Acquiring New Knowledge

Lesson 1
Overview and Brief History of Recreational Activities

Recreational activities are experiences or

organized activities that you do or actively
participate in with others, to have fun and
enjoy life during your free time. This includes
experiences that require physical activity and
interactions and playing with other people.
They are not things that you do all by yourself
(although you can attempt to do some by
yourself but you will miss the fun of doing it
with others).

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure

being discretionary time. The "need to
do something for recreation" is an
essential element of human biology and
psychology. Recreational activities are
often done for enjoyment, amusement,
or pleasure and are considered to be
"fun"

Recreation is the expenditure of time with an

intent to gain some refreshment. It is a break
from monotony and a diversion from the
daily routine. It is a positive change from the
stereotypical lifestyle and involves an active
participation in some entertaining activity.
Recreation is anything that is stimulating and
rejuvenating for an individual. The idea
behind these activities is to expand the mind
and body in a positive, healthy way.

History of Recreational Activity

Tribal people do not make the same sharp distinction between work and leisure that
more technologically advanced societies do. Whereas the latter set aside the
different period of time for work and relaxation, a tribal pre technological society
has no such precise separations. Instead, work is customarily done when it is
available or necessary, and it’s often infused with rites and customs that lend it
variety and pleasure. In such tribal societies, works tends to be varied and creative,
rather than being a narrow, specialized task demanding a sharply defined skills, as in
modern industry. Work is often accompanied by ritual that is regarded as essential to
the success of the planting or harvesting or to the building or haunting expedition.
The ritual may involve prayer, sacrifice, and dance or feasting, which thus become
part of the world of work.

Origins of Games and Sports

In the primitive societies, play may have many resources. Popular games were often
vestiges of warfare, practiced as a form of sport. Musical instruments were likely
created for use in religious rituals, pottery, paintings, drawings, and other early
provided a record of both daily life and cultural mythodology. Bead and other types
of jewelry were created as external symbols of individuals status and group
affiliations. When an activity was no longer useful in its original form such as archery
for haunting or warfare it became a form of sports, offering individuals and groups
the opportunity to prove the physical skills and strategy.

Ancient Egypt- They have their

recreational activities like sports, which
are part of their education such as
wrestling, gymnastic, ball games, and
weight lifting. They also have music,
dance, and drama as their form of social
entertainment. Group of female
performers were attached to temples,
and royal houses had troupes of
entertainers who performed on sacred
and social occasions. There was a well-
developed class system where the upper
class liked to be entertained while the
lower class participated in athletics and
sports.
Ancient Greece- Athens reached the
peak of philosophical and cultural
development from about 500 to 400 B.C.
They perform their recreations in several
forms such as arts, theatre, gymnastics,
and athletics which they used in their
competition. It is also during this time that
Greeks invented the Olympics which are
now an important international event.

Lesson 2
Types of Recreational Activity

Indoor
Indoor recreational activities are the things that you do for fun and enjoyment in the
comfort of your home, the gym, or any other covered area.

Some examples are: going to the gym, playing board games, doing indoor yoga,
going to art museums, reading, video games, internet surfing, dancing, singing, etc.

Outdoor
Outdoor recreation refers to leisure activities that take place in a natural setting and
benefit the body, mind and/or spirit. Outdoor recreation is typically pursued for
purposes of physical exercise, general wellbeing, and spiritual renewal. This activities
includes biking, hiking, camping, fishing, sailing: boating, kayaking/ rafting, mountain
climbing, trekking, spelunking, diving, skydiving etc.
Active Recreation

Active recreation is any physical activity that is recreational in nature and has a goal
of improving one’s health and physical fitness.

Passive Recreation
Passive recreation is a type of leisure activity that does not involve physically
strenuous activities. It involves low impact activities and doesn’t require exertion.

Recreation as Time
By this definition, recreation is time free from obligations, work (paid and unpaid),
and tasks required for existing (sleeping, eating). Recreation time is residual time.
While many may view free time as all nonworking hours, only a small amount of time
spent away from work is actually free from other obligations that are necessary for
existence, such as sleeping and eating.

Recreation as an Activity
Recreation can also be viewed as activities that people engage in during their free
time activities that are not work oriented or that do not involve life maintenance
tasks such as housecleaning or sleeping. Recreation as activity encompasses the
activities that we engage in for reasons as varied as relaxation, competition, or
growth and may include reading for pleasure, meditating, painting, and
participating in sports. This definition gives no heed to how a person feels while doing
the activity; it simply states that certain activities qualify as leisure because they take
place during time away from work and are not engaged in for existence.

Recreation as State of Mind

Unlike the definitions of recreation as time or activity, the definition of recreation as
state of mind is much more subjective in that it considers the individual's perception
of an activity. Concepts such as perceived freedom, intrinsic motivation, perceived
competence, and positive affect are critical to determining whether an experience
is leisure or not leisure.

• Perceived freedom refers to an individual's ability to choose the activity or

experience in that the individual is free from other obligations as well as has the
freedom to act without control from others. Perceived freedom also involves
the absence of external constraints to participate.

• Intrinsic motivation means that the person is moved from within to

participate. The person is not influenced by external factors (e.g., people or
reward), and the experience results in personal feelings of satisfaction,
enjoyment, and gratification.

• Perceived competence refers to the skills people believe they possess and
whether their skill levels are in line with the degree of challenge inherent in the
experience. Perceived competence relates strongly to satisfaction, and for
successful participation to occur, the skill-to-challenge ratio must be
appropriate.
 • Positive affect, the final key component of recreation as a state of mind, refers
to a person's sense of choice, or the feeling people have when they have
some control over the process that is tied to the experience. Positive affect
refers to enjoyment, and this enjoyment comes from a sense of choice.

What may be a recreation experience for one person may not be for another;
whether an experience is a recreation depends on many factors. Enjoyment,
motivation, and choice are three of the most important of these factors. Therefore,
when different individuals engage in the same activity, their state of mind can differ
drastically.