Play is instinctive. Even without Nerf guns, Xboxes, or Hungry, Hungry Hippos, children will play. Young creatures from every species know how to splash their sister at the watering hole; every little brother will pounce on the older one to start a game of chase. Peek-a-boo must be universal. Although what about amoebas? Do amoeba children play peek–a-boo?
Before I go too far down the rabbit hole of biology, let’s just stick to play, specifically ancient toys and games. Strangely enough, academics hadn’t given much thought to play until a few years ago, especially in archaeological digs. Hstorian Philippe Arles actually put forth the theory that in the past children didn’t play, that they were effectively “mini-adults,” because there was too much to do and high infant mortality rates made their parents unwilling to invest in their childhoods–Arles sounds like a guy without children to me. For a long time, though, when archaeologists found a Stone Age figurine or a bit of broken pottery, even in a child’s burial site, they called the former a religious fetish and the latter trash. But those could have been dolls and action figures; they could have been game pieces.
The idea of childhood play wasn’t invented in the 20th century. Plenty of classical Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artwork includes children playing. We can let the academic journal papers debate whether the tiny horse with wheels was for a religious ceremony or a giggling child. For this purposes, let’s call them toys.
Continue reading “G is for Games”
