Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-11-25

good playground in Chicago will do
more to prevent the great white
plague of consumption than all the
| physicians in the city.
The child psychologist holds chat
play is not simply for fun and health
it is demanded by nature as the
natural process in physical and spir-
itual development and unification. .
He shows that play and manual train
ing serve almost the same purpose,
except that play gives much better
opportunity for self-expression and it
| is far cheaper.
/ Shall we agree then that this move
ment for Fairgrounds is a part of a
world movement and that organized
play under skilled supervision is ed
ucation of the highest order?
Play is natural it is joyful; and
it is recreative. Play is the best
form of manual training Play is a
great health producer. It is the best
protectionagainst tuberculosis, which
carries away one out of every six
or seven of ourpeople It provides
normal development, and makes the
children, strong enough to endure
the indoor confinement that school
children and a large number of adult
in to
Play is an excellent social train
ing in leadership, in cooperation
courage, s6lf-denial and the making
of friends. It transforms the gang
into the jolly group.
Why, it may be asked, does play
need such serious attention.? This
question was partially answered by
playground police officer, who
said Of a group of boys, "They GER
tainly used to be a tough gang, but
this year, since the playground come
they don't give me no trouble" The
dictum Of Mr. Joseph Lee that "the
boy without a playground is father
to the man without job" hasbeen il
lustra ID many times Id1eness and
Vagrancy in the man are the natur-
al product of a boyhood without OPP
portunity for wholesome play. There
is also a close connection between
the social spirit that finds express
sion in wholesome sport and the So
cial spirit that finds expression in
public service.
Play is a good form of nature study
for it is outdoors most Of the time,
deals with real things and real per-
sons, and can be real nature study
in the school garden while it is still
play to the child. And now that we
have talked bit about the real need
of play-and decided it is an essen
tial thing in each child's life and de-
velopment-What can we do to pro-
vide the children with a place to
play with apparatus and play-toCIs
to play with, and proper direction to
follow in this play that the best pos
s1ble results may be brought out?
1. In the first place, each teacher
should study play directly in his own
school, and in the best books obtain
able.
2. Next, we should work to estab-
fish a standard size of school play
grounds by legislation, ordinance or
board-rule. This standard size of
grounds should be large enough to-
provide for a skating point in winter
and a school garden and large game
space in summer.
3. Next, apparatus and playtools
should be put in. These need not
be elaborate nor expensive. Most of
such apparatus can be constructed
by the teachers and the boys with
the Janltor's help. For instance
turning poles may be made of fir
posts, set firmly in the ground with
iron pipe thrust through holes near
the top and as high as the boys, and
maybe six feet long Ordinary coup
lers on the end will keep the pipes
from coming out. To this we could
add, with little expense, swings,
slides, teeters, parallel bars, and lat
er merry-go-rounds, climbing ladders,
travelling rings, and many other
things which the playground cata-
logue will suggest, as we can afford
to have them. This apparatus should
be erected at the edge of the play
ground, thus leaving the center free
for base ball, circle games, pull-a-way
and foot ball. For play is the work
of the child's world, and if our child
rem are to learn order and to get
on we'll with their fellow beings, they
must be helped to that end i'm their
play. And, if among children, the
/ L