Serious fun
Animals at play
Who hasn’t been entertained watching young animals at play? Puppies will play by stalking, pouncing, biting, shaking objects from side to side and, of course, running and fetching. Zoologists believe that when animals play, as well as having fun, they are practicing the skills that they will need in their adult life. Along with their hunting and predatory skills they are developing social bonding with the ‘pack’ and their communication skills.
Are human beings so different? Our young have the longest juvenile period in the animal kingdom and are certainly no less playful. Chasings, Hide-and-Seek and wrestling are children’s games that go back into pre history. How important have they been to the hunting, social and communication skills of human beings?
The development of manufactured games
Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato believed that Greek children should be provided with toys that would help develop the skills they would need in their adult life. In all early civilisations, as well as weaponry, architecture, literature and science, games were also developed for both children and adults.
Backgammon, Checkers, Chess, card and dice games are all over one thousand years old. Snakes and Ladders came from India, Dominos from China, Backgammon and
Checkers from Iraq, Chess from Afghanistan, card games from somewhere in central
Asia. The basis of each of these games was a reflection of the society from which it came. The types of games that people played said as much about their society as their art or literature. All these ancient games have been modified in form and structure over the centuries.
The twentieth century saw the mass production and spread of modern board games including Monopoly, Scrabble, Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit. A multitude of these and other board games still exist today for the home market.
It was in the 1930’s when the coin operated fun parlours