THE ART OF PLAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 46, 23 February 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE ART OF PLAY.

BY THE COUNTESS OF JERSEY.

One of the stock accusations against the present age is that too much at» tcntion is paid to play, and that more serious interests are neglected in consequence. It might be worth while to inquire whether the real faulty fetfyndt. that the amount of play Is unfairly distributed, and that play itself .In/ s£roje cases has become such a business that it has ceased to be recreation; in fact, while work accuses play of usurping her functions, the gayer sister may occasionally retaliate with a similar complaint. la the East, Princes and great men, instead of dancing and playing game's themselves,, hire others to perform in their presence, and if Englishmen cease personally to contend iv athletic sports and confine themselves to witnessing and betting on matches between professional teams €he object of such exercise is, to a great1 extent, lost. On the other hand, if large portions of the population, whether rich or poor, toil from early dawn Tar" into the night, while others wear themselves out iv pursuit of pleasure or rust out in loafing, the failure in true amusement is equally evident.

. These, however, are subjects too extensive to be dealt with in a limited apace, and all here proposed for consideration is whether the young can be trained to play as well as to learn iv a rational manner, or whether the former part of education is more wisely left to their own discretion. First, let us ask for*s moment what is the function of play in human life? Surely to relax the strain of thought and to recuperate brain power where toil is mental, and to accompany rest with pleasure and change of idea wnere it is bodily. In the case of youne children most, if not all, real work must be mental. They have to exercise memory and intelligence to accumulate facts and ideas which will be useful to them in subsequent study and in after life. The kindergarten may render this exercisei attractive, but it cannot abolish it. Theretore in such hours of leisure as are not devoted to food and sleep, the best kin<s ot play Is that • which tarings the child's limbs and observation into practice. It is most objectionable to try to insinuate hard-facts into play hours, and thereby to continue the tax on memory, even in a manner agreeable to the unconscious victim. When a child is playing a game, do not attempt to make it a vehicle of fresh information. Of course, there is no objection to utilizing facts already known. When children are playing the old game of "post" they may safely atlopt the names of towns found In their geography books, flowers may be correctly coloured in "floral loto," ana when variations of such games as "happy families" launch into "naval commanders and their principal victories," no harm can ensue But this should entail no sort ot examination nor fault finding with JgnOfr ance out of school h&ura.