Why do animals play?
02/27/25 • 24 min
1 Listener
We’re used to seeing dogs and cats play with toys or get the zoomies... but do animals like rats and bumblebees play too? What is animal play for? How do scientists even decide what counts as play?
Today, we’re taking a serious look at goofy behavior. We’ll discover the five-part checklist that many scientists use to recognize play in nature, and find out why taking turns is so important for healthy brain development.
This episode is a collaboration between Outside/In and Tumble, the science podcast for kids.
Featuring Junyi Chu and Jackson Ham
Produced by Lindsay Patterson, Marshall Escamilla, and Taylor Quimby. For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org.
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LINKS
Love this episode? Looking for family-friendly podcasts to listen to? There are over 150 episodes of Tumble to check out, including a few of our favorites:
The five-part play checklist mentioned in the episode was developed by play researcher Gordon M. Burghardt. His paper, “Play in fishes, frogs and reptiles,” answers some other really interesting questions about animal play.
We’re used to seeing dogs and cats play with toys or get the zoomies... but do animals like rats and bumblebees play too? What is animal play for? How do scientists even decide what counts as play?
Today, we’re taking a serious look at goofy behavior. We’ll discover the five-part checklist that many scientists use to recognize play in nature, and find out why taking turns is so important for healthy brain development.
This episode is a collaboration between Outside/In and Tumble, the science podcast for kids.
Featuring Junyi Chu and Jackson Ham
Produced by Lindsay Patterson, Marshall Escamilla, and Taylor Quimby. For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org.
SUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
LINKS
Love this episode? Looking for family-friendly podcasts to listen to? There are over 150 episodes of Tumble to check out, including a few of our favorites:
The five-part play checklist mentioned in the episode was developed by play researcher Gordon M. Burghardt. His paper, “Play in fishes, frogs and reptiles,” answers some other really interesting questions about animal play.
Previous Episode
What is a forest for?
In New Hampshire, the most beloved swath of public land is the White Mountain National Forest. People interact with it as they would a national park – hiking, swimming, camping, and more. But a national forest is NOT a national park.
The difference comes down to a fundamental concept: the “multiple-use” land mandate. In the WMNF, you’ll find parts of the forest preserved for wildlife conservation, recreation, climate resilience, and, most controversially, logging.
This episode looks at one patch of forest from three different perspectives: a conservationist who would like to see cutting halted in the WMNF, loggers who would like to see it ramped up, and the US Forest Service that has to somehow appease them both.
Featuring Zack Porter, Jeremy Turner, Charlie Niebling, Jasen Stock, Jim Innes, and Luke Sawyer.
SUPPORT
To share questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
LINKS
Zack Porter references this study that shows the potential carbon storage in Eastern forests by 2100.
Conservation groups and logging advocates filed an amicus brief together against Standing Tree’s lawsuits.
In 2024, the Southern Environmental Law Center sued the Forest Service over its timber targets.
NHPR has been covering the legal fight in the White Mountain National Forest over the past year. You can read some of our previous coverage here and here.
CREDITS
Produced by Kate Dario. Full credits and transcript available on outsideinradio.org.
Next Episode
Why we sing
Recently, our producer Justine Paradis noticed something. Humans really like to sing together in groups: birthday parties, sports games, church hymns, protest chants, singing along to Taylor Swift at the Eras concert... the list could get very long.
But... why? Did singing play a part in human evolution? Why does singing together make us feel so good?
Featuring Hannah Mayree, Ani Patel, Dor Shilton, and Arla Good.
For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.
SUPPORT
To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member.
Subscribe to our (free) newsletter.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or BlueSky, or join our private discussion group on Facebook
LINKS
Bobby McFerrin in 2009 at the World Science Festival, demonstrating the intuitive power of the pentatonic scale, and in 2010, improvising in a stadium in Germany with 60,000 singers.
A short documentary about Sing For Your Life! and OneVoice Circle Singers.
Check out Hannah Mayree’s music and work.
Dor Shilton and Ani Patel collaborated on a paper (currently preprint) examining four societies where collective music-making is rare.
Dor Shilton’s paper on the evolution of music as an “interactive technology” and open-access analysis of patterns in group singing.
This journal presented the hypothesis of music as a mechanism for social bonding as part of an ongoing conversation.
SingWell’s forthcoming research on group singing, aging, and Parkinson’s disease.
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