Play, Variability and Motor Learning

Excerpts from Todd Hargrove on the BetterMovement.org website

Children don’t learn to move through work or instruction. Instead, they learn through play, exploration and experimentation.

Play is commonly defined as an activity that is fun, voluntary, improvisational, absorbing, and has no obvious purpose. It can also be understood as the opposite of boring work – something that is done with a specific outcome in mind, under the stress of need, and that takes will power to continue.

In the natural world, play is an essential part of any significant learning process. All intelligent animals play. The more intelligent the animal, the more it plays. Chimps, dolphins, and dogs play more than snakes, turtles and bugs. Humans are the smartest animals and play the most.

When an intelligent animal is deprived of play, it will not develop into a normal adult, and will instead experience severe problems with learning and social behavior.