Play (activity)


Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreation. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functioning animals as well, most notably mammals and birds.
Play is often interpreted as frivolous; yet the player can be intently focused on their objective, particularly when play is structured and goal-oriented, as in a game. Accordingly, play can range from relaxed, free-spirited, spontaneous, and frivolous to planned or even compulsive. Play is not just a pastime activity; it has the potential to serve as an important tool in numerous aspects of daily life for adolescents, adults, and cognitively advanced non-human species. Not only does play promote and aid in physical development, but it also aids in cognitive development and social skills, and can even act as a stepping stone into the world of integration, which can be a very stressful process. Play is something that most children partake in, but the way play is executed is different between cultures, and the way that children engage with play varies.

Definitions

The seminal text in the field of play studies is the book Homo Ludens first published in 1944 with several subsequent editions, in which Johan Huizinga defines play as follows:
This definition of play as constituting a separate and independent sphere of human activity is sometimes referred to as the "magic circle" notion of play, a phrase also attributed to Huizinga. Many other definitions exist. Jean Piaget stated, "the many theories of play expounded in the past are clear proof that the phenomenon is difficult to understand."
Another definition of play from the twenty-first century comes from the National Playing Fields Association. The definition reads as follows: "play is freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively engages the child." This definition focuses more on the child's freedom of choice and personal motivation related to an activity.

Forms

Play can take the form of improvisation, pretense, interaction, performance, mimicry, games, sports, and thrill-seeking. Philosopher Roger Caillois wrote about play in his 1961 book Man, Play and Games. Caillois interprets many social structures as elaborate forms of games and much behaviour as a form of play.
Free-form play gives children the freedom to decide what they want to play and how it will be played. Both the activity and the rules are subject to change in this form, and children can make any changes to the rules or objectives of the play at any time. Some countries in the twenty-first century have added emphasis of free play into their values for children in early childhood, for example Taiwan and Hungary.
Structured play has clearly defined goals and rules. Such play is called a "game". Other play is unstructured or open-ended. Both types of play promote adaptive behaviors and mental states of happiness.
Sports with defined rules take place within designated play spaces, such as sports fields—in association football for example, players kick a ball in a certain direction and push opponents out of their way as they do so. While appropriate within the sport's play space, these same behaviors might be inappropriate or even illegal outside the playing field.
Other designed play spaces can be playgrounds with dedicated equipment and structures to promote active and social play. Some play spaces go even farther in specialization to bring the play indoors, and charge admission, as seen at Children's Museums, Science Centers, or Family Entertainment Centers. Family Entertainment Centers are typically for-profit businesses that facilitate play and entertainment, while Children's Museums and Science Centers are typically non-profit organisations for educational entertainment.
The California-based National Institute for Play describes seven play patterns:
;attunement play: establishes a connection, such as between newborn and mother
;body play: an infant explores the ways in which their body works and interacts with the world, such as making funny sounds or discovering what happens in a fall
;creative play: uses imagination to transcend what is known in the current state, to create a higher state. For example, a person might experiment to find a new way to use a musical instrument, thereby taking that form of music to a higher plane; or, as Einstein was known to do, a person might wonder about things which are not yet known and play with unproven ideas as a bridge to the discovery of new knowledge.
;imaginative or pretend play: a child invents scenarios from their imagination and acts within them as a form of play, such as princess or pirate play
;object play: such as playing with toys, banging pots and pans, handling physical things in ways that use curiosity
;social play: involves others in activities such as tumbling, making faces, and building connections with another child or group of children
;storytelling play: play of learning and language that develops intellect, such as a parent reading aloud to a child, or a child retelling the story in their own words
Another classification system uses these categories:
;challenge play: such as solving a Rubik's Cube puzzle
;competitive play: such as a footrace
;construction play: such as building with blocks
;cooperative play: such as playing on a team or making up a new game together
;creative play: such as making up a new story or drawing a picture
;pretend play: such as children pretending to be animals or a storybook character
;nurturing play: such as playing with baby dolls
;replica play: such as playing with toy versions of food in a play kitchen
Some forms overlap, such as a relay race or building a blanket fort.
Separate from self-initiated play, play therapy is used as a clinical application of play aimed at treating children who suffer from trauma, emotional issues and other problems.

Children

In young children, play is associated with cognitive development and socialization. Play that promotes learning and recreation often incorporates toys, props, tools, or other playmates. Play can consist of an amusing, pretend, or imaginary activity alone or with another. Some forms of play are rehearsals or trials for later life events, such as "play fighting", pretend social encounters, or flirting. Findings in neuroscience suggest that play promotes flexibility of mind, including adaptive practices such as discovering multiple ways to achieve a desired result, or creative ways to improve or reorganize a given situation.
As children get older, they engage in board games, video games, and computer play, and in this context the word gameplay is used to describe the concept and theory of play and its relationship to rules and game design. In their book, Rules of Play, researchers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman outline 18 schemas for games, using them to define "play", "interaction", and "design" formally for behaviorists. Similarly, in his book Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds, game researcher and theorist Jesper Juul explores the relationship between real rules and unreal scenarios in play, such as winning or losing a game in the real world when played together with real-world friends, but doing so by slaying a dragon in the fantasy world presented in the shared video game.
Play is explicitly recognized in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which declares:
  • Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
  • Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational, and leisure activities.

    History of childhood playtime

American historian Howard Chudacoff studied the interplay between parental control of toys and games and children's drive for freedom to play. In the colonial era, toys were makeshift and children taught each other very simple games with little adult supervision. The market economy of the 19th century enabled the modern concept of childhood as a distinct, happy life stage. Factory-made dolls and doll houses delighted young girls. Organized sports filtered down from adults and colleges, and boys learned to play with a bat, a ball, and an impromptu playing field.
With the rise of motor vehicle traffic in the 20th century, teenagers were increasingly organized into club sports supervised and coached by adults, with swimming taught at summer camps and through supervised playgrounds.
Under the American New Deal's Works Progress Administration, thousands of local playgrounds and ball fields opened, promoting softball especially as a sport for all ages and genders. By the 21st century, Chudacoff notes, the old tension between parental controls and a child's individual freedom was being played out in cyberspace.

Cultural differences

The act of play time is a cross-cultural phenomenon that is universally accepted and encouraged by most communities; however, it can differ in the ways that is performed.
Some cultures, such as Euro-American ones, encourage play time in order to stress cognitive benefits and the importance of learning how to care for one's self. Other cultures, such as people of African American or Asian American heritages, stress more group oriented learning and play where kids can learn what they can do with and for others.
Parent interactions at playtime also differ within communities. Parents in the Mayan culture interact with their children in a playful mindset while parents in the United States tend to set aside time to play and teach their children through games and activities. In the Mayan community, children are supported in their playing but also encouraged to play while watching their parents do household work in order to become familiar with how to follow in their footsteps.
All around the world, children use natural materials like stones, water, sand, leaves, fruits, sticks, and a variety of resources to play. In addition, there are groups that have access to crafts, industrialized toys, electronics, and video-games.
In Australia, games and sports are part of play. There, play can be considered as preparation for life and self-expression, like in many other countries.
Groups of children in Efe of the Democratic Republic of Congo can be seen making 'food' from dirt or pretending to shoot bows and arrows much like their elders. These activities are similar to other forms of play worldwide. For instance, children can be seen comforting their toy dolls or animals, anything that they have modeled from adults in their communities.
In Brazil, children can be found playing with balls, kites, marbles, pretend houses, or mud kitchens, like in many other countries. In smaller communities they use mud balls, little stones or cashews to replace marbles.
At an indigenous community of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, children's play is highly valued and encouraged by leaders and parents. They interact with the children of different ages and explore together different environments to let the children express themselves as part of the group.
Some children in the Sahara use clay figures as their forms of playful toys. Toys in general are a representation of cultural practices. They usually illustrate characters and objects of a community.
Play time can be a way for children to learn the different ways of their culture. Many communities use play to emulate work. The way in which children mimic work through their play can differ according to the opportunities they have access to, but it is something that tends to be promoted by adults.