While wandering around the internet yesterday, I found this great article that I encourage you all to read! It is an insightful piece from the New York Times about the importance of play, written by Stuart Brown, the founder and president for the National Institute for Play.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/let-the-children-play-some-more/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
picture from http://www.webmd.boots.com/