Children’s Games

Playing games is recreational activities especially enjoyed by every child.  My son, Vito, really likes playing games, I usually choose the educational ones. Any attempt to classify games is difficult because of their great number and variety, children enjoy active games as well as passive ones. There are games of skill or chance, games which played indoors or outdoors, and games which played by one child alone or even more. Some games are structured, played according to formal rules, and generally with prescribed equipment, others are unstructured which “made up” spontaneously as the game progresses.

Psychologists believe that the basis of most children's play, starting with a simple infant amusement such as peekaboo, is imitation of adult life, particularly that of parents or other significant figures. Play is thus a learning process and a means of adapting to or coping with life situations. Universally favorite children's games involve pretending teachers or doctors, or kings and queens, creatures from outer space, or movie stars. Commonly this is the favorite games for girls.

Children's games are spread and perpetuated by this same propensity to imitation. Many popular games are orally transmitted from child to child, often accompanied by traditional verbal formulas, rhymes, or counting devices as in jumping rope that vary from culture to culture and may possibly conceal references to events in the remote past. Examples of games played around the world are spinning tops, playing with marbles, and hide-and-seek.

Games come in and out of fashion, and new games are constantly being devised. Lately, electronic games operated by remote control became favorites of children as well as adults, while the traditional games seem today to be unpopular.