Any recreational activities of the amusements and pastimes that may involve spontaneous, unstructured, of fantasy and imagination, and organized games with set rules are consider children's games. Any attempt to classify them is difficult because of their variety and quantity. Children enjoy both passive and active games, indoors or outdoors. Many games are derived from everyday life and relate to the culture from which they developed.

Some children's games have been around for centuries. Many popular games are orally transmitted from child to child, often accompanied by traditional verbal formulas, rhymes, or counting devices such as in jumping rope or ring-around-a-rosy. Those games vary from culture to culture and may have lost any reference to their remote past. Swings existed on the island of Crete since 1600 BC, and jacks or knucklebones, a game that involves tossing and then catching five or more jacks, evolved from ancient Greece. Follow-the-leader goes back to the 12^th century. Both blind man's buff and a chase game, in which one team chases another team depending on the toss of a coin or disk, was developed more than 2,000 years ago. Other games that are played around the world are spinning tops, flying kites, playing with marbles, hide-and-seek, and cat's cradle. As social attitudes changed, some games became less popular and others, especially those that involved violence toward animals, all put disappeared. A few children's games became more structured and often lost their entertainment value.

Technological inventions have greatly influenced the history of children's games. The discovery of rubber led to the creation of new types of balls, which in turn increased the number and frequency of ball games played. New cultural and trade ties with other societies accompanied these changes. Video and computer technology has also brought forth a new generation of electronic games.

Psychologists believe that children learn to play primarily from their parents or other adults, starting with simple games such as peekaboo. Play often provides a training ground from which a child learns to develop skills to adapt and cope with real life situations later in life. Although modern sports tend to have fixed rules, children generally prefer games that require less-specialized equipment, preparation, rules, and playing area. Hopscotch, leapfrog, and marbles are particularly popular games, as are the various improvised games that involve running, chasing, and catching. Many games such as guessing games, quizzes, and games that test physical coordination are played by children together with adults.

Manufactured games were originally used as a method of instruction beginning in the 17th century. The later development of geographic games led to the creation of the jigsaw. Many 19th-century games are still played today, including pachisi and snakes-and-ladders. Monopoly, developed in 1933, has become one of the most popular board games of all time. Computer programs now teach children their alphabets, numbers, and colors.

1. "Children's Games," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
2. "Children's Games," Encyclopaedia Britannica. © 1994-1999 Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.