section_path: Forms
section_name: Forms
paragraph_text: Forms
  
  Play can take the form of improvisation, pretense, interaction, performance, mimicry, games, sports, and thrill-seeking (including extreme or dangerous sports like sky-diving, high-speed racing, etc.).
  
  Philosopher Roger Caillois wrote about play in his 1961 book Man, Play and Games.
  
  Free-form play gives children the freedom to decide what they want to play and how it will be played. Both the activity and the rules are subject to change in this form, and children can make any changes to the rules or objectives of the play at any time. Some countries in the twenty-first century have added emphasis of free play into their values for children in early childhood, for example Taiwan and Hungary.
  
  Structured play has clearly defined goals and rules. Such play is called a " game ". Other play is unstructured or open-ended. Both types of play promote adaptive behaviors and mental states of happiness.
  
  Sports with defined rules take place within designated play spaces, such as sports fields—in association football for example, players kick a ball in a certain direction and push opponents out of their way as they do so. While appropriate within the sport's play space, these same behaviors might be inappropriate or even illegal outside the playing field.
  
  Other designed play spaces can be playgrounds with dedicated equipment and structures to promote active and social play. Some play spaces go even farther in specialization to bring the play indoors, and charge admission, as seen at Children's Museums, Science Centers, or Family Entertainment Centers. Family Entertainment Centers (or Play Zones) are typically for-profit businesses that facilitate play and entertainment, while Children's Museums and Science Centers are typically non-profit organisations for educational entertainment.
  
  The California-based National Institute for Play describes seven play patterns:
  
  Another classification system uses these categories:
  
  Some forms overlap, such as a relay race (cooperative and competitive) or building a blanket fort (construction and creative).
  
  Separate from self-initiated play, play therapy is used as a clinical application of play aimed at treating children who suffer from trauma, emotional issues and other problems.