Children's Games

Child's play 

Any relaxation of entertainment and pastime, which can cause spontaneous, unstructured, of fantasy and imagination, and organized games with set rules are games for children. Any attempt to classify them is difficult because of their diversity and quantity. Children enjoy both passive and active play, indoors or outdoors. Many games are derived from daily life and relate to the culture which they developed.

Some children's games have been around for centuries. Many popular games are orally transmitted from child to child, often accompanied by traditional verbal formulas, rhymes, or counting devices such as in jumping rope or ring-around-a-rosy. These games vary from culture to culture and may have lost any connection to their distant past. Swings existed on the island of Crete since 1600 BC, and jacks or knucklebones, a game involving the plat and then take five or more jacks, evolved from ancient Greece. Follow-the-leader dates back to the 12th century. Both blind man's buff and a hunting game where one team chasing another team depending on the toss of a coin or disk, was developed more than 2,000 years ago. Other games played around the world rotates tops, flying kites, playing with marbles, hide-and-seek, and cat's cradle. As social attitudes changed, some games became less popular and others, especially those that involved violence against animals are all gone. A couple of games for children were more structured and often lost their entertainment value.

Technological inventions have great influence on the history of children's games. The discovery of rubber led to the creation of new types of balls, which in turn increased the number and frequency of ball games. New cultural and commercial relations with other communities accompanied these changes. Video and computer technology have also created a new generation of electronic games.

Psychologists believe that children learn how to play primarily from their parents or other adults, beginning with simple games like peekaboo. Games often provide an education from which a child learns to develop the skills to adapt and cope with real life later in life. Although modern sports tend to have firm rules, children generally prefer games that require less specialized equipment, preparation, rules, and playground. Hopscotch, jump, and marble are very popular games which are the various improvised games that involve running, chasing, and catching. Many games such as guessing games, quizzes and games that test physical coordination is played by children with adults.

Manufactured game was originally used as a method for teaching beginning in the 17th century. The recent development of geographic games led to the creation of the puzzle. Many of the 19 century game still played today, including Pachisi and hose-and rising. Monopoly, developed in 1933, has become one of the most popular board games of all time. Computer programs now teach children their alphabet, numbers and colors.