Play, Games and Sport

Abstract

Play may seem a useless activity, but it has an important function. Through play children learn and develop their brain. Babies babble in order to learn to pronounce the sounds of the language, they shake their rattles or throw their dummies in order to train their motor functions, to understand how things move, and to explore the law of gravity. Bigger children play role games where they learn to understand and master the roles which are necessary in the daily life of adults. The importance of play for children’s development is indicated by how much time and energy they spend on playing (Fagen 1981:272). Children may occasionally be conscious that they are learning, for example when practicing to catch a ball. But playing may very well be functional without the child being conscious of this function.