Abstract
Traditionally educationalist's interest in children's games seems to be instrumental. Playing games children should learn.
Games offer themselves to such exploitation. They subsist in a state of mind and convention rather then in a relation to a specific kind of objects.
Any human ability can be played with as a game of skill. Any human ability can be personified and as a role simulated.
Playing games brings functional pleasure; it has its goal in itself. Lately, the educationalist's interest in games based rather on respect for autotelism of playing games, then on the ambition to utilize it in motivating children to do their schoolwork, seems to be asserting itself.
The author considers inspirations which this interest could draw from Children's games - a book written with M. Kučera, presenting a collection of more than 1.600 exemplars of schoolchildren's games (collected in 1995-2000).
Special attention is paid to children playing with social relations - cooperation, competition, bullying.