dole EIGHT OR NINE WORDS ABOUT NATURE-STUDY 123 



suggestions about combining nature with games. The writer's 

 experience has been that the nature was too prominent a feature 

 of the game. 



Last summer we combined nature with hiking and believe that 

 our results were unusually satisfactory, if the amount of interest 

 manifested is a criterion. The space allotted to us will not permit 

 a detailed statement of just how it was done. The leader was the 

 hiking councillor and his work was supplementary to that of the 

 regular nature teachers. We found that in order to maintain the 

 maximum amount of interest it was not advisable to take a party 

 of more than ten. Except for the very smallest girls, the hikes 

 were long enough so that the tramp through the woods rather than 

 the nature stood out in the girls' minds as the important part of 

 the day's program. The leader had his campaign carefully mapped 

 out. He said nothing about nature until someone remarked 

 about a dead tree by the side of the path along which he had pur- 

 posely guided them, or perhaps it was a big boulder which had been 

 split by the frost. These opened up an almost limitless field for 

 conversation. If the girls didn't see the tree and if the. boulder 

 made no impression on them, all we had to do was to ask in which 

 direction Camp lay. A line of fingers pointing to every part of 

 the horizon was the answer, and this was our opportunity to 

 begin with the use of the compass, or the ways of finding one's 

 way without a compass. 



Something novel was always interesting. Blazing trails, follow- 

 ing an unknown path and exploring bogs added to the variety and 

 gave us a wonderful opportunity of seeing nature in her most in- 

 timate mood. Not only did we have a goodly amount of interest, 

 but we believe too that the girls carried away with them pleasant 

 memories of the hikes. The next time they go in the woods we 

 hope they will see more than they did before, perhaps the dead 

 tree by the side of the path or the boulder which had been split by 

 the frost. 



What would have become of you if it had pleased Providence 

 to make the weather unchangeable ? 



— Sydney Smith 



