Participating does not mean your child will now not discover.” Few experts would argue that children shouldn’t get more time for autonomous play, especially outdoors.

In a behavioral lab, mother-child pairs played together for five minutes trying to solve a 3-D puzzle and then spent five minutes of "pretend play" with toys and stuffed animals.

But what’s often missed is this: play strengthens parent-child relationships. In Kitengela, Anne Mwende, a single mother of one, has learned that play can ease even the toughest days.

Because playing pretend isn’t just a game.“I think it helps [kids] open up their imaginations,” says Della Allen, who runs Fantasy Kingdom, a Chicago playland, with her husband, Mark. At Fantasy ...