Parents are children's first educators. Parents influence children's cognitive, physical, social and emotional development from an early age. This qualitative study explored parents' perceptions of children's play through semi-structured interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using open coding. Themes emerged related to the positive and negative aspects of play. Some of the positive aspects of play parents mentioned included play providing opportunities for exploration and creativity, social interaction, and a fun, worry-free, and relaxed learning context. Potential negative consequences of play included rough play leading to injuries. Other potential negative aspects of play parents mentioned were imitating bad behaviors during play and engaging in too much screen time play.