One of Sammye Levy’s fondest memories of spending time with her grandsons, Peyton, 11, and Sellars, 9, involves an imaginary train.

“They were 5 and 3 at the time,” recalls the New Orleans resident. “We put all the dining room chairs in a line behind each other and called it a train. We spent the afternoon just playing. Were we getting off in Biloxi or going on to New Orleans? We ordered hamburgers from the dining car, saw cows and oceans out the windows. They were just so tickled.”

For Levy, who makes the five-hour drive to Houston regularly to see her grandchildren, the chance to play with them when they were young was an opportunity that wasn’t going to come along twice. “As they get older, they spend more time with their friends. But we have created a bond that will always be there,” she says.

She might not have realized it, but Levy was on the cutting edge when it came to play.

“Open-ended play that lets the child lead and use their imagination is the best way a grandparent can spend quality time,” said Karen L. Hutchison, Ed.D., a registered play therapist who recently spoke on the subject of quality play time at the American Association of Retired Persons’ Life@50+ National Event and Expo in Boston.

“The smarter an animal is, the more it will play,” she says. “It’s part of our DNA, as basic to our needs as sleeping and eating.”

Yet play doesn’t get the respect it should. Thanks to societal beliefs, which extol hard work above all, and an education system that’s increasingly focused on test results, play has gotten short shrift, both at school and at home. “There’s a big movement in public education to eliminate recess,” says Hutchison, “and there’s only one state in the country — Virginia — that mandates it as part of the school day.”

But unstructured play is as important to a child’s education as reading, math and science, she says. The latest research in brain mapping reveals that when a child is sitting passively listening in a classroom, only isolated sections of the brain are stimulated, says Hutchison. “But when they play, the entire brain is involved — cognitively, mentally, psychologically. The brain is on fire.”

Stimulating the brain doesn’t depend on high-tech toys, adds Hutchison, who recommends board games as an excellent way to encourage deductive reasoning. Toy Wishes magazine gives parents an alternative to electronic toys with its Fab Five toy list. Editor-in-Chief Jim Silver started the list to highlight toys that don’t need batteries. “Some parents, usually moms, ask for toys that don’t have all the bells and whistles,” says Silver. “Although the electronic market still dominates, child’s play patterns stay basically the same.”

Unstructured play also assists in something called sensory integration, key to brain development. “We all have a stronger and a weaker side to our brain,” Hutchison says. “Open-ended imaginative play builds a bridge between the two sides. As a side benefit, that’s the same type of brain exercise that helps older people maintain mental acuity.”

Tips for Playtime
1. Let your grandchild take the lead. Leave the activity open-ended, letting the child decide what to do next. This empowers him and lets the imagination flow.

2. Ask open-ended and divergent questions. This lets you know what your grandchild knows. Instead of telling him the answer, how to act or what to do, say “I’m wondering…”

3. Encourage the child to shine. In other words, it’s not about you. As adults, we’re used to competing and achieving and may do it subconsciously, even with our grandchildren.

4. Listen and observe. Watch how the child expresses himself, how he moves and plays.

5. Let go of the sense of what’s expected from you as a grandparent. You may have to nudge yourself outside of your own comfort zone to play and be silly.