Do kids have time to play?

Yes they do!
Kids make time to play. Recently I was testing one of my games with a group of students from a local school. Kids came from same locality and knew each-other quite well. I am talking about 10-12 yr old. The idea of a friends group is very strong among kids. They know their friends house, friends parents, the toys they own, their relatives, and sometimes even their friends interests. They share everything as they have to be accepted in the group. Many time it depends on the city culture also. Smaller towns seem to have more freedom for kids compared to cities. They have a strong sense of togetherness, and share strong communication. It is also because that the friendship stays with the friends presence at the school. Same school means more things in common to share. Kids make time to play, they plan and decide. They improve everyday on their previous attempts of play. They don't usually compete but they participate quite keenly. Their presence is very important.
Evenings are reserved for play, usually outdoors. Sometimes some kids who have to study an extra time by attending evening tutions also manage to squeeze some bit of time for their performance with the group. In the evenings, their primary interest is play. They dont mind playing varied games. Any variety is acceptable. Usually someone a little vocal decides creatively and soon its accepted by the group and teams are made. Making teams are the exciting part. Once can easily make out the more personal preferences. One gets an opportunity for a more personal liking for a friend. He tries to choose the one he likes many times not the one who makes them win!
Game is an engaging activity, it involves running, counting, strategy making, teasing, saving oneself, saving team, scoring, hiding, remembering - quite a rich healthy interaction. It builds the idea of self. At younger ages it builds ones response to a challenging situations created by the game. One loses or wins and soon the idea of group and friends diminishes the memories of win or lose. During play they keep inventing new meanings and discover new relationships, thats what keep them engaging. Any thing new, and surprising initiates interest naturally and the group presence makes the game completely engaging.
Kids live in a routine which they are well aware of. More time for play, during holidays are pre-planned. They know how to utilize the time for play when their life moves a little away from the routine. They usually decide in groups. A group decision is quite sacrosanct.
Games keep changing according to a visible change in the trend - The general direction in which something tends to move. This happens when the group sees something more than what they have been playing. Media many-times tries to influence this but group decisions are not merely based on media, they are observed in the real environments, nearby schools, playgrounds, neighborhood etc. Thats why, there is a season to play cricket and a season to play football. Interestingly during holidays, kids make time to play board games. Sometimes they may become popular. Holiday afternoons are good for such games. Friends of neighborhood or close friends find a way to meet during the holidays. They dont mind showing off some new games which they have bought and try out. Here he is forced to teach him the game. This is a tricky situation and it requires a certain interest which is built over last few days talking about the game(word of mouth). The other kid has listened to him over the week in his school or in the evenings and is ready to learn. This readiness becomes important for a kid to lear a new game. Often if at that time some elders encourage, it builds trust among the kids for the new game. Sometimes elders often overdo their part by adding their experience of knowledge which is simply not required. They should simply enable(initiate) the game.
Its pretty easy thing once the game is discovered and it has engaged the players for sometime. Now the only way for the game to be replayed is by a force of group enthusiasm. Kids of this age do not take their self interests to come and play back again. They simply play it because they have talked about as the game was simply some exciting event of their life. They talk about it and decide to play when they get a comfortable time.
Play is a real phenomena of a kids life. If they involve in groups they create number of occasions to play. If they are alone, they force the parents for the required time of play.