The number one answer we get when we ask patrons why they purchased their membership is: "My children love the museum." We love hearing that. We all want to make our kids happy. But playtime is important in other ways too - it helps foster healthy minds and healthy bodies.

Want to learn more? Below are some highlights from an article by Kim Mulford from USAToday about the importance of play.

Play as teacher

Kids learn through play, said Marshall [play advocate Danielle Marshall, who works for KaBOOM!, a nonprofit which has built more than 2,000 playgrounds nationwide].

They have to figure out the rules when they make up games. They learn to problem-solve and develop their decision-making skills.

"A lot of times, adults drive what children are doing in their lives," said Marshall.

But when kids play, they can explore ideas and try things out in a safe way.

They also build relationships on the playground, and learn how to negotiate with their peers.

And there are physical benefits, too. The rise in childhood obesity coincides with the drop in outdoor play time. Playgrounds challenge small bodies and helps kids develop gross motor skills, Marshall said.

But many parents keep their [kids] from playing outside because they are concerned about their safety."

We've gotten to the place where we want to bubblewrap our children, and we don't want them to get hurt whether that be physically or even emotionally," said Marshall. "We don't want anything to happen to them.

"Perhaps the reduction in play can explain the growth of museums dedicated to promoting play. The Garden State Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill engages children's imaginations the moment they walk in the door, said museum director Kelly Lyons.

The museum features exhibits intended to spark role-playing and pretending. The pint-sized diner lets kids reverse roles with adults; a pretend farm market, construction zone and veterinarian's office offer more ways to explore the world of grown-ups through play.

Children learn best through play, she said.

"If you're constantly feeding them information in an academic way, they don't learn how to do it on their own," said Lyons, who is the mother of a 7-month-old son.

"If you give them the opportunity to make mistakes and really be engaged by things, ultimately what you have on your hands is somebody who loves to learn and that's always a good thing."

Play rediscovered

But the value of play gets lost in society's demand for perfection, according to Karen Hutchison, a play advocate and expert. She teaches her education students about the importance of play at Rowan University, and was the U.S. delegate for the International Play Association's Right To Play Award earlier this summer.

Parents have structured their children's lives so much, there is no time for play unless it's adult-directed, Hutchison said. Schools are trimming recess time, too. Between 60 percent and 80 percent of recess has been so modified or limited, you can't call it recess anymore, she said.

Play is part of our DNA, Hutchison said. It's directly connected to brain development. Play "absolutely alchemizes learning, rather than hampers it," said Hutchison.

True play is unstructured, she said. "It's messy and it's child-initiated," Hutchison said.

"We've become a society of helicopter parents," she added. "We hover over our kids and we don't want them to get hurt, when actually, the opposite happens. By allowing them to go onto the playground and get scraped knees and even broken arms, they learn what they can do and what they can't do."

Experience, she said, is the best teacher. And that's what play is all about.

Play tips for parents:

• Kids need at least one hour of free, unstructured, child-led playtime outside every day. Adult-supervised sports don’t count.
• Take the kids to the park or playground. Invite other neighborhood children to come along.
• Turn off electronic media and tell your kids to go play. If they complain, ”I’m bored,“ that’s good, says play expert Karen Hutchison. They’ll have to find ways to entertain themselves -- otherwise known as play.

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Click here to read the complete article.