Toy Tuesday: Do we need a "movement" to get kids to play?

A recent headline in the New York Times reading "The Movement to Restore Children's Play Gains Momentum" piqued my curiosity and raises some interesting questions. Having spent two decades creating entertainment and "low tech" toys for kids, I was a little taken aback by the article, which states:

For several years, studies and statistics have been mounting that suggest the culture of play in the United States is vanishing. Children spend far too much time in front of a screen, educators and parents lament — 7 hours 38 minutes a day on average, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation last year. And only one in five children live within walking distance (a half-mile) of a park or playground, according to a 2010 report by the federal Centers for Disease Control, making them even less inclined to frolic outdoors.

Behind the numbers is adult behavior as well as children’s: Parents furiously tapping on their BlackBerrys in the living room, too stressed by work demands to tolerate noisy games in the background.

I was particularly surprised to learn that some elementary schools don't have recess because of safety concerns.

The article outlines many initiatives in both the US and Canada to promote imaginative play and to "teach children to play". While I applaud these programs, it's a little disconcerting that they're necessary at all. My experience in the toy industry says that kids will happily partake in "imaginative play" as long as the industry continues to do a good job of providing imaginatiave toys. I've always believed that parents are responsible for deciding how/when/with whom their children should play, and I suppose that these initiatives support parents who are otherwise unable to make it happen.