GAMES AND PLAYS 



2374 



GAMES AND PLAYS 



That this is true no one who has watched 

 children at their play can doubt. In no way 

 can a child express himself more fully than 

 in his play. His ingenuity, his memory, his 

 power of concentration, all of these are brought 

 into service, while as a means of developing 

 the social spirit and preventing undue insist- 

 ence on self, competitive games are unrivaled. 



Then, too, play actually helps work. Little 

 children sit in school until their minds as well 

 as their bodies have become tired and stiff, 

 but a few moments of play will send them 

 back to their tasks relaxed and refreshed, and 

 the teacher has not nearly so much difficulty 

 in holding their attention as before. 



Aim of Play. When children play by them- 

 selves, undirected, they have no conscious aim 

 but to "have fun." This article, however, is 

 intended to give aid not only to children who 

 are on the everlasting quest for "something 

 to do," but to teachers and others who have 

 charge of children during their play periods. 

 The unconscious play of children is full of 

 suggestion, and teachers must endeavor to keep 

 themselves in the background. To know what 

 plays or games are best and most attractive 

 to children, careful students of childhood have 

 devoted their best efforts to the study of those 

 games children most delight in. To fulfil the 

 purposes of such play-directors, games must 

 have certain characteristics and must help the 

 children in certain ways. Taken all together, 

 games and plays should be: 



(1) Hygienic, bettering in some way the 

 circulation or respiration, and so improving the 

 general health. 



(2) Corrective, tending to straighten little 

 backs that are in danger of becoming curved 

 with too much bending over desks, to give a 

 correct poise to a drooping head, or in some 

 other way to correct defects in posture. 



(3) Educative, training muscles, nerves or 

 brain to act quickly and accurately. 



(4) Recreative, having the one purpose of 

 relaxing and brightening the minds of the chil- 

 dren and so fitting them to go on with their 

 work. 



Naturally, every game cannot excel in all 

 these points, and care should be taken to vary 

 the games so that no one purpose may be too 

 long insisted upon. Very seldom is it necessary 

 for the pupil to know what the teacher is at- 

 tempting to accomplish by a certain game; in- 

 deed, such knowledge often defeats the pur- 

 pose. For instance, if the teacher says, "Hold 

 up your heads and throw back your shoulders ; 

 this game is to keep you from becoming stoop- 

 shouldered," she is certain to have but a 

 feeble response. But if at the outset she de- 

 clares that they are now to play a soldier 

 game, and calls out, "Soldiers, Attention!" 

 heads will be held up and shoulders straight- 

 ened half unconsciously. 



Games in the Schoolroom. First and fore- 

 most, the teacher should enter as far as possible 

 into the spirit of the game, not only because 

 she herself needs the relaxation, but because 

 the children enjoy far more a game which they 

 feel is interesting enough to hold "teacher's" 

 attention, too. So far as possible the children 

 should be allowed to choose the games, as 

 they will then enter into them far more spon- 

 taneously. 



As to methods of introducing games, the 

 teacher needs to remember but a few simple 

 suggestions. A game cannot be explained and 

 played successfully at the same time, and full 

 explanations should therefore be made before 

 the playing starts. The explanation should be 

 as short and simple as possible, that the eager- 

 ness of the children may not be dulled. In the 

 playing of competitive games each side should 

 be encouraged to do its best to win; nothing 

 can teach children the difficult art of being 

 good losers and the almost more difficult one 

 of being good winners except actual participa- 

 tion in games. "Honor"' should be made a 

 strong point, too, and the rules of the game 

 insisted upon. It is a well established fact 

 that the boy who would rather lose a game 

 than do anything in the least dishonest to win 

 it will some day be the business man whom 

 his associates can trust. It should be made 

 clear that the same rules hold good for girls. 



Games for Young Children 



In the Schoolroom 



Follow the Leader. A child who is not 

 afraid to "start things" is chosen as the leader, 

 and the children fall in line behind him. In and 

 out through 'the aisles and around the room he 

 leads them, making certain motions which every 

 child must imitate. He may run or skip, step 

 high as if he were stepping over hurdles, clap 



his hands, wave his arms or hold them above his 

 head anything which his fertile brain may de- 

 vise. This is a brisk game and freshens the chil- 

 dren up wonderfully. During this and all other 

 games of action the teacher should throw open 

 the windows. 



Playing Train. Each child is given the 

 name of some part of a train. Thus one may be 



