=Play.= Play is usually considered to be a part of the original equipment
of man. It is essentially an expression of the ripening instincts of
children, and not a specific instinct itself. It is rather a sort of
make-believe activity of all the instincts. Kittens and dogs may be seen
in play to mimic fighting. They bite and chew each other as in real
fighting, but still they are not fighting.

As the structures and organs of children mature, they demand activity.
This early activity is called play. It has several characteristics. The
main one is that it is pleasurable. Play activity is pleasurable in
itself. We do not play that we may get something else which we like, as
is the case with the activity which we call work. Play is an end in
itself. It is not a means to get something else which is intrinsically
valuable.

One of the chief values of play comes from its activity aspect. We are
essentially motor beings. We grow and develop only through exercise. In
early life we do not have to exert ourselves to get a living. Play is
nature's means of giving our organs the exercise which they must have to
bring them to maturity. Play is an expression of the universal tendency
to action in early life. Without play, the child would not develop,
would not become a normal human being.

All day long the child is ceaselessly active. The value of this activity
can hardly be overestimated. It not only leads to healthy growth, but is
a means through which the child learns himself and the world. Everything
that the child sees excites him to react to it or upon it. He gets
possession of it. He bites it. He pounds it. He throws it. In this way
he learns the properties of things and the characteristics of forces.
Through play and imitation, in a very few years the child comes to a