Why Do We Do That? - 12. Why do we play?

Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks why do humans play?

The Neanderthals are a species that was so close to us that we could reproduce with them, they had creativity, technology and they made art - handprints on cave walls and painted shells strung into necklaces. But it turns out the Neanderthals had shorter childhoods than us. Their children grew up quicker than their Homo sapiens counterparts.

We don’t know why Neanderthals went extinct. It is probably for a few reasons but is it possible that us having these longer childhoods, having more time to play, might have given us a creative edge. There are probably more important reasons for our survival over them but it is food for thought.

And we are still playing, anthropologist Brenna Hasset says play is part of learning how to be an adult so depending on where you grow up influences the type of games children play.

BBC Studios Audio
Produced by Emily Bird
Additional production Olivia Jani and Ben Hughes
Series Producer Geraldine Fitzgerald
Executive Producer is Alexandra Feachem
Commissioning Editor is Rhian Roberts

Published on Friday, 11th April 2025.

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