Character-building Agencies 27 



development of children ? At the head of the list, 

 we should name play, as furnishing a great variety 

 of instructive activities ; then, work and industry ; 

 after that, the recreation that comes properly after 

 the performance of work. So, we have with all 

 their implied meanings the three great child-develop- 

 ing agencies : play, work, recreation. Now the 

 question naturally presents itself, Can the ordinary 

 farm life be made to furnish in right amount and 

 proportion these three essential elements of charac- 

 ter development ? 



1. Play. The necessity of indulging and training 

 properly the play instinct of the child is becoming 

 so fully appreciated of late that many of the state 

 legislatures, and even the national Congress, have 

 seen fit to make it a matter of deep concern. In 

 order that all children may have full exercise of the 

 divine, inherent right to play and to learn through 

 play, many so-called child labor laws have been passed. 

 These enactments have prescribed conditions under 

 which children will be permitted to work at gainful 

 occupations, and in the majority of cases they have 

 strictly forbidden such child labor below the ages 

 of fourteen to sixteen. 



But the foregoing efforts in behalf of the young 

 have been of a somewhat negative sort, merely guar- 

 anteeing the child the right to play. On the positive 

 side, much is also being done. The scientific stu- 

 dents of child life have been pointing to the great 



