child's play

American  

noun

1. something very easily done.

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child's play British  

noun

1. informal something that is easy to do

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child's play Idioms  

1. Something easily done, a trivial matter. For example, Finding the answer was child's play for Robert, or The fight we had was child's play compared to the one I had with my mother! Originating in the early 1300s as child's game, the idiom was already used in its present form by Chaucer in The Merchant's Tale: “It is no child's play to take a wife.”

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Etymology

Origin of child's play

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Example Sentences

“They’re about to miss another payment. This is going to look like child’s play, what’s happening right now,” Duffy said.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026

"The crowd was child's play compared to Bethpage," said the Yorkshireman, referring to the treatment handed out to Europe's players at last September's Ryder Cup in New York.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

If you look at Hasbro’s earnings, everything seems like child’s play.

From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026

I don’t think it would work; I think it would make the invasion of Iraq look like child’s play.

From Salon • Jan. 17, 2026

The filing cabinets had locks, but they were child’s play.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin