88 COUNTRY CHILDREN 



the good side of their outdoor life. Still the results of 

 such physical abuse will show themselves sooner or later. 

 And poor health in child or man means less work and less 

 pleasure, an added expense to the home. 



21. Play. Froebel, one of the world's most famous 

 teachers, says, " A man is a whole man only when he 

 plays." Play to the child is the same as sunshine to a 

 stalk of corn. The child may grow without play just as 



ORGANIZED PLAY. 



the corn may grow without sunshine, but neither can grow 

 very well. As a boy plays with his dog, he is training him- 

 self in the most practical fashion to work with the animal 

 forces in later life. The doll is a means of teaching the girl 

 to direct the affairs of her future home. And organized 

 play is useful as a preparation for community service and 

 for better cooperation in farm activities. Farmers who 

 do not make provision for neighborhood contests and 

 plays, either at the school or at some other community 

 center, are not doing all that is best for the children. 



