solve the problem.

And the truth is we probably should not go down that path anyway. Today’s kids are not just passive scrollers. They are active consumers of digital media – creating graphic content, composing unique sounds and beats, designing their own video games, as well as producing digital stories and podcasts to express themselves, empower others, and bring awareness to issues that matter to them.

The challenge, therefore, is not about depriving kids of these creative outlets. It is about finding balance and giving young people appealing alternatives that provide slower, more tactile experiences that strengthen skills they will need in school and beyond. And one old pastime that is gaining popularity is showing us why this balance matters: trading cards.

Collecting and trading cards may sound nostalgic, but the hobby is a powerful developmental tool with lessons that prior generations likely took for granted. Kids who collect and trade cards aren’t just chasing favorite players or characters. They are exercising executive function – a set of mental skills that allow people to plan, organize, focus, follow instructions, and manage time.

And the wider world is beginning to take notice. The global trading card market, valued at $15.8 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to $23.5 billion by 2030. Driving this surge are parents tapping into nostalgia, kids drawn in by Pokémon or star athletes, and a growing awareness that card collecting isn’t just a pastime, it can be a profitable venture. Yet beyond propelling the trading card market to financial heights, the hobby leaves children with practical instruction and meaningful interactions.

Collecting and trading cards encourage negotiation, compromise, persuasion, and other skills valuable in any society, let alone one built on commerce like our own. Unlike the instant gratification of the online world, the act of collecting and trading cards also demands patience and long-term thinking – just as journals, jigsaw puzzles, board games, and other recreational activities of the past do.

Consider what it takes to amass and maintain a collection: saving money, making calculated acquisitions, and learning to assess the value of what you have in your collection. It means knowing what conditions to sell in, or when to trade for something with greater promise. In the process, kids learn to work with peers and, like budding entrepreneurs, develop the focus and accountability that endless clicking and swiping rarely demand.

Educators are noticing too. Some teachers use trading cards for real-life applications of math skills and reading comprehension. Others bring them into classrooms to promote focus and spur constructive social interaction. The same qualities that make cards fun—organizing, tracking, forecasting, and making comparisons—mirror the very skills students will need to succeed in school and later in the workplace.

None of this, however, means kids should abandon what the digital world has to offer. Quite the contrary. My research in digital and STEAM literacies (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) shows that young people thrive when they move fluidly between digital and analog practices—gaining strength both academically and socially. Digital tools, when used well, can open doors to creativity and opportunity that analog practices alone cannot. But in an age of constant pings, alerts, and distractions, analog activities like card trading require kids to plan, adapt to challenges, weigh options—and pause long enough to reflect.

Breaking the digital trance may be closer than we think. In a world that moves faster every day, slowing down with something tangible, like a pack of trading cards, reminds us that learning, connection, and joy can still be held in our hands.

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Tisha Lewis Ellison, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia, Mary Frances Early College of Education. Dr. Lewis Ellison has received numerous accolades and awards for her research, which examines the intersections of family literacy, multimodality, and digital and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) literacy practices among Black and Latinx families and youth.