Part 16 (1/2)
THE NECESSITY FOR PLAY--But why is play so necessary? Why is this i to expend their boundless energy on productive labor? Why all this waste?
Why have our child labor laws? Why not shut recesses from our schools, and so save time for work? Is it true that all work and no play aze at the dull and lifeless faces of the prematurely old children as they pour out of the factories where child labor is employed We need but follow the children, who have had a playless childhood, into a narrow and barren manhood We need but to trace back the history of the dull and brutish men of today, and find that they were the playless children of yesterday Play is as necessary to the child as food, as vital as sunshi+ne, as indispensable as air
The keynote of play is _freedom_, freedom of physical activity, and mental initiative In play the child inality is in demand, and constructive ability is placed under tribute Here are developed a thousand tendencies which would never find expression in the narrow treadmill of labor alone The child needs to learn to work; but along with his work must be the opportunity for free and unrestricted activity, which can coh play The boy needs a chance to be a barbarian, a hero, an Indian He needs to ride his brooe with lath sword the redoubts of a stubborn enemy He needs to be a leader as well as a follower In short, without in the least being aware of it, he needs to develop hih his own activity--he needs freedoirl, there is no difference except in the character of the activities employed
PLAY IN DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION--And it is precisely out of these play activities that the later and ateway by which we best enter the various fields of the world's work, whether our particular sphere be that of pupil or teacher in the schoolroom, of man in the busy marts of trade or in the professions, or of fars the _whole self_ into the activity; it trains to habits of independence and individual initiative, to strenuous and sustained effort, to endurance of hardshi+p and fatigue, to social participation and the acceptance of victory and defeat And these are the qualities needed by the man of success in his vocation
These facts make the play instinct one of the nize the iarten was an attempt to utilize its activities in the school The introduction of this new factor into education has been attended, as ht to recast the entire process of education into the forames and plays, and thus to lead the child to possess the ”Pro butterflies in the pleasant fields of knowledge It is needless to say that they have not succeeded Others have ames and plays into the schoolroom which lack the very first element of play; namely, _freedom of initiative and action_ on the part of the child Educational theorists and teachers have invented gao through with the the activity but er measure of self-direction
WORK AND PLAY ARE COMPLEMENTS--Work cannot take the place of play, neither can play be substituted for work Nor are the two antagonistic, but each is the corow immediately out of those of play, and each lends zest to the other
Those who have never learned to work and those who have never learned to play are equally lacking in their development Further, it is not the name or character of an activity which determines whether it is play for the participant, but _his attitude toward the activity_ If the activity is perforrows out of the interest of the child and involves the free and independent use of his powers of body and mind, if it is _his_, and not someone's else--then the activity possesses the chief characteristics of play
Lacking these, it cannot be play, whatever else itthe present, looks in two directions, into the past and into the future Fro form from the touch of our environment, determine the character of the play activities From the future come the pre hi control over his co in ame which he will play in business or profession a little later The girl in her playhouse, surrounded by a nondescript fa forward to a more perfect life when the responsibilities shall be a little e our children the play day of youth
5 OTHER USEFUL INSTINCTS
Many other instincts ripen during the stage of youth and play their part in the development of the individual
CURIOSITY--It is inherent in every norate and _know_ The child looks out onder and fascination on a world he does not understand, and at once begins to ask questions and try experiments Every new object is approached in a spirit of inquiry
Interest is o is too simple or too complex to demand attention and exploration, so that it vitally touches the child's activities and experience
Theand ine the i children what they had no desire or inclination to know! Think of trying to lead the which they felt only a suprereatest problems of education is to keep curiosity alive and fresh so that its coreatest secrets of eternal youth is also found in retaining the spontaneous curiosity of youth after the youthful years are past
MANIPULATION--This is the rather unsatisfactory name for the universal tendency to _handle_, _do_ or _ child builds with its blocks, constructs fences and pens and caves and houses, and a score of other objects The older child, supplied with implements and tools, enters upon more ambitious projects and revels in the joy of creation as he makes boats and boxes, soldiers and swords, kites, play-houses and what-not Even as adults we areor creating that which will represent our ingenuity and skill The tendency of children to destroy is not from wantonness, but rather froun to make serious use of this important i, and of such subjects asand doe that we learn by doing We would rather construct or manipulate an object than merely learn its verbal description Our deepest impulses lead to creation rather than simple mental appropriation of facts and descriptions
THE COLLECTING INSTINCT--The words _e The sense of property ownershi+p and the io hand in hand Probably there are few of us who have not at one tie sta of as little intrinsic value And most of us, if we have left youth behind, are busy even now in seeking to collect fortunes, works of art, rare volumes or other objects on which we have set our hearts
The collecting instinct and the ients in the school The child who, in nature study, geography or agriculture, isa collection of the leaves, plants, soils, fruits, or insects used in the lessons has an incentive to observation and investigation impossible fro or doive more effort and skill to its construction than if the work be done as a mere school task
THE DRAMATIC INSTINCT--Every person is, at one stage of his develop of an actor All children like to ”dress up” and impersonate someone else--in proof of which, witness the many play scenes in which the character of nurse, doctor, pirate, teacher, merchant or explorer is taken by children who, under the stiery and as yet untrammeled by self-consciousness, freely enter into the character they portray The draer aspire to do the acting ourselves we have others do it for us in the theaters or the movies
Education finds in the dra it freely, especially in the teaching of literature and history Its application to these fields enerally to include religion, morals, and art
THE IMPULSE TO FORM GANGS AND CLUBS--Few boys and girls groithout belonging at so, club or society Usually this irows out of two different instincts, the _social_ and the _adventurous_ It is fundamental in our natures to wish to be with our kind--not only our hue, interests and ambitions The love of secrecy and adventure is also deep seated in us
So we are clannish; and we love to do the unusual, to break away from the commonplace and routine of our lives There is often a thrill of satisfaction--even if it be later followed by re the forbidden or the unconventional
The probleuidance rather than of repression Out of the gang i and dra clubs, and a score of other recreational, benevolent, or social organizations Not repression, but proper expression should be our ideal
6 FEAR