ROUGH & TUMBLE
Not too long ago I watched two young cats playing in the garden. One of them would climb on to a plant pot and then in haphazard and treacherous way spring upon its opponent. They would then roll about in the grass for a while pawing and biting at each other. Each bite, however, was a gentle one, a quick nip to the back of the neck, and each launch from the plant pot, which was often inaccurately targeted, was just as playful.
Like the young of many species, human children also seem to be driven to engage in such activity. Children will often launch themselves into spontaneous play fighting, much to the worry of supervising adults, but this type of behaviour is highly important to children's physical, social and inter-personal development.
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