ABSTRACT
Thinking about play in the context of lifespan human development requires one to examine play from childhood through adolescence and across adulthood. Although scholars disagree on whether the play of children and leisure of adults have the same meanings, and, hence, whether they can even be compared, a lifespan perspective would suggest that childhood play shapes adult life and leisure, and adult life shapes childhood play. That is, the relationship between play/leisure and human development is multi-directional.
