initiative, to strenuous and sustained effort, to endurance of hardship 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 most important in education.
Froebel was the first to recognize the importance of play, and the kindergarten
was an attempt to utilize its activities in the school. The introduction of this new
factor into education has been attended, as might be expected, by many
mistakes. Some have thought to recast the entire process of education into the
form of games and plays, and thus to lead the child to possess the "Promised
Land" through aimlessly chasing butterflies in the pleasant fields of knowledge.
It is needless to say that they have not succeeded. Others have mistaken the
shadow for the substance, and introduced games 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
games and occupations and taught them to the children, who go through with
them much as they would with any other task, enjoying the activity but missing
the development which would come through a larger 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 complement of the other; for the activities of work grow 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 performed for its own sake and not for some ulterior
end, if it grows 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 it may be.
Play, like other instincts, besides serving the present, looks in two directions,
into the past and into the future. From the past come the shadowy interests
which, taking form from the touch of our environment, determine the character
of the play activities. From the future come the premonitions of the activities that
are to be. The boy adjusting himself to the requirements of the game, seeking
control over his companions or giving in to them, is practicing in miniature the
larger game which he will play in business or profession a little later. The girl in
her playhouse, surrounded by a nondescript family of dolls and pets, is