Every parent wants to give his or her children every advantage to help them prepare for the grown-up world. And, of course, we agree.

So as you think about what you can do to help your kids, consider creating more playtime. That may seem like a radical idea to some because play very often gets a bum rap in our culture. We often associate play with frivolous activity and time wasted, particularly when we’re concerned about what our kids are learning. To be sure, academic work is critically important, but play in its most proper sense complements and builds upon academic work to help young people develop critical skills that will take them in the direction of their dreams.

TimetoPlayMag.com recently teamed up with Duracell to find out what today’s kids want to be when they grow up. We surveyed 507 children ages 8-12 throughout the U.S. Their answers weren’t terribly surprising. Seventeen percent of girls want to be a veterinarian, while 14 percent want to be a teacher. Eleven percent of boys want to be in the military, while 10 percent of boys want to be an athlete or sports star. Also not surprisingly, the vast majority of these kids said that they pretend to be in these careers when they play.

What do kids want to be when they grow up?

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Why is this meaningful? Well, for one, childhood is preparation for adulthood. Trying on roles is an important step that helps young people discover who they are and what excites them. We visited the Ridge Street School in Newark, New Jersey, to talk to some kids one-on-one. When asked about being a teacher, most of the young people we spoke to were inspired by their own teachers—some of the important adults in their lives. Children who wanted to be a teacher often played teacher themselves with younger siblings, friends or relatives. They observe adult behaviors and mimic them. We call it play, but it’s really about sociological and psychological patterning as children integrate observed behavior into their realities.

Similarly kids who want to become veterinarians love to “practice” on their pets. They respond to the activity or nurturing and caretaking, and, at least according to the kids we interviewed, their pets generally put up with it. This play gives them a sense of being able to do things in the world, which helps them see themselves as powerful and effective.

What really inspired us, though, was that the kids’ goals weren’t just pipe dreams—they knew they would have to go through a lot of education to reach their goals. More importantly, it doesn’t matter if the child who says he or she wants to be a teacher today ever becomes one. The ability to envision success is fundamental to achievement. That’s why whether a child pretends to be a paleontologist or a Power Ranger, that’s play to be encouraged.

What do kids like to do when they play?

Overall, play serves three principle functions. It allows kids to have new experiences, explore their worlds and express themselves. Play offers a safe haven where real-world consequences are minimal. At the same time, it offers a rehearsal studio or laboratory for the real world. Through social play children learn what is and isn’t appropriate, which helps them when interact with others. Through creative play—drawing, painting, construction toys—children learn that they can envision something in their minds before they make it real in front of them. This supports the development of conceptual thinking—a building block for writing and math skills. It’s often said that “play is children’s work,” and the goal of that work is to become an engaged and contributing member of the culture.

Why kids want to pursue this profession:

And, like everything that we create, play starts in the imagination—the most powerful tool any of us have. The greatest thing you can do for your kids is to foster free imagination.  Best of all, virtually any toy can do that. Whether it’s a box of crayons or a video game, certain elements will draw on kids’ talents and challenge them to be imaginative. Just like a balanced curriculum helps kids become well-rounded students, balanced play experiences help them become well-rounded individuals.

So, what do Barack Obama, Derek Jeter and Kate Winslet have in common? They each have reached the pinnacle of their widely different careers, but what they’ve achieved today began as an idea, something they imagined. It took hard work, a few setbacks and time to make their achievements real, but it started in their imaginations. That’s what drove their power to be what they have become… so far.

Let’s make sure all the kids in our lives have that opportunity.