The Place of Play in Education

M. Jane Reaney

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429749919
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Originally published in 1927, this was a book written specially for teachers and parents, based upon the writer's practical experience and research. It deals with the fundamental importance of play in the child's development and as a basis for all education. A set of 74 games, arranged by Miss Amy Whateley, is appended, in four groups according to the four play periods of childhood. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

CHAPTER IV

THE PLAY PERIODS

IN studying children’s play many observers have come to the conclusion, as a result of careful investigation, that each period of childhood has its characteristic games, and that the child at varying stages of his existence shows a marked predilection for certain forms of play. It has, therefore, been possible to divide the stages of childhood into play periods, but it must be borne in mind that there is no definite line of demarcation between one period and another.

Period I. Approximate age 0–7

Play experimental, imitative, imaginative, individual.

Period II. Approximate age 7–9.

Play involving the hunting and fighting instincts. Individual.

Period III. Approximate age 9–12.

Play realistic, competitive, changing from competition of the individual to competition of the group.

Period IV. Approximate age 12+.

Play co-operative involving team work under a leader.

PERIOD I

Experimental, Imitative. Imaginative, and Dramatic Play

Experimental Play.-and_eplay of very young children consists of grasping, clutching, kicking, and such simple bodily movements. The child soon progresses to more complicated types of play, dropping and picking up, experimenting with the sense organs, playing with sand, throwing things about, etc. There is great pleasure in continued repetition of the same movement. The play of the child is at this stage purely individual. He is making use of his tendency to get in touch with his environment, and it is pathetic to see how often this natural desire is baulked. Many an adult fails to recognize the serious persistent efforts of a small child to get control over his muscles, as when some mistaken “ grown up ” seeing a baby absorbed in trying to fill a bucket with sand, kindly fills it for him and is surprised to be greeted with a howl of disappointed rage. The baby does not want a bucket full of sand, he wants to fill it with sand by his own exertions and feel the satisfying sense of power which comes as the result of patiently attempted achievement.

We are only at the beginning of the realization of the importance of experimental play in the life of the child. The baby with his intense interest in his surroundings, with his unfailing curiosity and his wonderful persistence in investigating all new phenomena, is ready at any moment to respond to the rich environment which might be given him by his would-be educators. Madame Montessori in her educational system attempts by her graded apparatus to give the child means by which his senses may be trained harmoniously. It will be interesting to notice the effect of this on the adult life of the individual who has passed through this type of training. The child is ready to respond to any environment. It is for us to see that we provide him with one which will give full scope for training all his powers, and at the same time help him to develop into a social being, with his interest alert, his senses highly trained and his body harmoniously developed and under the control of his mind. All this can be done if we but make use of the inborn tendency towards experimental play with which every normal baby is equipped.

Imitative Play makes its first appearance about the ninth month in the majority of children, although it may develop earlier in the younger members of a large family who have children near their own age to copy, while it may be retarded a month or two in the only child. The baby begins by imitating any well-marked action which arouses his interest. He may repeat the action many times, and it is probable that the earliest form of imitation is unconscious. Later, definite conscious imitation appears and the child is able to select the actions he wishes to imitate. The whole emotional and intellectual atmosphere of a home can be seen mirrored in the children’s play. About the third or fourth year the development of imaginative play can be observed, and the gradual change from the purely imitative type of play to more or less dramatic play. The baby following his mother round with a brush and trying to dust the room, the little girl acting mother to her doll, are both types of purely imitative play, but when the child pretends to be a fairy, and definitely acts as a fairy, we get the transition to a higher form of play involving the seeing of relations or, in other words, imagination. During the imitative stage the play is very individual ; little children prefer to play alone and there is no tendency to co-operate. Simple ring games involving rhythmic action appeal to children at this age to some extent, but if left to themselves they will invariably return to their individual games. With children reaching the end of this stage imitative games may be taken. It is interesting to note that amongst these games, those involving imitation of everyday actions are far the most popular. Thus, “ Here we go round the Mulberry Bush ” and “ Lubinloo ” are both rhythmic games, but while the former is a universal favourite, the latter does not have a very strong appeal.

Dramatic Play. This form of play appears in about the fourth or fifth year and is at its height at about seven or eight, but continues to some extent in the later periods, and by many is considered the most important type and the basis of all art. Children freely dramatize any experience of interest to them. The foibles and weaknesses of the adults of the family are rendered with merciless accuracy in the play of the children, while the paramount adult interests are always mirrored in their smaller cosmos. During the years of the war all the children played at soldiers, or hospital nurses, while at the present time such play is not nearly so popular. An interesting example of this tendency occurred at a play centre in one of the lowest slum districts in London. The children were given clay and told to model what they pleased. With few exceptions the class modelled coffins, as the main excitement of the week in the street in which the majority lived had been a funeral.

The element of make-believe becomes a marked factor in the play of children at this period, and adults often fail to realize the absorption of the child in his imaginative play. Many children are punished for telling lies because they are unable to distinguish between reality and the life of fantasy. The tale is told of a little boy who was playing at “ butcher’s shop ” when his mother came in and kissed him. She was surprised at the look of disgust with which her small son greeted her as he exclaimed, “ But, Mama, you don’t kiss the butcher ! ” She completely failed to realize that the shock to the child was just as great as if she had given way to such a lapse of ordinary social behaviour—as, for the time being, he had lost his identity and was the butcher.

The tendency to identify oneself with the object in dramatic play is not only confined to children, many uneducated adults show it. Such was the case of the sailor in the gallery of the theatre who started to climb down to the help of the heroine on the stage. The fantasy life of the little child is very intense. Repression may easily occur if the child feels that he is criticized and laughed at. Many only children have imaginary playmates, while others gain the experiences they miss in real life by introducing them into their fantasy play.

This type of play needs guidance, as if carried on too long it may lead to aimless day dreaming, and the morbid fantasy of the adult who dreams through life picturing himself as the hero of many a stirring scene but never accomplishing anything. On the other hand, the tendency of modem life is to repress imagination, and it is probable that the evils of sordid-mindedness, selfishness, and the lack of any power of looking forward—evils which are very marked in our public life—are due to the repressing of the imaginative faculty early in life. The dramatic tendency which is present in all young children is derived from the instinct of imitation as a result of the mental development reaching the stage of the formation of definite concepts and the seeing of relations. This can be observed in the primitive folk-lore of any nation. The combining of the idea of horse and man gave us the centaur ; of bird and man—the angel. At the same time nothing can be imagined that has not been experienced, and it rests with the parent and the teacher to see that the imaginative content of every child’s mind is enriched by varied experience.

The universal tendency of children to dramatize everything may be made use of in the school in several ways :

(1)By providing a rich environment of good literature and art.

(2)By arousing interest in general school subjects by allowing free dramatization.

Many experiments have been made on these lines. Amongst them those of Miss Finlay Johnson and Mr. Caldwell Cook call for special attention. Miss Johnson used the dramatic method as the chief method of teaching all classes in an Elementary School,¹ while Mr. Caldwell Cook adopted it for the teaching of English to Class III in a Boys’ School.²

The methods of dramatization adopted by these and other educationists have been various, but gradually evolved from the simple to the complex.

(1)Stories are read and immediately dramatized by the children

(2)The story is read and the children prepare the

dramatization for another day. This method can be used in English History, Geography and Literature lessons, while Number can be taught by imitative games, such as shopping and other similar activities.

At a later age historical novels form the basis for dramatic renderings, and this gradually leads up to the writing of original plays. Mr. Cook found that Bible stories or stories from the Norse myths formed admirable foundation for simple plays, while novels such as Scott‘s could be made use of by the children. Later, at a more advanced stage, he suggests, should come the definite study of a Shakespeare play and its dramatization. The play should be introduced by reading it over two or three times. No attempt must be made to study the notes and general grammatical work until much later. The class should be allowed to choose members to act the parts, and can then be divided up into small committees, some to study the words, others to discuss the management and scenery. It is often found necessary to simplify the play, but this can be done by the children themselves. After the story has been dramatized and discussed, the words can be studied and the literature of the time, so that the whole interest of the English lesson will be centred in it.

Three difficulties occur to the novice in connexion with the question of dramatization :

(1)The dresses.

(2)The staging.

(3)What to do with the members of the class who are not taking part.

Mr. Caldwell Cook overcomes the difficulty of staging by suggesting that the Elizabethan stage should be used with its double platform with the front and back. The question of costume gives endless opportunity for the ingenuity of the class, and anyone who has tried the experiment cannot help but be struck by the amount shown. The clothes should be simple but adapted for the period, and there should be a few stock properties which can be used often—such as a red cloak, a couple of wooden swords covered with silver paper. In the earlier stages there is no need for definite costumes or scenery, as the players are willing and able to adapt anything to imaginary purposes. Miss Johnson mentions a sea-fight in soap boxes on wheels and an Arctic fog produced by little girls holding their pinafores over their heads. At a later stage, however, when realism has developed, such imaginary substitutes do not satisfy the children, and it is necessary to improvise definite stage scenery and costumes.

The use of the class presents another problem ; one way of solving it is by letting the children act as a chorus, members of which give the prologue and describe the scenes, etc.

Different teachers will devise different ways of making use of the activity of the children, and no hard and fast line can be laid down. The work of Mr. Caldwell Cook at the Perse School, Cambridge, of Sister Grace in the Guild of Play in Bermondsey, and of many others who have made use of the dramatic instinct to bring life into the child’s experience, shows conclusively that the dramatic method of teaching is one which can have most far-reaching results in the development of the individual.

The writer of this book had the good fortune to be for some time on the Staff of the Perse Boys’ School, Cambridge, and can therefore speak from first-hand knowledge of the effects of the system set forth in the “ Play Way.” Boys who had passed through the class in which this method was adopted, surpassed the others in initiative, resource, in lack of self-consciousness, and in power of expression. It was no uncommon occurrence for a boy of ten in a speech lesson, to give half an hour’s discourse on any topic in which he was interested, speaking fluently and without hesitation.

The standard to which the written work attained can be seen in the “ Play Way.” The success of this experiment was remarkable, and others along similar lines could be quoted. All who have tried it are unanimous in their belief that by making use of the dramatic tendencies of children, we are using one of the most powerful instruments to humanize school life, to train the imagination, and thus enable the children to understand other experiences than their own and sympathize with other points of view.

PERIOD II:

Play involving the Hunting and Fighting Instincts

As the child continues in his development the dramatic play becomes associated with play which distinctly involves the primitive instincts connected with hunting and fighting. It is a well-known fact that little boys, before they are five years old, show a keen delight in a rough and tumble game, which reminds one strongly of a similar game indulged in by puppies.

At about the age of six or seven children of both sexes show a very marked predilection for games such as hide-and-seek, chevy chase, touch last, follow my leader. Such games make use of the instincts of the chase which develop at this period. The imaginative play takes the form of pretending to be pirates, Red Indians, or other warlike types. So powerful is this group of developing instincts, that the whole of the free play at this stage is affected. Anyone who takes the trouble to observe the play of the children of an elementary or preparatory school during their morning break, cannot but be struck with the fact that every child is either chasing an individual or a ball, or himself being chased.

The popularity of ball games is at its height. The play, however, is still very individualistic. There is no tendency towards real co-operation ; each child desires to be the centre of interest, and to impress himself upon his world. There is not the slightest tendency to subordinate self and to play under a leader. The fact that so many boys hate cricket in later life may probably be accounted for because they have been forced to play the game long before they have reached the stage for co-operation. A juvenile cricket team usually shows the same tendencies. The boys love to bat, they will tolerate bowling, but strongly object to fielding, and have little sense of working as a team.

It is at this stage in his development that the child is realizing his own personality. It is right for him to attempt to impress himself upon his contemporaries, and if this tendency is repressed or stopped too early his individuality suffers. The games which appeal most strongly to children at this stage are those which involve the hunting and chasing instincts, which have very simple rules, and which give a chance for each child in turn to be the centre of attention.

Besides the physical activity involved, the ed...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• I. Introduction
• II. The Play Theories
• III. Types of Play
• IV. The Play Periods
• V. Play and Sex
• VI. Rhythm in Play
• VII. The Relation of Play to Work
• VIII. Modern Social Movements Based on the Play Impulse
• IX. Conclusion
• Seventy-Four Games Chosen and Grouped for the Play Periods
• Period I Approximate Age I-7
• Period II Approximate Age 7-9
• Period III Approximate Age 9-12
• Period IV Approximate Age 12 +
• List of Games
• Index