"when play became not only acceptable but even encouraged for children, it also became closely associated with them. instead of youngsters joining in with the games of adults as they had in earlier generations, they now were engaged in games considered suitable for their age. society had crated and defined childhood as a separate stage of development, with its own needs and virtues, and provided it with its own activities. play and toys became the province of childhood. young people now engaged in socially defined and approved children's games, while adults pursued other forms of recreation. children no longer gambled at cards, and adults stopped playing hunt-the-bean. the generations increasingly inhabited different worlds."

(karin calvert, children in the house. the material culture of early childhood, 1600-1900, 1992)