The following is a sponsored post. All of the opinions are mine.It is my Universe, after all.

***

I am fearful to start this post with the words "when I was a kid" as it inevitably suggests "walking uphill both ways" stories. But in fact, this is really the opposite. When I was a kid, I lived a pretty uncomplicated life. I didn't have play dates, I just played. I would knock on a friend's door and see if they could come over. We would sit with a set of Little People (old school, baby!) or Barbies and create story after story. "This time you come to the castle and I'll be the king. When you come up to the top, I'll drop you down the trap door to the alligators." "Okay, but I get to be king next time." Or... "Malibu Barbie wants to go to the beach (OBVIOUSLY) and Ken wants to go with her. You be Ken." "But I'm always Ken!" You get the idea.Sometimes we would bring down the board games -- CandyLand was a favorite, as well as Chutes'nLadders. There was Battleship and King of the Hill. Oh, and I can't forget Stay Alive (I can still hear Vincent Price's voice in my head).These days, it seems our kids are more and more scheduled. Between longer days at school with shorter recesses, lessons, practices, and a lot more homework, there isn't much time to play. It starts younger and younger, too. However, in so many ways, play -- unstructured, unplanned play --  is important to the emotional and intellectual growth of our children.  Play helps children learn to self-regulate emotions, reduce stress, and improve problem solving skills. In fact, there is a huge list of the benefits over at Genius of Play.

Who knew that play was such serious business?

In fact, I think play is so important I've taken a pledge, the Pledge to Play.I am committing to playing more with the kids and protecting their daily play time even in our crazy, traveling, homeschooling life. I am committing to turning off screens and encouraging them to sit down with actual toys. My kids need to build and destroy and build again. They need to be excited to when they draw the Ice Cream Float card sending them to the end of Candyland and be disappointed when they hit the giant slide just before winning Chutes'nLadders. They need to make up stories and figure out how to make Batman and a Monster High doll work together when their sibling is the only one left with whom to play.Will you take the pledge? If over 1,000,000 hours are pledged by parents like you and me, $10,000 will be donated to the Toy Bank ensuring that other kids get their play time, too. You can find out more at Genius of Play. And check out their FaceBook page, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.