The Genealogy of Play

In 1924, exactly a century ago, the world-famous children’s author Alan Milne wrote this much-loved rhyme about the play activities of his young son: Where am I going? I don’t quite know. Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-Anywhere, anywhere. I don’t know…Where am I going? The high rooks call: “It’s awful fun to be born at all”. Where am I going? The ring-doves coo: “We do have beautiful things to do”. But in 2024, in much of the Western world, allowing a young child to wander in this manner would be seen by many as dangerous, reckless and negligent. For example, in 2019, Renee Umstattd Meyer and her colleagues found that a large proportion of children in the post-industrial world did not take the recommended amount of exercise in the outdoor environment, and even where spaces were specifically made available to them, parents feared that they would be infiltrated by crime and violence. This article considers the emergent effects of significant cultural change in children’s independent and collaborative free play opportunities. It draws on an ethological and biocultural perspective to argue why independent, active free play, particularly involving peer collaboration, is so important to human development.