Let us consider the possibility that games are a necessity of childhood.  As a child you are vulnerable and inexperienced in everything, which is why kid’s brains are constantly looking for ways to help them understand the world around them.  As they grow, children learn to automate certain responses to a given situation because they are so familiar with it they know what the proper response is without conscious thought.  This process is instrumental to the successful development of the child because people do things faster if they don’t have to consciously think about it.  This can range from simple things like getting dressed to more complicated tasks like learning how to juggle.  Children do this though games.  Games are the vehicle of play which implies that the action that the child is participating in has no real consequences.  This is important because are games are supposed  provide a safe, relatively carefree environment for children to establish these responses.

It is also important to realize that because everything is so novel for a child you can make a game out of almost anything.  I remember when I was a child my dad used to race me to see who could get dressed the fastest every morning.  While I did not receive any benefits from this game I played it every morning for an entire school year without fail and I don’t know why.  What I do know is that because of this I did learn to dress my self without thinking even when I had to use an iron.