This article discusses the differentiation by gender displayed by children between 8 and 12 years old on how they used their free time during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Chile. This study had a qualitative approach, where 43 in‐depth interviews were conducted with children from three different regions of the country, using participatory photo‐elicitation as the central tool. The main results of the study show a configuration of free time based on gender stereotypes, showing that boys are the ones who most adhere to such stereotypes, triggering a crisis in the identity construction of masculinities during childhood. The study also suggests that socioeconomic and territorial differences between children configures different experiences of the use of free time.