The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-03-23
RURAL SCHOOLS
Material Presented by c. R. Bee
man, Supt. Schools, Williams
town, VT.
The Value of Play.

Long theses could be written on 'Wh,
Boys Leave the Farm" In my opinion
nine-tenths of the whole argument may
be condensed into three short Anglo
Saxon words, "too little fun"
Country people have grown into az
unnatural solemnity. Partly as a re
suit Of Puritanism and the spread oi
false piety, based on don't religion
and partly from the necessary isolation
of pioneer days, rhey have become over.
serious. This unnatural seriousness has
led them, all too often, to look upon play
OF any kind as manifestation of the
evil one himself, instead of manifesto
ton OF a God-given instinct.
Play is one OF the marks of mans high
estate. BY this it is not implied that
man is the only animal that plays, but
simply. that his instinct for play is
stronger and the period during which
play is his predominant activity longer
than in the case of the lower animals.
The higher we go in the scale of animal
life, the longer is the relative period of
infancy. Consequently the higher ami
mails have longer period in which play
is the predominant activity.
Infancy is for play, and education in
infancy is acquired largely through the
impulse of play. To the babe of any
species, the satisfaction of the play in
stinet is the only excuse he needs to
warrant his activities; and it is espe-
cially significant that in satisfying this
instinct, the babe exercises those tame
tons that viii be valuable to him in
IL
spring out and seize; puppies wrestle
and strive for the fatal hold; colts run
and gambol.
1t is a part of a general law that
where pleasure arises from certain ac-
tivity, such activity is advantageous TO
the life OF the individual or the species
This law, as all others, is subject to mis-
use and misinterpretation bad habits
finally become pleasurable but nature
rebels both at the beginning and the
end.
Play holds its own reward, and, in the
realm Of play, all education, instructive
or formal, must have its beginnings 1t
furnishes both the motive for and the
field of early efforts to direct the child's
This principle was recognized
by Pestalozzi and Froebel, and is recog
nized to-day by Madam Montessori 1t |
is the foundation of every kindergarten
in the world.
Country schools have taken little adj !
vantage of the educational value OF play |
Most of them lack sufficient room for /
baseball ground, few of them have either |
tennis or basketball courts, while the |
-ural school possessing even the simplest |
kind OF playground apparatus is UNI
known in this section.
The socializing value of play is OF
'uperlative Importance to country life,
COUNTRY children need TO learn co-opera-
ion. Baseball, like all games, requires
Each player must learn sub
ordination and cooperation and must
year his share in the responsibility of
he final success of the team. He must
,now the points of strength and weak
Tess. not only in the opposing players,
nut in his own team, and must learn to
bide by decision. even though in the
eat of the contest mistake has been
made.
The social value of games for country
hildren cannot be emphasized.