CannibalSmith

[..] In a Zoo we find two lion cubs wrestling near their mother. They growl and claw at each other. [..] One cub wanders off and notices a butterfly. It crouches in the grass, creeps ever so slowly toward its insect prey, then raises its haunches, wiggles them, and pounces. We laugh at the comedy; we say that the cubs are playing a game, that they are having fun, and that they are such fun-loving, carefree creatures.

We are right on the first count: these cubs do indeed appear to be playing a kind of game. [..] We may be right on the second count; who knows if lions can have fun? But we are dead wrong on the last count. These cubs are not carefree. They do not indulge in games to while away the years of their cub hood. These games are deadly serious business. They are studying the skills of hunting, the skills of survival. [..]

Games are thus the most ancient and time-honored vehicle for education. They are the original educational technology, the natural one, having received the seal of approval of natural selection. We don’t see mother lions lecturing cubs at the chalkboard; we don’t see senior lions writing their memoirs for posterity. In light of this, the question, "Can games have educational value?" becomes absurd. It is not games but schools that are the newfangled notion, the untested fad, and the violator of tradition. Game-playing is a vital educational function for any creature capable of learning.