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Yes.
When I babysit I often tell the kids to "go outside and play." I usually read somewhere within line of sight and earshot while they whoop it up; sometimes that place is in the backyard with them and sometimes it is not. Sometimes we go to the park and I sit and read on a bench while they run around like crazy people. Sometimes I play too. Free play, indoors or out, allows kids to use their creativity and imaginations. Outdoor play allows them to be as crazy as they want to be without fear of ruining the furniture or breaking something--and it's great exercise.
I wouldn't let a child in my care go off to the store without supervision; that's a decision for a parent to make. When I have children, I'm pretty sure I'll let them walk and go to certain places without my supervision--my parents let us walk all over our neighborhood without supervision as kids, and when we were 8 and 10 it was common for us to walk to the little market a mile from our house. It teaches kids valuable safety skills, and I will have to trust that I did a good job of teaching them those skills. If you keep your child in a bubble all of the time, they never learn those things, and they never get to put them to the test.
And my goodness, I love sitting within earshot and overhearing what the kids come up with when they play. They create some of the most interesting games. It saddens me to think that there are kids that miss out on the creative opportunity free play provides.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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