i'm nothing if not a tambourine

Studies show that the brain of a child in deep play scans in the same way as an adult who is concentrating creatively (i.e. painting a picture, writing a poem, etc.). 

When I heard this, I was wondering, would you ever stop a child from playing? Would you let a child go years without playing? And after that child has stopped the game and is coming in for supper, would you play back a video of the child playing and point out its strengths and weaknesses?