I’m sure you’ve seen dogs fetching sticks or cats playing with ribbons, or maybe even your bird in a cage playing with some kind of toy. Well, these animals are doing something called object play. Object play is obviously where the animal plays with an object. And it helps them practice their cognitive and motor skills. There are five rules of play to help figure out if an animal or organism is actually playing, instead of doing something else. So the first rule is that there is no purpose to the behavior. The second rule is that it’s free and natural. The behavior happens maybe on the spur of the moment. The third rule of play is that the play has to include different movements than functional behaviors. The fourth rule is that the movements during play have to be repeated, varied, and creative. Which brings me to rule number five. Their behavior should be free from stress. A lot of what’s known about animal play comes from mammals, but our researchers really wanted to know: do insects play? And they used this lovely little creature, the bumble bee.