Ten reasons to encourage goofing off

With school in full swing, homework, studying, and a steady diet of rigidly structured activities are standard fare for many kids. Soccer, ballet, and piano broaden the horizon and set the stage for personal growth, but over-scheduling our children to beef up their competitiveness on college resumes has a downside.

While academics, lessons, and organized sports are important, kids need goof-off time, too. Studies show that in order to remain healthy, children of all ages need plenty of unstructured playtime.

Playtime is critical to the emotional, social and cognitive health of our children, according to Dr. Stuart Brown, clinical researcher and author of “Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul” (Avery, 2009). He studied the play behavior of animals and more than 6,000 people from all walks of life — from serial killers to Nobel Prize winners — and found that everyone needs to let loose and play.

Everyone understands that play is pleasurable and a good distraction from stress, but studies show that play is also a biological process crucial to our survival. In rats, play reduces impulsivity — which is similar to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in humans. We are simply hard-wired to play. Unfortunately, recess and physical education classes are disappearing from schools at a time when kids need unstructured free-play more than ever.

So, what constitutes play? Brown says it is much more than games and sports — play involves books, music, art, jokes, movies, drama and daydreaming. It is part of our daily lives and is critical to us feeling fulfilled as happy, successful human beings.

Here are 10 important reasons to create more time for play:

Happier kids: Sometimes we trivialize play or fail to see its usefulness. But it’s more than fun. In addition to improving emotional health, it serves a biological purpose. When social mammals, such as rats and monkeys, are deprived of rough-and-tumble play, they enter adulthood emotionally fragile. Play helps them distinguish friend from foe, handle stress better, and form better skills with which to mate properly.

Social competence is enhanced: Play teaches people to master and adapt to changing circumstances. Even dealing with or avoiding being excluded from games like tag or dodgeball are helpful social skills to learn.

It may lessen the symptoms of mild ADHD: Parents of children with ADHD should make time for them to run around outside before school, and be sure that recess is never taken away as a punishment for poor behavior, says Dr. Laura Honos-Webb, author of “The Gift of ADHD” (2005). She says it is important to remember that being out and active in nature can act as medicine for the child.

It burns calories: Trends for childhood obesity are staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of childhood obesity for 6- to 11-year-olds has increased from 6.5 percent from 1976 to 1980, to 17 percent from 2003 to 2006. Obese kids have increased risk for cardiovascular disease, asthma, sleep apnea, and Type 2 diabetes.

The idea is not to raise rigid, humor-less adults: Play deficiencies can lead to closed-mindedness, inflexibility and unhappiness, according to Brown. Lifelong play is part of the antidote, and may even prevent depression. Play is not just a trivial escape — it provides a vehicle for learning to problem solve.

Rough-and-tumble play is developmentally critical: We knew it was helpful to development, but Dr. Brown’s research revealed that for young homicidal males and drunk drivers, rough-and-tumble play was missing from their childhoods.

Stronger academic performance: This may be especially relevant for boys. Successful peer interaction at recess is an excellent predictor of success on standardized tests, according to Anthony Pellegrini, an educational psychology professor at the University of Minnesota, and author of “Recess” (2005). When boys establish competence on the playground, they also do better in the classroom and pay attention better.

Play keeps curiosity and wonder alive: Kids today spend 50 percent less time outside than they did just 20 years ago. The lure of animation, video games, and online networking is so tempting and culturally reinforced that the beauty of nature and fresh air is often overlooked.

Successful people play a lot: Playfulness sparks creativity and innovation. Analysis of the play histories of successful adults revealed that they all had a rich play life.

It is honorable: Play is not just a mindless activity — it is active learning.

“From an evolutionary perspective,” says Brown, “the smarter the animal, the more they play … it gets us in touch with our core selves and the joy of life.”

Michele Ranard has a husband, two children, and a master’s degree in counseling. She is passionate about helping parents and children lead richer lives.