Outgrowths of Play

There are various major kinds of play in childhood, and differences among them become elaborated in adulthood into institutional forms. For example, young children tend to test out their abilities, and for some people such testing of self-reliance becomes the major theme of their adult play life. They find their most vivid forms of self-gratification in rock climbing, mountain climbing, skydiving, gymnastics, skiing, deep-sea diving, daredevil motorcycle riding, or simply taking "dangerous" rides in carnivals. For others, the most exciting tests in childhood are those involving competition with others, and such persons when grown revel in games, sports, or debates, or enjoy watching others' contests.

 

But play is expression of self as well as testing. Self-expression may be sought by children through impersonal materials such as sand, clay, paints, and wood, which may be followed in adulthood through the sophisticated activities of the crafts and arts. It also may be sought by young children in interpersonal ways such as make-believe, which in later years may be found in ballet and theater. In general, it seems that those who pursue adult forms of play expression were those for whom they were important when young.