This article is featured in the Daily Telegraph and is republished with permission.
As the clock winds down to Australia's world-leading social media ban for under-16s, families are dusting off timehonoured favourite board games, cards and toys.
Australian Toy Association (ATA) executive manager Alice Sanderson said Lego building blocks which have been around since 1932 were still a top-seller, accounting for 30 per cent of all toy sales in 2025. Card game Uno, released in 1971, is also popular, as are Pokemon collectable cards, rolled out in 1996.
"Lego is the No.1 product in Australia ... adults are actually still loving (it) and getting involved with their children to help put it together," Ms Sanderson said. "Pokemon just sells out and Uno is something you constantly see come through the toy industry."
Ms Sanderson said parents' nostalgia for toys helped drive their popularity.
"If, as a parent, you have great memories ... of a product as a child, you want your kids to have those same moments," she said.
Ms Sanderson said board game purchases spiked during Covid but had since plateaued. "They're still selling ... but they've not gained in popularity," she said.
The toy boss hopes that might change when the social media ban is implemented on December 10 banning kids under the age of 16 from major social media platforms. The ban comes in the wake of News Corp Australia's Let Them Be Kids campaign which pushed for changes to protect children from the harms of social media.
For mother of two Mel Sandery, board games and cards provide an enjoyable "screen break" for her girls, Eleanor, 11, and Hazel, 9.
"(Hazel) is a product of Covid ... there was a lot of babysitting with screens while we were all trying to work from home and she's quite addicted to the old computer games," Mrs Sandery, 41, said.
"But, in saying that, if I say to her, 'would you like to play a game of Cluedo?', she'll jump on that within two seconds.
"It's nice to just sort of spend time together having a laugh and getting a bit competitive."
Mrs Sandery welcomed the upcoming social media ban.
"I've purposely been quite strict when it comes to social media with my girls because it's a scary space," she said.
Australian Psychological Society CEO Zena Burgess warned that the sudden disconnection from social media "without providing meaningful alternatives" could trigger feelings of isolation in some kids.