A Catalogue of Play Equipment Part 5

The School of Childhood (Pittsburgh) list includes the following miscellaneous articles for house and store play:

spoons various sized boxes stones pebbles b.u.t.tons sh.e.l.ls spools bells enlarged sticks of the kindergarten ribbon bolts filled with sand rice shot bottles, etc.

CRAFT AND COLOR MATERIALS

Materials of this kind are a valuable part of any play equipment. Of the large a.s.sortment carried by kindergarten and school supply houses the following are best adapted to the needs of the play laboratory:

_Modelling Materials_--Modelling clay and plasticine, far from being the same, are supplementary materials, each adapted to uses for which the other is unsuited.

_Weaving Materials_--Raphia, basketry reed, colored worsteds, cotton roving, jute and macrame cord can be used for many purposes.

_Material for Paper Work_--Heavy oak tag, manila, and bogus papers for cutting and construction come in sheets of different sizes. Colored papers, both coated (colored on one side) and engine colored (colored on both sides) are better adapted to "laboratory purposes" when obtainable in large sheets instead of the regulation kindergarten squares. Colored tissue papers, scissors and library paste are always in demand.

_Color Materials_--Crayons, water color paints, chalks (for blackboard use) are best adapted to the needs of play when supplied in a variety of colors and shades. For drawing and painting coa.r.s.e paper should be furnished in quant.i.ty and in sheets of differing sizes.

"_If children are let alone with paper and crayons they will quickly learn to use these toys quite as effectively as they do blocks and dolls._"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Children playing with wagon.]*

TOYS FOR ACTIVE PLAY AND OUTDOOR TOOLS

Among the many desirable _toys for active play_ the following deserve "honorable mention":

Express wagon Sled Horse reins "Coaster" or "Scooter"

Velocipede (and other adaptations of the bicycle for beginners) Football (small size a.s.sociation ball) Indoor baseball Rubber b.a.l.l.s (various sizes) Bean bags Steamer quoits

As in the case of the carpenter's bench it is poor economy to supply any but good _tools_ for the yard and garden. Even the best garden sets for children are so far inferior to those made for adults as to render them unsatisfactory and expensive by comparison. It is therefore better to get light weight pieces in the smaller standard sizes and cut down long wooden handles for greater convenience. The one exception to be noted is the boy's shovel supplied by the Peter Henderson company. This is in every respect as strong and well made as the regulation sizes and a complete series to the same scale and of the same standard would meet a decided need in children's equipment where light weight is imperative and hard wear unavoidable.

In addition to the garden set of shovel, rake, hoe, trowel and wheel-barrow, a small crow-bar is useful about the yard and, in winter, a light snow shovel is an advantage.

JEAN LEE HUNT.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Small wooden toy.]*

[Ill.u.s.tration: Small wooden toy.]*

[Ill.u.s.tration: Small wooden toy.]*

A small permanent exhibit of the play equipment described may be seen at the Bureau of Educational Experiments, 16 West 8th Street, New York, and is occasionally loaned.

SUGGESTED READING

For convenience it has seemed well to divide the following list into two parts--the first devoted to the discussion of theory, the other offering concrete suggestions.

Such a division is arbitrary, of course. No better exposition of theory can be found than is contained in some of these references dealing with actual laboratory usage and furnis.h.i.+ngs. On the other hand the two books by Dr. Kilpatrick, with their illuminating a.n.a.lysis of didactic materials, afford many concrete suggestions, at least on the negative side.

PART I.

CHAMBERLIN, A. E.

"The Child: A Study in the Evolution of Man," Scribner, 1917.

Chap. I, "The Meaning of the Helplessness of Infancy."

Chap. II, "The Meaning of Youth and Play."

Chap. IV, "The Periods of Childhood."

DEWEY, JOHN

"Democracy and Education," Macmillan, 1916.

Chap. XV, "Play and Work in the Curriculum."

"How We Think," D. C. Heath and Co.

Chap. XVII, "Play, Work, and Allied Forms of Activity."

Chap. XVI, "Process and Product."

"Interest and Effort in Education," Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.

Chap. IV, "The Psychology of Occupations."

"The School and Society," University of Chicago Press, 1916.

Chap. IV, "The Psychology of Occupations."

Chap. VII, "The Development of Attention."

"Cyclopedia of Education," Edited by Paul Monroe, Macmillan Co.

Articles on "Infancy," "Play."

DOPP, KATHERINE E.

"The Place of Industries in Elementary Education," University of Chicago Press, 1915.

GROOS, KARL

"The Play of Man," Appleton, 1916.

HALL, G. STANLEY

"Educational Problems," Appleton, 1911.

Chap. I, "The Pedagogy of the Kindergarten."

"Youth: Its Regimen and Hygiene," Appleton, 1916.

Chap. VI, "Play, Sports and Games."

KILPATRICK, WILLIAM HEARD

"The Montessori System Examined," Houghton Mifflin, 1914.

"Froebel's Kindergarten Principles Critically Examined,"

Macmillan, 1916.