12. Why do we play?

Why Do We Do That?

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