American Academy of Pediatrics tells pediatricians to prescribe playtime

There is a new recommendation for doctors who treat children: start writing prescriptions for playtime.

A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics says unstructured play is critical for a child's development.

Yet they found only half of the 9,000 preschoolers studied went outside to play once a day.

The lead author says free play often gets a bad rap for being a waste of time, but maintains it's actually one of the best ways to create curious, creative, healthy children with 21st century skills.

The academy didn't say how much time pediatricians should prescribe. Instead it asked doctors to remind parents that every adult life skill can be built in child's play.

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