Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/not-all-play-is-created-equal/5024060/
After trekking for more than four hours across the rugged terrain of Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, my daughter and I finally attained our goal: spending an afternoon among a mountain gorilla family. We enjoyed visiting the newest member of the family unit, an infant in the arms of his nursing mother. But the biggest delight came from the playful antics of a two-year-old toddler.
His dramatic play involved imitations of the adult silverbacks. Standing wobbly on his hind feet, the toddler gorilla only managed one-and-a-half strikes of his tiny fists against his chest before he toppled over and rolled away. Undeterred, he repeatedly tried to better his performance until something in the bush captured his attention and he wandered off. Later, he enjoyed showing off his climbing skills for our group as he shimmied up stalks of bamboo, all the while keeping an eye on us to ascertain that our attention was focused in his direction. My favorite playful episode came from his exploration of loose soil. The toddler repeatedly picked up handfuls of soil and watched as it gently filtered through his lifted fingers. (See Figure 1.)
Play and Development
As we watched the toddler gorilla, I was struck ...