Horseplay is Crucial to Child Development

Filed in archive Studies on March 20, 2007

As a mother to a very energetic four-year old boy, I've "died" of several little heart attacks watching my son get on with his rough plays, which get really worse when playmates are present.

I guess any mother or parent for that matter just wouldn't like their kids to literally break their legs or necks at play, get hurt by other kids, or worse when your own kid hurt other kids while at play.

But kids will be kids and so rough and tumble play is part of their growing up.

While we parents cross our fingers and watch closely and make sure that nothing bad happens, there is actually scientific evidence suggesting that social and emotional development may rely heavily on such kind of rough peer interaction.

Published in the April issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, Sergio and Vivian Pellis of the University of Lethbridge in a review of multiple animal studies found a link between rough and tumble play and social competence.

For example, adult rats deprived of peer interaction, (and thus rough and tumble play), reveal an inability to comprehend the hierarchy of social structures.

Play deprived rats, on the other hand, continue to scurry about which ultimately invites further serious attacks. Coordinated movements appear to suffer in the absence of rough and tumble play as well.

Find more details from the full report.

[In photo is my son taken last year after the typhoon, he found a new "horse" in fallen coconut trees.]