Mini Basketball Hoop

Not many parents intuitively make the link between play and academic success. But new research suggests that a child’s “unstructured” time may be very important for intellectual development. This flies in the face of the modern philosophy of “helicopter parenting,”—named for moms and dads who hover about, keeping their children out of trouble by structuring every hour of their days.

The helicopter approach neglects a wide world of innumerable natural stimuli—from lizards and plants in a park to voices and sounds in the mall. Allowing your children to interact with and learn from these diverse sources widens their minds to new kinds of information and education. You can also plan to expose them to more sources of unstructured learning, like museums, hikes or art exhibits.

And that’s exactly what children need, says Kenneth Ginsberg, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Ginsberg authored a 2007 report with the American Society of Pediatrics on the benefits of learning from play. It used to be that summertime meant that kids would roam the streets until twilight and read whatever they wanted. But then a deluge of studies came out talking about “summer learning loss” and how American children were falling behind, said Ginsberg, and children were shuttled from day camp to soccer practice to violin lessons to swimming classes. There wasn’t time to do everything, and play was the area that got axed.

According to Ginsberg, that’s a problem, since play is key in socialization, discovery, cognitive development and honing of interests. It’s also an important source of exercise, coming at a time when a recent Kelton Research poll found that nearly four out of five parents believe that children aren’t getting enough physical playtime—complete with plastic sand toys and maybe a mini basketball hoop—on a daily basis.

But giving kids free playtime means that parents have to be there to supervise or good babysitters must be hired, and that’s a luxury that not everyone has. In a national study of 1,003 parents of school age children, 58 percent of parents said summer is the hardest time to make sure their children have things to do, followed by 14 percent for afterschool hours and 13 percent for the weekend.

And how to strike a balance? Summertime activities and camps are also important times for children to explore their interests. Swim team or robotics camp aren’t so bad, in other words, if the child is truly engaged.

Play is what makes up any childhood. The best part is, you can start making the most of playtime opportunities before regular education coops your kids up in a classroom. Have an idea for fun unstructured learning? Leave it in the comments below.

-Guest Blogger Amy Julia Harris (www.hmbreview.com)