Rough and Tumble Play

Rough and tumble play is a play style in which children are involved in very physical running, rolling, jumping, chasing and fleeing, tagging, and wrestling that all animal young—including children—do. It is known by many alternate names: roughhousing, play fighting, horseplay. Many of the actions involved in rough and tumble play mimic aggressive actions although the intention of the play is not aggression. Instead, the intention of rough and tumble play is sustained physical engagement between a solitary child or a child and an object, or physical engagement between two or more children, often in a game with rules.

In solitary rough and tumble play, the child uses vigorous physical movements, such as twirling, jumping, rolling, and swinging with arms out wide. A child may also ...