Editing Entertainment (section)

== Children ==
{{Main|Play (activity)}}
[[File:Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 041b.jpg|thumb|[[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Pieter Bruegel]] ''[[Children's Games (Bruegel)|Children's Games]]'' (1560)]]

Children's entertainment is centred on [[Play (activity)|play]] and is significant for their growth. It often mimics adult activities, such as watching performances (on television); prepares them for adult responsibilities, such as child rearing or social interaction (through dolls, pets and group games); or develops skills such as motor skills (such as a game of [[marbles]]), needed for sports and music. In the modern day, it often involves sedentary engagement with television or [[tablet computer]].

Entertainment is also provided to children or taught to them by adults. A children's entertainer or performer is a professional whose job it is to entertain children. The term can be used to describe a [[children's musician]] or [[children's television presenter|television presenter]],<ref name="u827">{{cite web | last=Nay | first=Isaac Phan | title=Children's entertainer Fred Penner still resonates with families | website=CBC | date=2024-05-28 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fred-penner-childrens-festival-1.7217303 | access-date=2024-08-28}}</ref><ref name="c124">{{cite web | title=Ron 'Buck Shot' Barge, longtime Calgary children's TV star, dies at 87 | website=CBC | date=2024-08-18 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-ron-barge-buck-shot-dies-1.7297836 | access-date=2024-08-28}}</ref> but encompasses a wide range of specializations, including [[children's magician|magician]]s, [[costumed performer]]s, [[puppeteers]] and [[party princess]]es.<ref name="h166">{{cite web | last=Seal | first=Rebecca | title=Kids' entertainers on the tricks of their trade: 'My years in the police were very useful' | website=the Guardian | date=2022-03-26 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/mar/26/kids-entertainers-on-the-tricks-of-their-trade-my-years-in-the-police-were-very-useful | access-date=2024-08-28}}</ref><ref name="d159">{{cite web | last=Ghazali | first=Rahmah | title=BBC star and renowned puppeteer dies at 73 after battle with pneumonia | website=NationalWorld | date=2024-08-14 | url=https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/celebrity/steve-lee-dead-bbc-star-and-renowned-puppeteer-dies-73-4742071 | access-date=2024-08-28}}</ref> Many activities that appeal to children such as [[puppet]]s, [[clown]]s, [[pantomime]]s and [[cartoon]]s are also enjoyed by adults.<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Brien|first=John|title=Harlequin Britain: Pantomime and Entertainment, 1690–1760|year=2004|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore|isbn=978-0-8018-7910-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Geipel|first=John|title=The cartoon: a short history of graphic comedy and satire|year=1972|publisher=Newton Abbot: David & Charles|isbn=978-0-7153-5328-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/cartoonshorthist0000geip}}</ref>

Children have always played games. It is accepted that as well as being entertaining, playing games helps children's development. One of the most famous visual accounts of children's games is a painting by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]] called ''[[Children's Games (Bruegel)|Children's Games]]'', painted in 1560. It depicts children playing a range of games that presumably were typical of the time. Many of these games, such as [[Marble (toy)|marbles]], [[hide-and-seek]], blowing [[soap bubble]]s and [[Piggy-back (transportation)|piggyback riding]] continue to be played.

[[File:Israel Rating.jpg|thumb|left|Example of a rating system specifying age appropriateness (Israel)]]
Most forms of entertainment can be or are modified to suit children's needs and interests. During the 20th century, starting with the often criticised but nonetheless important work of [[G. Stanley Hall]], who "promoted the link between the study of development and the 'new' laboratory psychology",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dennis |last2=Hogan |first2=John D. |last3=Clark |first3=Philip M. |title=Developmental Psychology in Historical Perspective |year=2012 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Malden, MA; Oxford |isbn=978-1-4051-6747-5 |page=18}}</ref> and especially with the work of [[Jean Piaget]], who "saw cognitive development as being analogous to biological development",{{sfnp|Thompson|Hogan|Clark|2012|p=114}} it became understood that the [[Developmental psychology|psychological development]] of children occurs in stages and that their capacities differ from adults. Hence, stories and activities, whether in books, film, or video games were developed specifically for child audiences. Countries have responded to the special needs of children and the rise of digital entertainment by developing systems such as [[television content rating systems]], to guide the public and the entertainment industry.

In the 21st century, as with adult products, much entertainment is available for children on the internet for private use. This constitutes a significant change from earlier times. The amount of time expended by children indoors on screen-based entertainment and the "remarkable collapse of children's engagement with nature" has drawn criticism for its negative effects on [[imagination]], adult [[cognition]] and [[Subjective well-being|psychological well-being]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Cobb|first=Edith|title=The ecology of imagination in childhood|year=1977|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-231-03870-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Louv|first=Richard|title=Last Child in the Woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder|year= 2005|publisher=Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill|location=Chapel Hill, NC|isbn=978-1-56512-391-5|title-link=Last Child in the Woods}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Monbiot|first=George|title=If children lose contact with nature they won't fight for it|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/children-lose-contact-with-nature|access-date=29 November 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 November 2012|archive-date=25 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925052205/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/children-lose-contact-with-nature|url-status=live}}</ref>
<gallery widths="180" heights="150" class="center" caption="Types of children's entertainment">
File:Toy Soldiers British Coldstream Guards.jpg|Toy [[Coldstream Guards]] soldiers (19th century)
File:6. Reborn doll - Jessy od Elizabeth Maris.jpg|Doll of a newborn baby
File:Two children playing with a dog.jpg|Children being entertained by a dog (19th century painting)
File:Kids Playing duduk.jpg|Boys play [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorders]]
File:Girl with styrofoam swimming board.jpg|Girl in a swimming pool
File:Playing together 4.jpg|Children in a group game
File:Children watching TV.jpg|Boys watch children's TV
File:Interest.jpg|Toddler using a [[tablet computer]]
</gallery>