• Learn Boundaries

Play can teach children "how far they can go", in other words to learn boundaries. Playing with others will teach a child to take turns, to share and to moderate their behaviour. By learning to play by the rules of the game children learn the meaning of rules and boundaries.

Children will gradually be given more freedom to play outside with their friends. Building up the area in which they can "roam" will teach them how far from home they can go and this will naturally expand as they get older. Starting with a small area at a younger age will ease them into the responsibility.

Rough and Tumble play teaches children about their physical boundaries and will also develop physical fitness and social skills at the same time.

Play offers a safe environment for children to scuffle with their friends without regard for rules or conventions. Their playmate will tell them when they have gone too far and by doing so both children learn when "enough is enough".

Some adults find rough and tumble play hard to watch as it looks like aggressive behaviour, but for children it symbolises activity, competition and risk-taking. Parents can keep an eye on children as they skirmish and watch to make sure both children are actively engaged in the play and look like they are enjoying the "fight". It will become apparent if one child is too much for the other and if a parent is in doubt should ask both children if they are still having fun, if not the parents can then step in.

By engaging in a little, rough and tumble children can increase their confidence, learn self-control and increase their physical endurance and mental power. Rough and tumble often appeals more to boys than to girls, but it is okay for either sex to engage in this type of play.

What do we mean?

• Playing in the street (if you live in a quiet road)
• Going to the park with friends
• Any game with rules
• Play fighting
• Wrestling
• Bulldog
• Leapfrog

This type of play has been linked to improvements in behaviour as children are able to "let off steam".

Following one study on ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) it has been suggested that children with ADHD may benefit from a regimen of social rough and tumble play although this needs further investigation.