When my three teen-age children were young, they spent every Sunday afternoon at Grandma's house playing roughly with each other in the backyard with their two cousins. They played a game they called 'Team' — a rousing, big-body game that involved chasing, tagging, swinging around, throwing to the ground, many smiles and much laughter. Often, while they were playing Team, someone would question the safety of this type of play and why my husband and I allowed it to continue week after week. We allowed it, we would respond, because it reminded us of the way we played when we were kids. And, we argued, if they were hurting each other, would they continue to voluntarily pursue this type of play week after week? Would there be so much laughter involved?

Now, as an early childhood college instructor, I work with students who share the same concerns my family shared with me all those years ago:

• Is rough and tumble play dangerous?
• Is it aggressive?
• Does it make children more aggressive?
• Should we — as early childhood educators — learn how to prevent and de-emphasize this type of rough play?
• Is there a place for rough play in quality programs for young children?

Fears and misperceptions

There are many fears and misperceptions surrounding this rough, big-body play that children seem to crave. Many people fear that play-fighting or rough and tumble play is the same as real fighting. There is also a fear that this rough play will become real fighting if allowed to continue. Most of all, though, parents and teachers fear that during the course of rough and tumble play a child may be hurt. To provide for and allow children to play rough without injury, teachers need to understand how rough play is different from aggression, as well as about how to offer it in a safe and supportive environment.

For young children, rough and tumble play is seemingly universal and dates back to the 12th century (Jarvis, 2007). This style of play incorporates a range of physical behaviors that range from running and chasing to tagging and wrestling. By definition, rough and tumble play is when children willingly do the following:

• laugh
• run
• jump
• open beat (tag)
• wrestle
• chase, and
• flee

When children are being aggressive, though, they typically show the following behaviors:

• fixate
• frown
• hit
• push, and
• take-and-grab

Rough and tumble play may resemble fighting, but it is distinctly different from fighting (Humphreys & Smith, 1984).

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