Why do children play?

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Playing is as natural for children as breathing. All children love to play. They play because they are so full of animal spirits and so overcharged with muscular energy that they must expend it by playing. Running, jumping and other physical activities build their muscles and tone their motor development. It is all-instinctive.
Moreover, playing involves imagination, imitation and ‘make-believe’ and thus contributes to the development of the child’s mind also. In playing a child makes friends, develops the qualities of leadership and learns to function in a group. This develops his social responsibility. Moreover playing is a preparation for the business of life. For example, when girls play with dolls they practice being mothers and when boys play policeman game, they prepare themselves for active and outdoor life. Thus playing is a rehearsal of those activities which will be useful to them in life.

Psychologists believe that playing also acts as a therapy for the child; it helps him/her to release all his/her pent-up feelings. It gives him/her much-needed cathartic release. Children play to make up for defeats, sufferings and everyday frustration. He may have been scolded by a teacher or bullied by a class mate.

It is, therefore, necessary that parents should let the children play when it is time to play. Some parents force their children to study as it is thought to be far more useful for life than play. It is a mistake on their part to think play as a wastage of time. Through the experience of play a child enriches his life and becomes not only physically strong but also emotionally.