THE RECREATION SERVICE DIVISION 



723 



Many other activities of the physical type might be mentioned. Among 

 these are swimming and golfing, which will be discussed later in the chapter. 



Nature Activities. 



Hiking, which has been suggested as so important an activity of the 

 recreation service, may be effectively used to help arouse the interest of 

 children and adults in nature lore. Birds, trees, flowers and other forms of 

 plant life may be pointed out in the course of hikes and information given 

 regarding them. There are, too, many nature games which add greatly 

 to the enjoyment of the hike. 1 



A zoological contest. The Park Department of Dallas, Texas, has pointed 

 the way to a particularly interesting activity for park playgrounds in its 



zoological contest, the purpose of which 



is to familiarize the children of the city 

 with the specimens at the Marsalis Park 

 Zoo and to increase the use of public parks. 

 A selected list of one hundred and twenty- 

 five specimens covering three classes com- 

 prises the material for this contest. The 

 classes are as follows: Mammalia: Highest 

 order of vertebrates. Aves: This class con- 

 tains the vertebrates characterized by 

 feathers and wings. Reptilia: In this class 

 are the animals which creep and crawl. 

 Each cage is numbered, the name being 

 removed for the period prior to and during 

 the contest, which lasted from November 

 7 to November 22. The children were per- 

 mitted to give either the common or the 

 classical name of the species and to study 

 the specimens for the entire week, secur- 

 ing their answers either by library refer- 

 ence or from other sources at their disposal. Cards were printed containing 

 two columns, one for the name of the animal under each class and the other 

 for its habitat. 



A botanical contest. A similar contest has been promoted by the Dallas 

 Park Board, in cooperation with the Times Herald, in a botanical contest 

 designed to interest the children in shrubs and flowers propagated in the 

 city greenhouses. The contest is divided into two periods, study and exami- 

 nation. Fifty plants are selected and arranged in one of the greenhouses 



1 Excellent suggestions for nature games are to be found in a pamphlet by Prof. W. G. Vinal, Nature- 

 Games, published by Comstock Publishing Company, 15 cents. 



PLATE No. 277 

 AN ARTIST IN SNOW 



