The interests of psychologists in children and their play activities dates back to the latter part of the nineteenth century.  Early studies were mainly concerned with the observation, categorization, and classification of play activities and their forms and structure.

Historically, the first author to attempt to understand the psychology of children through observations of play was Rousseau.  Many years later, Sigmund Freud described child’s play as “poetic creation.” Freud theorized that play allows the child to transpose passive experiences into active ones, thereby allowing the child to gain mastery over conflictual experiences.