"It's a bonding experience," Cooper said about her love of playing with Dane and her 7-year-old daughter, Ashlyn. "I work and my kids go to school, so it's a time to be with each other."

The Pearl Harbor nurse, 31, joins thousands of childhood development experts who recognize the importance of basic play — from riding bikes to flying kites — shared between children and parents. And with the number of children who are overweight and obsessed with video games on the rise, playtime advocates are even more adamant.

"Clearly, if you were to put on one side of a scale those who play video games and watch TV all day, and compare that to the other side of kids playing outside and doing sports, you'll see the exact reason why this country has become fat and depressed," said Dr. David Paperny, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente.

The NPD Group, which provides sales and marketing information to businesses, surveyed nearly 3,000 parents and found that the average time children ages 5 to 12 spend playing video games is 4.2 hours per week. Nearly half of the children in the study began playing video games between ages 4 and 5, with 20 percent beginning at age 3 or younger.

Cooper, with son Dane, says that besides going to parks, the family enjoys a swim at a pool or the beach, riding bikes, or simply drawing with chalk on a sidewalk.

Children experience their greatest physical growth between the ages of 3 and 12, said Rhonda Clements, president of The American Association for The Child's Right to Play and professor of education at Hofstra University in New York.

"Physical play not only enhances muscle growth, but also stimulates the growth of the heart, lungs, brain and other vital organs for greater development," Clements said via e-mail from New York.

A sure-fire way for parents to get their children moving is to play along, as children naturally imitate the behaviors and actions of their parents, Clements said.

"A love for physical activity is one of the most important values parents can instill in their children," she said. "This is possible when parents introduce the child to some of the physical joys — such as hiking, bike riding and taking nature walks — that they enjoyed as a child."

"Parents will live longer if they stay active with their kids," Paperny noted.

But there's more to simple play than the physical advantages.

"Play is the way children learn," said Cooper, who also conducts academic tests for children with learning disabilities. "If they're not allowed to do that, their minds can't expand."

Cooper spends time doing activities with her two children every day. On a recent weekday afternoon, the Coopers spent a couple hours on a playground structure at Honolulu Stadium State Rec Area in Mo'ili'ili.

Besides visiting parks, the family enjoys swimming at a pool or the beach, riding bikes, or simply drawing with chalk on a sidewalk.

"For young children, play is the means used to learn about their immediate environment and to increase their language ability," Clements said. "Play provides opportunities for creative problem-solving and social interaction as children learn how to cooperate and share materials, objects, and things."

But more than anything else, play time equals quality family time for the Coopers.

"Children get so sophisticated so early now that you really have to appreciate every day with them," Cooper said.