School is out; summer has begun. Parents have spent many hours finding summer teams, camps, and activities to keep their children busy and safe. Many kids will learn crafts, develop new skills, gain knowledge, and make friends. All good things—but will they get to play?

My pre-teen summers were filled with bike riding, afternoon trips to the swimming pool, and lots and lots of reading. Daydreaming was the antidote to boredom and fuel for creativity. In the evening we played backyard games or chased lightning bugs with neighborhood kids.

We are living in different times

As the Aspen Institute confirms, the 1970s are long gone. Unfortunately for many kids, so is free play. The organization explains how we, as a society, have created four barriers to free play:

1. Unsupervised children of single parents or dual-working parents stay home after school rather than play at a park or friend’s house.

2. Parenthood has become a profession—there is pressure to create super-achieving kids.

3. Standardized testing in school has led to fewer PE classes and less recess time.

4. Competition for college admissions has led to kids spending less time on activities that don’t build a resume for their college application.

~Aspen Institute Youth Sports Playbook

There are many benefits to free play

Times have changed, but that doesn’t mean that free play is no longer important. According to a University of Colorado study, kids who have unstructured play time are better prepared to set their own goals and take action on them.

Unstructured play is important to child development. According to the Help Me Grow website (and many others) it fosters creativity and imagination, problem-solving abilities, and social skills.

If those are the kinds of skills we want our kids to develop, then free play, with a free price tag provides a high return on investment.

Kid don’t need to be taught how to play­—they just need time. In this short article, Dr. Daryana Cruz-Rivera of Allina Health offers four tips to help your kids get screen-free play time:

1. Schedule it

2. Be a hummingbird not a helicopter

3. Create balance

4. Be a good example

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to add this value to your kids’ lives—and yours!  

My own thoughts parents might consider:

• What if free play time was scheduled and as held as important as the soccer game on Saturday morning?

• Why are the park playgrounds empty? If safety is a concern, couldn’t parents take turns, with a couple at a time taking a few kids to the park to explore, organize their own games, and play on the equipment?

Here’s to a Happy Father’s Day

for all dads and grandpas!

I hope you celebrate by watching a child play

Read more about free play

Scheduling free time: Unstructured play for kids, Allina Health

Youth Sports Playbook – Reintroduce Free Play, Aspen Institute Project Play

Why unstructured play is important to child development, Help Me Grow

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash