Why letting kids explore, fail, get bored, and get creative this summer is one of the most important things we can do for the whole child. Let them wander the backyard with no plan. Let them get bored on a Tuesday afternoon. Let them build the fort wrong, fall off the balance beam, lose the pickup game, and try again anyway. It sounds like the opposite of good parenting or good coaching: shouldn't we be filling every hour with something enriching? But a growing body of resear