Why Do Kids Run and Jump?

Parents and early educators confront play-related issues every day. They deplore the elimination of recess and playtimes in schools. They complain about childhood obesity or attack play directly: "There are so many toys in here, there's no room for learning." A New York Times Magazine article, "Taking Play Seriously" (February 17, 2008), Robin Maranz Henig describes studies about play and addresses some physical and psychological aspects: "Play can be risky. And, under stress it can disappear. What then would justify, in evolutionary terms, the prevalence of play?"

The author examines animal research relating to human play and considers what play might be good for:

• Play as preparation, as practice for getting ready to be an adult

• Play contributes to the growth and development of the brain itself — "the growth curve for the cerebellum correlates to the playfulness curve in mammals."

• A play ethos pervades education — "the reflexive, unexamined belief that play is an unmitigated good with crucial, though vaguely defined, evolutionary function."

Contributed by Edna Ranck