Children Must Play 29 



life, but such proves not to be the case. The mo- 

 notony and drudgery of enforced labor have been 

 crushing the lives of children everywhere, especially 

 until the wise legislation of very recent years pre- 

 vented such thing. Strange to say, the same 

 amount of exertion in spontaneous play may build 

 up and strengthen the physical and mental life of 

 the child. What is the secret of the striking differ- 

 ence in the result ? Spontaneity ! is the answer. 

 The child goes at his play with a joy and an eagerness 

 which are entirely absent from work a sufficient 

 guarantee that his nature is being fed upon the very 

 stuff which his soul craves. It is true that children 

 will play in a bare room containing nothing more 

 than a pile of trash, but such a situation is woe- 

 fully lacking on the side of instruction. Very 

 little will be learned from a year of such ill-provided 

 play. 



So, there is every necessary reason for urging that 

 the farm home provide not only the time and the 

 occasion for the play life of the children, but that 

 the means and proper materials also be looked after. 

 At a certain rural home in the state of Michigan, 

 where two boys and one girl were growing up, were 

 found the following nearly ideal arrangements for 

 the play life: a small clump of trees, which afforded 

 opportunities for climbing and ample shade during 

 the warm weather; a swing hung between two of 

 the trees ; a pole serving as a horizontal bar between 



