I'd love to hear anything and everything about how play is benefiting your kids!

I've read quite a few books on the subject and really believe in the unending knowledge and problem solving skills that are learned when kids play.

I think adults don't play enough and can certainly take a cue from children.

What are your thoughts and experiences? How do you foster play in your home? What do you think about schools only providing so much unstructured time for play?

One of my favorite things about alternative schools is seeing older kids, teenagers even- still engaging in imagination play.

I often wonder if junior and high school kids could benefit from play structures at school. By twelve or thirteen, children are milling around the grounds and standing in cliques. They are encouraged to have pride in only their grade, to give other grades a hard time, to be competitive with their peers, to hate rival schools and to taunt and jeer with "cheers".

I think that schools are promoting violence within their walls when they could be encouraging play.

Thoughts?