Book._ » Copyright)) . COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Their Construction, Equipment, Maintenance and Utility A Compilation of Serviceable Information Con- cerning What Has Been and What Should Be Done to Provide Suitable Recreation and Ra- tional Physical Training by Approved Modern Methods for the Benefit of the People. A Practical Manual for Supervisors, Instructors, Committees and Others Desiring Knowledge of How and What to Do. Edited by EVERETT B. MERO With special contributions and extracts from writings of JOSEPH LEE LUTHER H. GULICK WILLIAM L. COOP E. B. DeGROOT HENRY S. CURTIS ARTHUR LELAND WM. A. STECHER MYRON T. SCUDDER E. H. ARNOLD GEORGE WITTICH ROBERT J. ROBERTS DUDLEY A. SARGENT and other authorities Selling Agents AMERICAN GYMNASIA CO. Boston, Mass. LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received OCT 23 1908 Copyright tntr> ■ CUSS H O- XJC. No. COPY B. ^i* COPYRIGHT, 1908 by EVERETT B. MERO All rights are reserved, but correspondence is invited regarding reproduction of any desired extracts from the book. Permission wffl be freely granted for any use that will help the caruse 'of playgrounds or phys- ical training. Address such correspondence to the editor, in care of the publishers. CONTENTS Preface 8 Acknowledgments 1 1 PART ONE— How and Why to Provide for General Exer- cise and Recreation. Chapter I— What is Suitable Provision for Public Physical Welfare ? 15 II — What Does a .Playground Include? .... 23 III — Why Have Playgrounds at Public Ex- pense? '.'. . •.,. . . . 33 IV — Trained Supervision and Guidance .... 39 V — Instructors : Sources, Requirements, Salaries 45 VI-rr= School Yard Playground Requirements. 50 PART TWO — Organization, Construction and Equipment. VII — Importance of Proper Equipment 56 VIII — Apparatus for the Playground and Out- door Gymnasium 60 IX — A Recreation Center for a Town — By William L. Coop 69 X — Playgrounds in Waste Places 74 XI — Details of Playground Organization, Construction and Equipment — By Arthur Leland 79 PART THREE— Special Points for Supervisors and In- structors. XII — Personal Hints to Supervisors — By Ar- thur Leland 92 XIII — The Matter of Discipline 95 XIV — Suggestions to Instructors in Municipal Playgrounds and Gymnasiums — By E. B. DeGroot 98 XV — Suggestions to Instructors in General — By Jay W. Seaver, M. D 106 XVI — Making Children Generally Useful ....108 5 XVII — Playground Programs and Methods ...112 Section Two — How to Begin and Con- tinue Systematic Work — By Miss Gladys Abbott 118 PART FOUR— Games and Exercises for Children and Grown-ups. XVIII^- Simple Marching and Running 126 XIX — Exercises on Outdoor Apparatus 131 XX — Athletics and Athletic Games 139 XXI — Other Games Adapted to Playground Use. Section One — Team or Organized Games 153 Section Two — Games with Temporary Sides or Teams 163 Section Three — Progression in School Games — By Wm. A. Stecher and George Wittich 166 Grading of Games 169 Combative and Competitive Features. 171 XXII — Interesting the Big Brothers, Fathers and Uncles 173 XXIII — Sand Gardens for the Little Children . . . 180 XXIV — Dancing in the Open Air 184 Section Two — Folk Dances : Ameri- can and European — By A. J. Sheafe 194 XXV — Swimming, Wading and Water Sports. 200 XXVI — Pyramids and Tumbling 204 XXVII — School Gardens 207 PART FIVE— The Chicago Method in Action. XXVIII— The South Park System— By H. S. Cur- tis and E. B. DeGroot 212 PART SIX — Miscellaneous Information. XXIX — Country and Village Organized Recrea- tion — By Myron T. Scudder 222 XXX— * Games for Country Use — By Myron T. Scudder 226 XXXI — How to Inaugurate a Local Movement — By Joseph Lee and Lee F. Han- mer 233 6 XXXII— Three Age Periods of Child Play— By Joseph Lee 237 XXXIII — History of Playgrounds with a Chro- nology 239 XXXIV — Social Conditions in the Playground — By Henry S. Curtis, Ph.D 253 Quotations and Extracts : Place of Play in a Democracy — By Luther H. Gulick, M.D. 258 Play and Dancing for Adolescents — By G. Stanley Hall, Ph.D 259 What is Dancing? — By Melvin B. Gilbert 260 A Boy Learns Citizenship in Group Games — By Joseph Lee 264 Playgrounds and the Physical Training Profession 264 Beginnings of Social Movements — By R. W. DeForrest . .263 Recreation for Girls in Cities — By Jane Addams 260 Playground and Kindergarten Methods — By Frank E. Parlin 261 Educational Value of Right Games and Right Supervision — By Dudley A. Sargent .262 Grown-up Folks Need the Play Spirit — By J. J. Kelso . . . .265 Early Efforts at Amherst College — By Paul C. Phillips . . .266 State Extension Plan \ . . . 267 A List of Available Books 268 PREFACE. A book of practical information is not a short cut to suc- cess, a labor saving device to enable a reader to dispense with purposeful thinking. A book of this type is an aid to more systematic work by showing guide posts by which a reader may be better able to know which roads to use and which to avoid to reach a certain destination. This particular book is not about play and games ab- stractly or theoretically, so much as it is a book of service. Neither is it a literary production. It is definitely a compil- ation of information on how to apply practically various methods of physical training and recreation to men and women, boys and girls, in outdoor gymnasiums, playgrounds and school yards, under everyday American conditions. Considerable has been well written in permanent and temporary forms on the history, philosophy and psychology of play ; there has been much written on the desirability of games and recreation with special application to the relation of such activities to our social, moral and educational life. But there is very little available on the practical, technical side, and not much that shows how and where to provide the necessary additions to our lives. Theory and practice need to go hand in hand as soon as the ideas first advanced have had general recognition as facts ,* perhaps sooner. Those who have done the pioneer work have made possible the advanced efforts of today ; have made necessary such a book as this, which, being a pioneer in its class, is perhaps subject to some shortcomings. Such as ap- pear may be removed in subsequent editions. The editor will be pleased to receive criticisms and suggestions from any source. Those who have a general or philanthropic or sociologi- cal or educational or any other interest in the possibilities of 8 playgrounds should know something of their practical aspects. Those who are to teach the children and older folks by per- sonal contact must have technical knowledge unless their efforts are to fail or do positive harm. The managing com- mittees and board members, the municipal officials and the auxiliary society members, should have some of it also, if foi- no other reason than that the problems sure to arise may be intelligently understood and dealt with wisely. We should all learn from the combined experience of those who have traveled along the road just ahead. This book is intended to supply the needs mentioned as well as to give a somewhat comprehensive general idea of the meaning and scope of these efforts for the welfare of the people, — not only the physical welfare but the social, educa- tional and ethical as well. And, let us add, the business or commercial also. The commercial value of rational physical training, of proper recreation and play has not been much dwelt upon ; but this is a very important point in America where we all come to think so generally and constantly in terms of dollars ; to apply the rule and plumb to every new suggestion. The playground movement in its pure form will stand all such tests that are applied fairly. No book, or instruction in any form, can make it unnec- essary for a teacher to work for success, use common sense in applying knowledge to conditions, and take exceptions to rules laid down, whenever necessary. This applies to this book, to any other book and to all books written or to be written. Book knowledge — rules of procedure — programs of exercise — methods of administration — are excellent tools. Tools are made to use to produce results when combined with brain product, and satisfactory results come not otherwise. But books of the right sort can help, and will surely help, if rightly used. This book aims to present some gathered material to meet the needs of the day; to serve present pur- poses under conditions that have been outlined ; to be of real use. Concerning the now quite general recognition of the need and importance of play and games, nothing special is said here. This information and worthy consideration of it can be obtained from several sources. A list of titles is printed at the end of the volume. Specific acknowledgement of assistance given by individ- uals and organizations in the preparation of this book is made elsewhere. There has been an interesting exhibition of a desire to lend all aid asked for that would assist in extend- ing the playground movement. For this the editor is person- ally grateful, not so much for his own sake as because it en- ables a more serviceable publication to be offered to the pub- lic. It is a pleasure to do work when there is cordial co-op- eration such as has been experienced in the compilation of the following material. That "American Playgrounds," may be of definite service in extending the work it outlines, is the wish of THE EDITOR. July, 1908. 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. A book of this character is necessarily prepared with considerable assistance. No one person could make it of so much general and specific value as is possible by combining selected wisdom from many minds and experiences. The ed- itor is especially indebted to the sources mentioned here as well as to those who have given permission to republish ex- tracts, which are credited in each case where such reprints are made. Aside from these aids, special thanks are due and are hereby extended by the editor in his own behalf and for those who may be benefited by the result as set forth in these pages, to — To Mr. Joseph Lee, the oft-styled "father of American playgrounds" in their present modern form, for permission to make use of his many writings on the subject, and for reading the manuscript in advance of publication and making sug- gestions thereon ; and for other valuable assistance. To Mr. William L. Coop, for his willingness to give time and thought to matters concerning equipment and its prac- tical use, and help in various ways which have been of par- ticular value. To Mr. William A. Stecher, editor of "Mind and Body" and supervisor of physical education in Philadelphia public schools, for valuable information. To Mr. Edward B. De Groot, director of gymnastics, ath- letics and playgrounds in the Chicago South Park System, for material aid in several ways. The Playground Association of America, especially Dr. Luther H. Gulick, its president, and Miss Grace E. J. Parker, its financial secretary, for information and material for illus- trations. To the Narragansett Machine Co.; the Children's Play- ground League, Rochester, N. Y. (W. J. Smith, treasurer) ; the South Park Commissioners, Chicago; the Special Park II Commission, Chicago (A. W. O'Neill, secretary) ; the Play- ground Commission, Los Angeles, Cal. (Bessie D. Stoddart, secretary) ; special thanks are due for material for illustrations. A considerable number of the drawings for apparatus exercises in Chapter ly are adapted from Puritz' "Code Book of Gymnastic Exercises," English edition. Among the books and periodicals of which more or less use has been made for consultation or for extracts are : "Mind and Body," "American Gymnasia," "Playgrounds" ; "How to Tumble," Butterworth; "New Games and Sports," Alexander; "Playground Games," Chesterton; "May- pole Possibilities," Lincoln ; "Popular Gymnastics," Betz ; Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1903 ; reports of various local playground associations and committees. 12 PART ONE Why and How to Provide for General Exercise and Recreation. 13 "Play is motor poetry." — G. Stanley Hall. "Schooling that lacks recreation favors dulness —Hall. "One former is worth one hundred reformers." — Horace Mann. "Men grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely, for play is, at bottom, growth." — Hall. "The plays of adolescence are socialistic, demand- ing the heathen virtues of courage, endurance, self- control, bravery, loyalty, enthusiasm." — Gulick. The good old swing of the rhyme writers, in the shade of the old apple tree, was transferred from the country farm yard to the town back yard, then to the city porch, then it assumed the artificial imita- tion form of the wooden swing of slats and paint, and next there was no swing; there was no room for it in the then current type of city civilization. Now the playgrounds are bringing back the really acceptable forms of the original swing — just a rope and a board across the bottom. 14 CHAPTER I. WHAT IS SUITABLE PROVISION FOR PUBLIC PHYSICAL WELFARE? A Summary — Definite Attention to Physical' Needs of Up-growing Generations — A Phase of Civic Betterment — Supervised Play One Means — Indoor Gymnasiums and Other Aids Needed. A fundamental feature of every normal human life being its physical condition, intelligent provision of means to main- tain and improve that condition needs no apology. Suitable provision for public physical welfare is found scarcely anywhere in American cities or country districts, except where it has been artificially made during the past thirty years and less. That this made-to-order method has been necessary is due to conditions of today's mode of living. We live largely in artificial surroundings day and night, in most cities. The same conditions are fast coming to the smaller towns with the advance of modern labor-saving devices. Our short cuts to what we hope will be success in ma- terial things are also short cuts to physical deterioration ; and to moral and mental non-training as well. What little has been done so far to restore certain nec- essary physical activities and interests to our abnormal lives, and to the lives of children for the next generations, is but a beginning, but one phase, of the work going on in many ways and through many agencies to bring back a more nor- mal mode of every-day existence. Physical welfare is not divorced from general welfare ; the physical is not the whole ; it is one part, but a part so important that its neglect is a crime even if not always so recognized. 15 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS We of today must do something for the benefit of those who will live here sixty years and more from now as well as for our own good. This generation and the one immediately preceding it have been living more and more on the energy stored up by grandfathers and great-grandfathers — and mothers. (We must not forget the mothers, past, present and to be.) Unless we look out for our own physical selves, and especially ensure that the children of today do so, our grand- children and great-grandchildren are going to be physically bankrupt. If we spend all the money we are fortunate enough to inherit from ancestors, certainly we can have none of it to benefit our descendants. Just as true it is regarding in- heritance of muscular and nervous capital — physical efficiency. The people provide mental education for their children ; they should provide motor education quite as freely and universally. "Muscular knowledge was fundamental in the race, and it is the basis of all true learning in the individual." Proper motor education gives to every individual boy and girl ample opportunity for muscular exercise by syste- matic methods for recreation through play and games, and for true development through these agencies of "health as well as the physical, social and moral well being." To enable the desirable work to be practically carried on, several methods have been found suitable. First among the artificial modes of physical activities is gymnastics, which came by importation to Germany and other European coun- tries from Greece and Rome, and thence to America. In this country the freer life and thought eventually made for a freer mode of excercise, in athletics and also the games. During the past twenty years, and especially during the past ten years, has come what is generally called the playground movement. Really this is an important phase of the larger movement to make more use of natural outdoor possibilities for sane living, as is pointed out elsewhere in this chapter. In Chapter II it is shown that "suitable provision for public physical welfare" calls for several features harmoni- ously coordinated and systematically supervised. This book deals specifically with the playgrounds and their allied fea- tures. 16 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS As playground activities in their modern aspects are comparatively new to America, and not very old anywhere, it is only just now that we are getting the necessary attention to the subject. Thanks to the activity and persistent propa- ganda of local and national societies and individuals in past years, and thanks during the past two years to organized national efforts of the Playground Association of America, the attention of authorities of cities and states and of the nation is being guided to the central fact that Twentieth Cen- tury conditions make not only desirable but absolutely neces- sary some definite attention to the physical needs of the up- growing generations of both sexes. The playground movement is one of the desirable ways through which this demand can be met. Playgrounds, mean- ing places for children to play, and for older folks to rest, walk and ride, as well as play, were comparatively numerous in some cities two decades ago and more, But just a place, just a lot of land open to public use, will not answer the require- ments. Experience has taught this and re-taught it. There is play and there is play. There is play that grows like a weed and never gets beyond the weed state ; and there is play that has careful cultivation so that it becomes a useful plant. The latter kind is required to accomplish results worthy of efforts expended. This is the kind that all wise investigators and expert students contend for, as soon as they get far enough into the subject to truly appreciate practical conditions. Directed or supervised play is necessary. This means somebody whose definite duty it is to direct and supervise. Following the trail we quickly see that directors and super- visors must be trained. Until almost the present day there have been no accessible means for such special education, beyond the incomplete possibilities of the school of experi- ence. Now we have two or three normal and training schools of physical education paying particular attention to the sub- ject and two or three local organizations conducting their own instruction classes. We have not yet reached the point, as they have in Germany, of special normal play schools for teachers ; but as most of the inspiration for what is being done for playgrounds in America came from Germany, di- 17 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS rectly or indirectly, it may not be long before this fundament- ally important part of the work is inaugurated here, in some form. It was just stated that playgrounds offer one way of car- ing for the physical needs of men and women, grown up and growing up. Playgrounds, even the best of them, seldom do much in winter except to provide skating and possibly sliding and tobogganing, in a large section of the country, and not very much anywhere in stormy weather. This means that there must be serviceable shelter and some provision for in- door work. A playground building is as important, certaintly, as an open-air space. It is a question not entirely settled which should come first, the building or the outdoor space. Both should go together, that is certain, but if there abso- lutely cannot be more than one, which shall it be? This is a point calling for more consideration than can be given here, but it is worth noting in passing. The outdoor playground with proper space for athletics as well as gymnastics and games, supplemented by a well- equipped building which includes a gymnasium as well as baths, lockers, etc., and a swimming pool in some form, may make a complete plant. About the only place in America at this writing where this ideal has been reached is in the South Park System of Chicago. It is now being extended to other places as opportunity offers. Elsewhere the idea is adopted in part and incompletely. In many cities it is the ideal in mind, but in Chicago by reason of exceptional conditions the whole plan outlined and other desirable features as well are daily working as a model for the rest of the country, and in many respects for all the world. As one observer has ex- pressed it, this city has been able to skip over ten to fifteen years of growth and produce the complete system immedi- ately. Boston, where the present playground and outdoor gym- nasium scheme first took tangible form in this country, about twenty years ago, has not kept up to the times in some re- spects, although always one of the leading cities of the country in all matters of physical training, health education and recre- ation, as well as social betterment. Chicago took Boston's idea and showed its real possibilities under American city condi- 18 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS tions. Boston has just (1908) provided for a comprehensive system of physical training under control of the public school committee which includes playgrounds heretofore conducted by the park department and by private philanthropy, as well as gymnastics and athletics. Part of a General Modern Tendency. The growth of the playground movement should have a direct interest for the increasing thousands and millions of people who are personally concerned with matters of subur- ban life, life in the open, getting back to nature, and so on. All this line of effort has a common end : the making of life more worth living under conditions that exist; the improving of conditions so that instead of trying to escape from steel fetters of present civilization we may willing remain in the embrace of velvet supports and guides. However divergent the vari- ous movements toward this ideal, however crude some of the methods, however imperfect some of the individual workers and dreamers may be, the end sought is worth striving for. The playground movement is just as much a part of the general tendency of modern people to escape from the armor of city discordancies as is the development of suburban es- tates, city beautification, clean streets, removal of eye sores in city and country, and all the other elements that tend to make for practical aesthetic environments. As these paragraphs are being written there is in the United States a representative of a French association whose purpose is to create an international organization to work along these lines. In the United States at the present time are several organizations of comprehensive nature doing the same thing. Among them are the American Civic Associa- tion, Massachusetts Civic League, Rhode Island League of Improvement Societies, and many more that are local and sectional in scope. All these interests should be tied up with the playgroud movement, and it with them, so that playgrounds and all the means for open-air enjoyment, recreation and definite exer- cise might be admittedly a part of the broader purpose. Playgrounds are not a means in themselves, apart from other interests, but are just one expression of the underlying truth 19 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS that has been a long time coming to be believed by Ameri- cans, — that men and women are created to enjoy life, not to be slaves to their surroundings all the time ; and to enjoy life good health and physical efficiency is a fundamental need. Hence the use of playgrounds, athletic fields, gymnasiums and open-air recreation facilities. As playgrounds are likely to be always parts of the general scheme for civic betterment — to make better the appearance and living conditions of towns and cities — it is important that there be "comprehensive planning and clear thinking; a careful study of actual conditions, physical, economic and social, based upon the best expert advice ob- tainable." The tendency to make playgrounds educational adjuncts or fundamentals observed in some places is not likely to prevent the same or other playgrounds being classed with the serviceable parks in the city systems. Growth of the Movement. An idea of the growth and scope of the playground move- ment may be had from these general facts of recent origin, covering some phases of development in America : The amount of money spent and appropriated for play- grounds and accompanying features during six months end- ing May, 1908, was estimated at $6,000,000. In the ten years ending 1908, covering practically all the present period of rapid development, about $50,000,000 has been used in the same way. Included in this sum is over $11,000,000 applied to the equipment and general conduct of Chicago recreation centers, $750,000 for San Francisco recreation centers, and $15,000,000 for New York City athletic fields, playgrounds, etc. These figures are not exact but approximately so. They are quoted to figuratively in- dicate the size of the work going on. New York City employs over 1000 teachers in various forms of summer playground and recreation center work. In 24 cities in 1905 there were 87 playgrounds ; in 1907 in the same cities there were 169, an increase of 94 per cent, in two years. In the same cities in 1905 there were 73 park and municipal playgrounds ; in 1907 there were 108, an in- crease of 48 per cent, in two years. In 1905 there were 160 playgrounds of all kinds ; in 1907 there were 247, an increase. 20 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS of 54 per cent, in two years. These figures do not represent all the playgrounds in the country, but those in 24 cities from which statistics were gathered, During the years 1906-8 more than a dozen cities in which playgrounds had been previously maintained by private philanthropy, made appropriations for their conduct or created departments for direct municipal control and admin- istration. This is evidence of growing recognition of the real need and value of such features of public utility. Over 65 cities now conduct playgrounds. There have been isolated instances of reduced appro- priations just as appropriations are occasionally unreasonably reduced for public education, usually for purely local reasons. Playgrounds of a right type are equally essential with schools; both may suffer from legislative or political short- sightedness here and there but the general trend is in all respects rapidly progressive. In the early development of playgrounds there is likely to be — has been — over-enthus- iasm and wrong emphasis on some particular points, but usually this is due to misconception or misdirected zeal rather than to any reason justifying the withdrawal of public support. The tendency seems to be for as willing public support with money and official interest as has been ever given to a movement to benefit the people fundamentally. Those who hold tied the municipal purse strings may here and there for a time fail to appreciate the value of prevention and decline to grasp the proven fact that such methods as are provided in recreation centers are true educational and social prevent- ives of powerful value. History tells us that the first "theorists" who advocated free public schools in the United States had fully as much trouble to educate official minds and get public financial sup- port as the playground advocates are having now. History, studied intelligently, is a wonderful teacher and a great en- courager of patient waiting; not idle waiting but busy, work- ing, propagandism with continued practical results for proof. The development of the playground movement is pro- ceeding at a very satisfactory rate in all ways. Mistakes of the early period are being made good and there are increasing 21 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS indications that the work is being taken seriously, — that it has mostly passed the "fad" stage and become a staple re- quirement, This is, generally speaking, the view that is being taken where state laws are passed and advocated. Such laws authorizing playgrounds and other means for rational physical training in cities have been passed by the legislature of New Jersey, have been under considera- tion in the legislatures of Ohio and Massachusetts and are favored for early action in several other progressive states. The Massachusetts bill would authorize each town and city of 10,000 population to maintain and carry on at least one public recreation center "of suitable size and equipment for the purposes of play, recreation and physical education." The funds would be raised by taxation or bond issues "as for other public necessities or improvements." The present interest in what are generally called play- grounds is an outgrowth from the older work of physical train- ing which was, until a few years ago, confined to gymnasiums. But the playground movement was not directly started in America by the physical training profession nor by any mem- ber of it; it got its initial impetus from social workers, edu- cators and those men and women who were free enough from conventional methods of procedure to recognize the value of play and recreation when rightly used and guided. Now directors of physical training are alive to the value of the newer form of what is naturally a part of their work and are becoming prominent in advancing its interests. This points to the time when the present occasional combination of gym- nasiums and playgrounds will become the general rule, all under the supervision of technically educated and fully com- petent instructors. Time is required to make necessary ad- justments between new and old methods but the tendency is in the right direction. 22 o> j_> a> -•-> > © J2 , .2 £» to to t» « « '3 ^ .3 to - T3 5.S TO -t_) *H O hi x>~ c_> CD Sg h TO C P. 03 ." O o M -• 3 § * g S 5* rt n o n3 o o C e« 42 2 o 43 g .? 43 rQ -M -^ > 73 o > W H O 03 H o c o s AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS children freely. Now there is a sign "Ball playing strictly prohibited." As if this was not enough restriction, an order was passed last winter prohibiting coasting down the hills. As a good proportion of the vacant lots have "no tres- passing" signs, where are the boys to play, if their fathers do not happen to own a piece of empty land, without being law breakers? The only answer is that cities must provide arti- ficial playgrounds to give to the children rights taken from them by modern municipal conditions. In a properly equipped and supervised playground the natural rights of boys and girls are protected. As has so often been said, most boys who break laws, who stone the neighbors' cats, who see how few whole panes of glass they can leave in the unused factory building, whose idea of manliness is associated with the corner tough who once licked the gamest "cop" on the force ; — these boys are usually less to blame than are the authorities who provide no outlet for natural strenousness but instead attempt to bottle up the energy. As well tie down tight the cover on a coffee tank full of boiling drink and not expect an explosion ! To be sure the parents are often, at the bottom of affairs, the responsible parties for much so-called lawlessness of children, but that is a subject not to be treated in this book. To quote : "Give a boy a chance at football, basketball, hockey or 'the game'; give him an opportunity to perform difficult and dangerous feats on a horizontal bar, on the fly- ing rings, or from a diving board; and the policeman will need a gymnasium himself to keep his weight down. This is not theory but is the testimony you will get from any po- liceman or schoolmaster who has been in a neighborhood be- fore and after a playground was started there." So much for the boys of the "privileged class," as a Har- vard professor modernly calls them, or of the "submerged tenth," as the older sociologists styled them. As a matter of fact the children of rich or wealthy par- ents, of the socially elevated classes, need the education and training and good effects to be had from properly directed play and physical training. No all the surplus energy of these boys goes toward the idea of stoning cats and breaking 35 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS windows, but they get the same satisfactory results in other ways. We need to remember, whether we like to or not, that natural characteristics in the different strata of society do not really and truly differ so very much. The experiment of providing a playground especially for children of the so- called upper classes has been tried and proved successful. Such a place, restricted to a special class of a community, ought not to be supported by public funds, as conditions are at present. So it need not be referred to here except to im- press the fact that all sorts and conditions of people and chil- dren will use playgrounds if adapted to their interests and needs. Private playgrounds conducted for those who can afford to pay a fee have been profitably conducted, although this idea is a comparatively new one. It offers a good opening for men and women capable of conducting such work where there is sufficient possible patronage. There is also the possibility of placing public play- grounds in the sections of cities devoted to the better class of residences and thus catering to the people who live there. This idea is of the same stamp as the more popular one of placing playgrounds in the poorer quarters and crowded sec- tions of cities so that the people there may have the benefit. Both should be done, although it is probably quite proper to give the crowded, poorer parts of large cities first attention. But we do not need class legislation in playground and gym- nasium matters any more than in other municipal affairs. Municipal Recognition. "The demand for playgrounds has increased and more disposition to establish them has been shown among officials. Ten years ago a public playground could only have been thought of as the gift of some wealthy philanthropist. Now their place in the public expenditure is as well established as is that of parks and the need for them is almost as well rec- ognized as that of schools. "It is within the memory of the present generation that the application of prevention to the problem of criminal ad- ministration began. Reformatories have grown less and less 36 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS like prisons in their administration and the machinery for keeping people out of jail is now thoroughly well established through our children's courts and the parole system for first offenders. "But that is only one side of the problem. The state sup- ports not only prisons, but almshouses and hospitals. Keep- ing recruits out of the latter is just as much a problem of practical administration as keeping people out of prison. "The first preventative step is to have people born and raised with sound bodies. Over their birth neither science nor the state as yet exercises any control. But the rearing of a city-born population so as to reduce the percentage of crim- inals, paupers and diseased is an intensely practical matter. Fresh air and occupation are the first requisites for sound growth and the playgrounds minister directly to that need. Play is as necessary to a child as food, and in a city where every square foot of ground has a market value a place to play must be supplied by the city, because otherwise the chil- dren convert streets into playgrounds, to their own harm and the annoyance and danger of adults who use the streets for business or pleasure. "The time will come when the city will give to every child who seeks it the rudiments at least of hand training, because it is cheaper to help him grow up as a thrifty citizen than to have him and his family hanging upon the skirts of charitable societies and on the edge of the poorhouse. But the need for manual training is less pressing than that for playgrounds." — (From an editorial in Brooklyn, N. Y., "Eagle.") "The experience of some of our older cities in being forced by conditions of congestion to purchase sites for play- grounds at enormous expense, is being heeded by the rapidly growing cities of the west and space is being set aside for this purpose before it is too late. An indication of the ten- dency in this direction is illustrated by a bill that passed the legslature of the state of Washington (1907) but was after- wards vetoed by the governor. It provided that in all addi- tions to cities of 10,000 inhabitants of more one-tenth of the area, exclusive of streets, should be set aside for parks and 37 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS playgrounds. This idea coincides splendidly with the present widespread interest in city planning. Cities are discovering that they cannot afford to go on growing in a haphazard way, and some day be obliged to tear down and build over at enormous expense, and then have only a makeshift at best. Instead they are employing experts to lay out a plan for ulti- mate development. Happily for the boys and girls, and for the public welfare, too, most of our leading landscape archi- tects appreciate the necessity of providing playgrounds as well as parks and boulevards. "The important place that playgrounds are being given in civic affairs is well illustrated in San Francisco. In spite of the enormous financial burdens in rebuilding their city (following the earthquake and fire of 1907) they voted a bond issue of $741,000 for the purchase of playground sites, and an appropriation of $20,000 for 1908 running expenses. A play- ground commission of seven members will annually present its budget, get its appropriation, and carry on its work just as definitely as any other department of the city administra- tion." — (From an article in "Charities," by Lee F. Hanmer.) How a School Building and Playground May Be Combined. 33 CHAPTER IV. TRAINED SUPERVISION AND GUIDANCE. A Leader an Essential — No Supervision, no Play- ers — Children Prefer Intelligent Direction — A Care- taker not a Substitute for a Trained Instructor — An Instructor is a Leader and Guide Rather Than a Di- rector — Ensures Right Use of Grounds in Right Ways. Very few movements, small or great, will go on for long or accomplish much without a leader. Someone with recog- nized authority to be used when necessary is essential to most, if not all, undertakings even in this democratic Amer- ica. Just so, a game will "go" better if there is an umpire or a captain or a director at hand. President Roosevelt expressed the idea as applied to playgrounds in these words : — "Neither must any city believe that simply to furnish open spaces will secure the best results. There must be su- pervision of these playgrounds, otherwise the older and stronger children occupy them to the exclusion of the younger and weaker ones ; they are so noisy that people living in the neighborhood are annoyed ; they are apt to get into the pos- session of gangs and become the rendezvous of the most un- desirable elements of the population ; the exercise and play is less systematic and vigorous when without supervision; and moreover in all cities where the experiment has been tried it has been found that such playgrounds are not well at- tended. " Another observer, a public school director of physical training, Dr. Rebecca Stoneroad, writes : — "It may be said by some that such play is not real play, that it lacks spontaneity and the whimsical element. The experience of summer playground teachers has been that chil- 39 AMERICAN FLA YGROUNDS dren prefer direction; that of two playgrounds, one having a teacher and the other not. the children Hock to the one where the teacher is directing, while it is an acknowledged fact that the unsupervised free playgrounds are little used. Some chil- dren do not care to play, and need to be encouraged, not forced, or the purpose of play for recreation would be lost. When forced, play becomes work. If left to the individual child only certain ones play, generally those who have special skill in a certain game which is played to the exclusion of others, producing onesidedness. Unsupervised play is spas- modic and irregular, and cannot be considered as an integral part of a physical training course, although accessory to it. "The personality of the teacher, the voice and the man- ner, inspiring methods and enthusiasm all have their influ- ence. Joy and happiness is is a mental state which to a de- gree can be reflected from one to another. Enthusiasm is contagious." Concerning instructors or teachers for playgrounds, Joseph Lee writes : "Another thing the boy of the Big Injun age must have is a teacher on the playground — not for the sake of discipline ; grown-ups are too soft to be of any use for that purpose — but partly for maintaining order and partly because, for boys of this age, outside leadership of some sort seems to be in most cases a necessity. It is true that boys who are brought up in the very strong tradition of a preponderating game, or who are thrown with any older boys who take some interest in looking after them, will play without the leadership of a grown up person. But this is not true of most boys and is not true at the times of the year w r hen the traditionally estab- lished game is not in season. There is a critical attitude of mind, together with a fierce individualism, in boys under eleven years old, that in most cases make anarchy practically inevitable a large part of the time if they are left to them- selves. A boarding school teacher has told me that the only kind of occupation he had ever known them capable of car- rving on if left to themselves was to set upon one of their number and tease him. This seemed to be the highest social institution they were able to support. 40 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS "The leaders whom the school will furnish to the children during play hours will include an expert on games and phy- sical exercise ; but they will also include, for some hours every week, the same teachers who have charge of the children in the school room. As my boarding school principal said to me, 'When you join with the boys in their games, the problem of discipline disappears.' "The playground must be put distinctly under the mas- ter of the school as a part of the plant for the proper use of which he is responsible, in order that he may have placed in his hands the machinery necessary for dealing with the whole boy and may be made to feel that the whole boy — the edu- cation of boys and girls and not merely the teaching them things — is his job. The question we ask of the head of a boarding school is not, 'How much Latin have you taught my boy?' or 'How good is he at arithmetic?' but 'What kind of a boy have you made of him?' and until we 'learn to put the question to our public school teachers in the same way we are not asking of them to do the thing that we really want done. "As a matter of practical experience, the opinion of those who have done actual playground work is unanimous to the effect that leadership on a playground for children between six and eleven years old is a necessity. The child of this pe- riod is not a finished creature, but an incomplete and partial one. The elder brother or leader is his necessary complement. "A play leader costs something, it is true, but there is danger of being penny-wise in this matter. In a big city es- pecially, where a playground costs many thousands of dollars, it is poor economy to save the salary of a man or woman who could more than treble its effectiveness." Moral Effect Reversed Without Supervision. — "The use- fulness of a playground is seriously limited by the lack of efficient supervision. The men in charge as mere caretakers with no knowledge whatever of gymnastics or the use of the apparatus are worse than unsatisfactory. The result is that the bigger boys learn a few tricks or stunts more or less dan- gerous and the weaker ones receive no attention. Even such 41 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS apparatus for the little ones as swings and see-saws is monop- oplized by the stronger and more aggressive children, to the exclusion of the timid and w r eak. "Thus the moral effect of the playground is wholly lost or completely reversed. Instead of a child learning to 'take its turn' it learns that 'might makes right' and 'to the victor belongs the spoils.' Weaklings are effectually taught that they have no rights the stronger ones are bound to respect and get thoroughly discouraged." — (W. L. Coop.) Secretary Henry S. Curtis of the Playground Association of America told the Physical Directors' Society of the Y. M. C. A. in national convention that "the play organizer is the most important element in a successful playground. Space there must be. A good equipment serves as a sort of an ad- vertisement to draw the children to the ground, and has a certain usefulness of its own, but the attendance of the chil- dren and the good results obtained will depend one-hundred fold more on the ability to interest and organize the children than it will on the best equipment. Vacant spaces or equipped playgrounds without a play organizer become seats of disorder and noise against which the whole neighborhood soon rebels. They fail utterly to secure organization in games and sports, to train through competition, and co-operation in the spirit of sportsmanship. They have for children only a very low athletic value. The organized playground soon comes to stand for all the virtues the play leader himself rep- resents. Measured merely by the attendance of the children, it is the only successful playground, for a good director will double and treble the attendance over that of a mere care- taker." Dr. Curtis has also written on another phase of the ques- tion : The title "Directed Play" is a misnomer and has been the source of a great many absurd criticisms of the playground movement. It has suggested to the uninitiated that the play- ground leaders stand about and order the children to play this game or that, and that in general the directed playground is a place where there is no liberty or spontaneity on the part 42 w U X bfl 8.S O O <4H g o **~ S o .5 3 E! ° 4h >> ? «* bfl'p* O) O o o bfl AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS of the children, that it is an assault on the last stronghold of child liberty and self-expression, and that it must inevitably result in making him a mere automaton. In actual fact, the work of the play leader has almost nothing in common with this idea of direction. The success- ful play leader is the one who organizes the children into live teams around various activities and interests ; he is the per- son who can keep a number of different groups of children interested and busy at the same time ; he is, to a considerable extent, a leader ; he is to some extent a teacher of new games, but his prime function is, I conceive, that of an organizer. He is not at all a director in the sense in which it is com- monly understood. The remark that organized play takes away the origin- ality of the children seems to me quite contrary to the teach- ing both of modern psychology and of experience. The chil- dren left to themselves with one or two games seldom invent new ones, whilst children who have learned, through the playground or any other means, a considerable number of games, are constantly modifying old ones or starting ones that are practically new. Concerning the sort of a man needed for a public play- ground director or instructor, E. D. Angell has written as follows : "The director of a public playground should know chil- dren. He should have not alone the theoretical knowledge of the child-mind gained from studies in psychology and pedagogy, but the exact understanding that comes from a memory of his own youth, reawakened by direct contact with the youngster. He must have qualities that appeal to the boy; he should be an athlete or a gymnast, for there is nothing that catches the respect of the boy so quickly as muscular strength and physical skill. If he is not an athlete he must have the qualities of leadership and an appreciation of the child's needs so that he can direct him along the lines of his greatest interest. "The playground director is not necessarily a teacher; he is a leader, and by mixing with the boys in their plays and 43 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS games, he guides them along by suggestion instead of by teaching. He should be ingenious and original — able to adapt himself to the many varying conditions that arise on a playground. He must be tactful and considerate, sympa- thetic and ready at all times to help his boys. He must be a friend of the boys, and if they are glad to have him around and show it, he can be pretty sure that his work is a success. "The results of the work on directed playgrounds are so much superior to what is accomplished on grounds undi- rected, that a return to the old way is never considered by the cities that have had both experiences. "On the undirected playground, the play is uncontrolled and the vicious habits of the street are simply transferred. The bully element is in evidence, and the young and weak are crowded out. A crowd of adult loafers often drive the boys from the ball diamond and use it for themselves. "These conditions do not exist on the directed play- ground. The director interests himself in every child, weak or strong, good or bad. Smoking, gambling and profanity are forbidden and the boy develops under conditions that are more conducive to his moral and physical welfore. "The playground director is a member of one of the most useful of professions; his field is the right shaping of the lives and characters of thousands of boys at a susceptible age and under peculiarly potent conditions. He should realize the importance of these opportunities and know that his work well done is as valuable as any other work in the edu- cation of the boy." A Compact City Playground with gymnasiums and build- ings. 44 CHAPTER V. INSTRUCTORS: SOURCES, REQUIREMENTS, SALARIES. Growing Means for Technical Training — Physi- cal Education and State Normal Schools — Kinder- gartners — Need for Practical Experience — Sample Requirements and Rates of Pay — Hours — Signs for the Future. Elsewhere in this book reference is made to the present scant provision for special technical training of playground instructors. This lack is being met by the regular normal schools of physical education whose old courses in play and games are being strengthened and new courses added. But even as matters stand, graduates of several of the schools are well equipped to be playground instructors. It may be a question whether many such students are fully qualified to become supervisors immediately upon graduation without actual post-grauate work under playground conditions, but some are so qualified. The summer schools of physical training are paying in- creasing attention to the subject and in notable instances ex- cellent special instruction is given in the features peculiar to outdoor needs. Some of the state normal schools provide such instruc- tion and many good teachers come from these institutions. As women instructors are generally favored for dealing with younger children, the state normal schools are excellent sources of supply. As the need increases, these schools will unquestionably offer particular courses for the purpose. Kindergarten teachers are in much demand in play- grounds, especially for the vacation or summer schools con- ducted by cities. A desirable combination in a corps of play- ground instructors would include a specially trained kinder- gartener. 45 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Men instructors come in part from the same sources ; also from the Y. M. C. A. training schools, from colleges and from association gymnasiums. The college men usually get appointments on the strength of athletic knowledge or abil- ity. Not all of them care for or are offered re-appointments. As a rule the instructors coming through any of these channels will need to learn more or less by actual experience, unless they have had previous practical service, but this is unavoidable under present conditions. To get in touch with would-be playground leaders or instructors, one good way is to write to the Playground Asso- ciation of America, New York City, where there is always a list of available men and women, as well as a list of places wanting instructors, in various parts of the country. The teachers' agencies and exchanges also supply such special instructors and are informed of vacancies. Where playgrounds are municipal institutions and in- structors must be local residents, there is the usual method of competitive examinations, governed by local conditions. But even in municipal departments non-residents sometimes can secure positions, especially if the home supply of raw ma- terial runs short. Supervisors of playgrounds, who have had good expert ence in well equippel and properly managed institutions, are aften secured from 'among the assistants in large city sys- tems. Chicago South Parks, for example, have in this way supplied trained heads for several other city systems. Playground directors also come from the general edu- cators. School principals, men and women, may make ex- cellent leaders for playground work, often ranking higher in efficient results than others who have had special techni- cal traning in athletics or gymnastics. Salaries vary greatly and it is a little risky to quote fig- ures. In general it may be said that the supervisor of a city system of several playgrounds should receive from $1,200 to $2,000 a year, with permanent all-the-year position. Many supervisors get less and two or three may get more. Instructors or assistants receive from $600 to $1,000 a year or season with permanent appointments, or from $24 to $60 a month where engaged for the summer period. Many 46 ¥ « d TO TO" 0> d s o> W rcj O 2 .2 ^43 O ft ft o S M d o fa o TO" j 3 .a 'g 43 ft d OQ d ■ i-i 4) •2& S 43 43 02 45 -C .2 " M 45 d o o AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS of these positions require part time only ; four or five hours a day is common for assistants, but the actual hours vary so much with local conditions that no definite statement can be made. In some places assistants receive $75 to $100 or $125 a month, but these are usually exceptional full time positions. Minneapolis Park Commission pays men and women di- rectors $50 a month for two months' work, July 1 to August 31. Washington, D. C, pays $35 to $45. Philadelphia pays $40 a month, based on a half day's service, either forenoon or afternoon, six days a week. In playgrounds where special work is demanded the salary is $43.75 a month. Inexperi- enced teachers in this city are assigned to duty as assistants for one week without salary. Appointments to salaried po- sitions follow if the teachers are qualified. Some information compiled by the Philadelphia Board of Education concerning the requirements for positions there is of general value and is reprinted as follows: In order to secure a position as teacher in a public school's playground an applicant must have a teacher's certificate or show qualifications equal to a normal school training. In the smaller school yards the playground work is principally the care and instruction of smaller boys and girls, the ages ranging from four to ten years. The prep- aration of a teacher for this work (class A) is princi- pally that along kindergarten lines with the additional knowledge of games and occupations suitable for chil- dren seven to ten years of age. In the larger school yards and in a few fields where boys and girls from four to sixteen years assemble, there are generally two teachers, one to take care of the smaller children and the other, preferably a man, to look after the older children. The teacher for the older children (class B) must have some knowledge of handwork suit- able for these pupils, e. g., paper folding, reed and raffia work, cardboard sloyd, hammock making, etc. ; (wood- work at benches is taught in a few grounds) ; he also must have a thorough knowledge of team games and of light apparatus. All applicants should have a good working knowl- 47 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS edge of songs and stories. They should be competent to select songs and stories for their educational and moral values; should be familiar with such books as "Mother Stories" by Maude Lindsay, "In Storyland" by Eliza- beth Harrison, "In the Child's World" by Emilie Pauls- son, "Norse Stories" by Harrison Mabie, "Fairy Tales" by Eduard Laboulaye. Applicants are expected to be thoroughly familiar with "Singing Games, Old and New," by Marie Hofer, and "Gymnastic Games" by E. H. Arnold. Applicants for positions should understand that playground work is of a very active nature, demanding physically well-formed teachers, and that no one incapa- ble of bearing the double mental and physical strain should apply. The playgrounds are open during July and August, six days per week. As a rule there are two sessions per day, the morning session being from 8.30 to 12 o'clock, the afternoon session from 1.30 to 5 o'clock. Local con- ditions may make it advisable to change these hours. In Providence, R. I., a city of 100,000 population main- taining seven playgrounds, directors are paid from the munic- ipal treasury at the rate of $2 a day or $10 a week of six days ; assistants $1.80 a day or $9 a week. For the season's work covering eight weeks this gives each director $80 and each assistant $J2. The supervisor, a woman with previous experi- ence and practical knowledge, receives $300 for the season. Regular school janitors look after cleaning up, small repairs, etc., at $1 a day or $40 for the season. A superintendent of janitors did efficient service. The season's total salary list for the seven playgrounds was in 1907: Supervisor, $300; direc- tors and assistants, $1,649; janitors, $280; total $2,229. As playgrounds receive proper recognition and become more completely identified with gymnasiums and physical training departments as essential municipal necessities, there will be more permanent positions paying $1,200 to $1,500 a year, because, for one reason, a high grade type of specially educated people will be required for a new profession. "The supply of trained playground teachers is wofully limited, just at the time when they are specially needed — 48 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS the time when playgrounds are 'on trial' — in many cities. To meet this demand the Playground Association of America has appointed a committee to prepare courses of instruction on playground organization and administration to be sent to all normal schools and colleges in the country. Where this subject has been presented to normal schools, and the ex- tent of the movement described, there has been a ready re- sponse and requests for suggestions of courses of instruction that may be given. "The fact that in the future supervised playgrounds are to be conducted, not only during the summer vacation but also after school hours and on Saturdays during the whole year, makes it evident that a knowledge of playground work must be a part of the public school teacher's equipment. Those who provide themselves with such equipment will thereby be able to materially increase their income, and will at the same time come into a kind of relation with the boys and girls that will help to solve many of the difficult prob- lems of school discipline." — Lee F. Hanmer. I— m »1 & OcT) <&\ CcTj fey (g> 6ft Q.'X.i) A TVvc«l (IMU WlVU* H*> V«*»M. . A German Plan. (See page 51.) - Sand Court or Pit, with per- gola covering benches. (See chapter 23.) 49 CHAPTER VI. SCHOOL YARD PLAYGROUND REQUIREMENTS. The Thirty Square Feet for an Individual Rule — Serviceable Apparatus Essential — How to Make a Modest Start — Need to Secure Land a Long Time Ahead — Gymnastics and Play Distinct, not Substi- tutes. With the increasing realization that school houses and grounds can and ought to be put to use during the hours when school is not in session for studies and recitations, it becomes comparatively easy to have the yards and grounds equipped and used as playgrounds, open air gymnasiums and rest spots. This plan is now practically general in the United States and in some degree is adopted in most of the larger cities. Experts have figured that a proper school playground should contain at least 30 square feet of space for each indi- vidual using it. This is the standard in England for new buildings and yards. In Prussia it is about 20 square feet. In Germany the space varies from 20 to 75 square feet. In Prance 50 square feet per individual is the rule. The figures are approximate but are essentially correct. In America the school yard space per pupil is from 5 to 40 square feet, the average being perhaps 10 to 20, except for the very newest schools in which up-to-date ideas have been adopted in this respect and the 30 square feet rule is followed as closely as feasible. These references apply to the yards adjoining school buildings and are of course modified by local condi- tions, in America and abroad. There is need for legislation governing this matter. It is being agitated and will be sys- tematically worked for. There are practically uniform laws regarding ventilation of schoolhouses, which offers a good precedent for like enactments to cover yard room. 50 o C o o " S 5 a & £ a, ot .jh ,£« S3 £^ » O E/3 " w ■£ « a ^ a. c<3 S3 o »iH i-l _, «J o •H H B * .s? ^ fi £ u 3 "5 &£ g> §^ 6 13 >> % O +J " ^ ^ r^ •" ' O ° > £2 .2 „ O -f-J is a AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS A common arrangement of public high schools in Ger- many provides for all phases of the mental and motor train- ing of the children, with proper time for each feature. The plan presented (see page 49) is typical of German methods in this respect. In America the gymnasium is usually incor- porated in the school building. There are advantages in both ideas. The idea of placing the gymnasium and the sanitary ac- commodations in buildings detached from the school room structure has had advocates in the United States, and in Can- ada the plan has been carried out in isolated instances by an arrangement indicated by plan A, page 49. Another sugges- tion is shown in plan B page 49, where the gymnasium and playground are in a space between the wings of the building. In school yards, not primarily intended for playgrounds for general use, not a great deal of apparatus is required. There should be swings, teeter boards or ladders or both, perhaps a giant stride ; and where there are primary children material for them to play with, such as toys, building blocks and a pile or box of sand. It is always advisable to have ap- paratus that can be fastened up out of the way, or locked, or in some way kept from being used in other than designated hours. If the school yard is large enough to be a small play- ground, or a part can be set off and fenced, then any of the simpler playground apparatus is desirable. As a rule school boards do not allow much money for playgrounds or yards and these necessary places have to be fitted up gradually with the use of the teachers' ingenuity and self-sacrifice. But a good deal can be accomplished by making a modest start and then keeping slowly but steadily at the process of adding to the equipment. The children will help as soon as they become interested; it depends largely on the teachers how soon that is. In the Indianapolis public schools the plan was adopted two years ago of buying first the apparatus that could be used by the greatest number of children with greatest benefit. As funds permitted other pieces were added by purchase or by home building. Giant strides were installed first, one for boys 51 AMERICAN PLA YGROUXDS and one for girls; sometimes two for each. Several basket Is were next in order. In the upper grades they were used playing basket ball and captain ball, while in the other grades they were in great demand for simple tossing and catching games. The halls were also used for playing hand- baseball. Then came the footballs. "We don't run with the foot- hall under our arm, but we do kick it, girls as well as boys, and then run and try to catch it. The little folks stand in a circle and kick a small black rubber football." explained \Y. A. Steelier, the supervisor of physical training at that time. Tetherball also comes in about this time, so do simple de- vices for high jumping and pole vaulting; also teeter boards and sand piles for the little ones. Then, if more money is available, come stationary horizontal ladders. To teachers it may be of interest to know that the equip- ment of these playgrounds was the work of each school. The school board did not appropriate money for this purpose. Its mechanics, however set up the apparatus. In a paper presented at a convention of the National Education Association (1905), Dr. E. H. Arnold, then presi- dent of the department of physical education, urged the need for advance planning so that there might be ample space for yards around school houses in which there might be neces- sary physical exercise, play and games. He used these words : — "In order to provide such spacious school yards, provision for their acquirement should be made long before they may be actually used as school yards. Not only years, but decades ahead must the sites for school yards and buildings be bought by the communities in the districts as yet outlying and unoc- cupied. Money so invested will come back with interest to any community that tries the scheme, as is evidenced by the prices paid for school sites in communities already thickly settled. Economy then makes it necessary to buy a lot as small as possible. This can be avoided by foresight and prompt action of communities that this day foresee a chance of rapid growth. 52 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS "We should demand legislative action to compel commu- nities to furnish school yards which can serve the above pur- poses (as playgrounds). Communities by law compelled to furnish them would have to exercise foresight and acquire the sites in such goodly time that the purchase of school yards of proper dimensions would not unduly burden the community." If this ideal is approached, then it becomes possible to carry out such a plan as was presented at the same N. E. A. convention by Dr. Rebecca Stoneroad, to "choose, plan, arrange and adopt plays and games that would form a large share of the physical training of the school. This requires rare powers of organization and leadership, and is most likely to be accomplished in private schools with many instructors, few children, large grounds and much school time. These are not, however, the conditions of most of our grammar schools. Under the ordinary environment, it is practically impossible to institute a system of plays and games which will include all the children of the school. Since this form of physical exercise must of necessity be taken in the school yard, .... our opportunities, at least in city schools, are greatly limited. "School gymnastics, although an artificial form of exer- cise, have the advantage over plays and games in our educa- tional scheme on account of their practicability. We can give daily to large masses of children, in a short space of time, in all seasons and under all conditions of weather, with or with- out playgrounds, a certain amount of all-round, systematic, physical exercise, based upon physiological principles, calling into play all the muscles of the body, and so planned and exe- cuted as to be of the greatest value educationally. "It must be distinctly understood that school gymnastics are not recreation ; they are school work. I would never at- tempt to substitute such work for the play of recess. Both departments of physical education, the plays and games and the formal gymnastics, are necessary, and should go hand in hand in a perfect system of physical education." Desirable equipment and apparatus for school yard play- grounds is indicated in Chapter VIII. 53 ~Jk,*A^un» 54 PART TWO Organization, Construction and Equipment. "The boy without a playground is father to the man without a job." — Joseph Lee. When a small boy comes a long way to a play- ground and quiets the awful pangs of hunger, "fill- ing up with water," so that he may stay through the supper hour, can any one ask if the playground is popular? — Report of Children's Playground League, Rochester, N. Y. The farmer allows one acre for 150 chickens. A city acre 200 by 217 feet may provide a school or neighborhood playground for 1000 or 1500 children. — Stewart. The children's playgrounds rightly belong to the city. It is a provident work and is far less costly than the reformatory and the juvenile court. — From report of Children's Playgrounds Association, Balti- more, Md. 55 CHAPTER VII. IMPORTANCE OF PROPER EQUIPMENT. Why Good Material, Well Constructed and Adapted to Use to be Made of It is Desirable — Equip with Apparatus That Will be Used— Its Relation to "the Gang" — Space Economy. The right sort of equipment is of course desirable. In almost any city that has experimented along this line a supply of expensive experience has been acquired. There is no real need for others to fall into similar errors. One rather common mistake has been to put up apparatus that looked good or that seemed desirable in theory, instead of installing the material that was known to be serviceable and that experience had shown would be put to use. It is not wise to equip a playground or gymnasium with fancy ap- paratus that seldom gets used. It is always better economy to have apparatus wear out than rust out and fall to pieces in disuse. Another mistake has been to place full dependence on ap- paratus "home made." This is usually done because the prices of the playground equipment companies seem high — too high to meet the small appropriations of money available. Committees too often forget the old adage about "penny wise, pound foolish." Unquestionably some parts of playground equipment can be made at home, by local carpenters and blacksmiths and others, and give satisfactory results. The point of this refer- ence to the matter is that it is well to be sure the "home made" method is really the best and most economical in the long run. It seems a reasonable business proposition that the equipment houses will quote as low prices as they can for reliable material, because they expect business and are likely to realize how unlikely they are to get continued trade if they supply poor material. 56 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS More than one playground committee has saved five dol- lars on a giant stride, let us say, only to lose twenty-five dollars a year or two later when the stride had to be elabo- rately repaired or replaced. Good material, well made, adapted to the conditions un- der which it is to be used, and properly installed, is from all points of view most desirable. But true as this is, it is also true that in some cases the made-at-home, temporary, make-shift, cheap equipment makes possible a start of a local playground agitation that might never come or be long delayed if the agitators waited for a more complete and more costly outfit. There are just two things to be accomplished by an out- door gymnasium, with special reference to "the gang," the group of almost-men to be found in city tenement districts and on town street corners. The apparatus may be so placed in one fenced in enclosure that it can be readily and effectively controlled and so destroy the influence of the gang by such control ; or it may be scattered in different parts of the play- ground so that the gang doesn't want to use it. By the first method the gang or the neighborhood group, to use a softer term, are given full opportunity to use the apparatus just so long as its members will submit to recognized supervision and discipline, and not fifteen minutes longer. By the sec- ond method the pieces of apparatus are so widely scattered that the gang is put to inconvenience to maintain its organi- zation and hence it is not often maintained. The gang is a gang only so long as it hangs together. The individual mem- bers of most any gang are often, perhaps usually, exemplary young men so long as they are by themselves. The change for the worse comes when the units are grouped and the bad elements mingle. Apparatus well planned is an economizer of space. There is no better way to provide for large numbers of children. Eighteen boys want an acre lot in which to play a single game of baseball. Eighteen boys can be kept busy on a lot 18 by 20 feet if it is equipped with the proper apparatus and an instructor is at hand. 57 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS An outdoor gymnasium or playground that is to be used at night (and for the benefit of the men such places will be mostly used after dark, after working hours), must be well lighted. Well lighting an outdoor space is not always such an easy matter as a novice might suppose. Putting up a lot of lights is not the whole idea. Centralized arc lights have been found by experience to yield better results than scat- tered smaller lights. That is, the arc lights should be put up in groups of two or four, more or less according to local con- ditions, in such locations that the light will be shed evenly and brightly on the grounds to be used. Small lights scat- tered all over the lot will not usually provide satisfactory il- lumination anywhere. The grouped arc lights may be sup- plemented by smaller lights at otherwise dark spots if de- sired. The problem of what sort of apparatus and equipment is practically desirable is important. Joseph Lee has written on this point as follows, with special reference to the full grown playground that is more than just a make-shift: "Besides the schoolyard, two other kinds of playground must be provided, preferably combined at the same point — the outdoor gymnasium and the ball field. These should, if possible, be combined with one of the schoolyard play- grounds — or with another playground of the same class, in- tended for the little children — and also with a space where the bigger girls can play really lively, romping, and exciting games. They should, in short, be family playgrounds, in- cluding benches and bleachers for the fathers and mothers to look on. They ought to include, also the school gardens of the neighboring schools, and be otherwise, by means of flowers and shrubs round the edges, made to look a little less hideous than it is generally considered necessary for the city playground to look. But, whether thus combined or not, the outdoor gymnasium should include a playground for run- ning games, and should have in it only such apparatus as it is found in practice that the boys actually use — a necessary caution inasmuch as the fact is sometimes overlooked that apparatus, however scientifically devised, does very little for 58 <' :' '_ •„'. , ■ ■ (( . ■ ./■;''■ St* * .' x ' : r X:; IHInHH^Hii *> : ' tj|'" ' -,^m This view shows a frame with apparatus in use of the same type as that of illustration "C," page 8. Ten thoroughly happy youngsters and two not quite so happy. An illustration of the baby swings AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS the development of the children if they cannot be induced to go near it. "The apparatus which they will actually use is princi- pally that in the use of which the element of falling comes in — for instance, tilts and teeter ladders, sliding poles and coasts, swings, trapezes and traveling rings. Swings and perhaps tilts should be left out where boys past the strenu- ous age of 10 are being provided for. Besides the sensation of falling, what the middle-sized child, especially the middle- sized boy, particularly wants is a chance to do stunts — to show how great and brave, accomplished and generally en- viable he is, and how much more so than any other boy. Partly for this reason, horizontal bars and flying rings should be provided; vaulting horses are good, and parallel bars per- missible; and there should be a reasonably soft space of tan bark for tumbling — not merely of the casual and involuntary, but also of the more deliberate sort. This affording of an opportunity, by apparatus and otherwise, for the perform- ance of difficult or dangerous feats — -for doing stunts — is one of the chief functions of the playground because such oppor- tunity fills a place in the boy's nature the filling of which is a necessity not only to the happiness of the boy and the peace of the surrounding neighborhood, but also to the boy's true education, in which it supplies an essential part. "If the boy does not do daring things and does not meas- ure himself against other boys in games and contests, he will never grow to be a man. The chance once missed will never come back to him. That is why our system of educa- tion must include an opportunity for the doing of difficult and dangerous feats. Tiddledewinks is a good game but the real moral food of boyhood is made of sterner stuff. "Another thing that a boy must have is games ; and for this reason a ball field is an essential part of our educational plant — for in America when we say games we mean practic- ally the game of baseball, with football looming up as its au- tumn counterpart. The necessity of games is, first, because the standard of effort and of attainment reached by boys in their games is higher than is held up for them, or can suc- cessfully be held up for them, in any other pursuit. The dis- cipline is severer than can possibly be elsewhere attained." 59 CHAPTER VIII. APPARATUS FOR THE PLAYGROUND. What is Needed — Some Lists — Ideas of Cost — Various Appliances That Have Been Found Good and That Will be Used. There are so many types of playgrounds and so many sets of local conditions that only suggestions can be given in such a presentation of information as this chapter contains. There is practically no limit to the amount, variety and cost of apparatus that can be put into a playground. The follow- ing lists and illustrations indicate something of the wide scope for the equipper's selection and the possible elaborate outfit for which good use may be found. On the other hand a very serviceable outfit may be put in for as little money as $50 and be made to serve several hundred children. Of such nature is this equipment which is used in a vacation school yard in Providence, R. I. : Three-bar horizontal and vaulting bar with gas pipe bars of graded heights, one bar of which may- be adjustable. Supporting posts of chestnut or locust wood. Should not cost over $10. Ten-foot double swing frame with triangular ends braced and two swings, or one swing and a pair of rings. Cost $10 to $12. Children's six-foot swings with 2 or 3 canvas scups for little children to swing in, or even to sleep in. Should be in a shady spot or have an awning. Cost not over $12. Seesaws ; wooden horse 33 inches high with two 14-foot boards. — Two or more should be provided. Cost $4 to $6 each. Sand-box or boxes. May be long and narrow rather than square, which, according to Providence's experience, gives greater available play space. Basketball goals. May be placed on buildings or trees, but where these are not available temporary stands should be provided, as illustrated in Chapter XIX. An outfit of this sort may be installed for $50. From this very elementary list it is possible to go to the limit of one of the Chicago South Park playgrounds where 60 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS all necessary apparatus and equipment for men, women and children was installed at a cost of approximately $4,000, two- thirds to three-quarters of this expense being for pipe frames which can generally be built locally, following the specifica- tions of the architects or those who furnish the apparatus and equipment, as they understand conditions of use. Roughly speaking, it is possible to equip satisfactorily an average playground and outdoor gymnasium, with mate- rial for all necessary work, using manufacturers' goods, for from $500 to $1,000. These figures are, of course, only sug- gestive. Any of the concerns making a business of equipping playgrounds will gladly provide estimates and detailed infor- mation. The approved equipment for school yard and municipal playgrounds in Philadelphia, with cost, is as follows, the ap- paratus being listed in the order of usefulness to the greatest number according to the approval of the supervisor of the department: For School Yard Playgrounds. For children under six years. Sand bin 10x30 ft.; cost of frame $15; frame with uprights to support awning cost $35 ; awning cost $15, sand $15. Sand buckets and shovels, five dozen to a play- ground; cost $1.07 a dozen for both. Bean bags, 5x5 in. weighing 4 ounces each, 5 dozen to a playground ; cost 60 cents a dozen. Low benches, 1x4 ft., one dozen to a ground; cost $2.25 each. For children six to twelve years. — Giant strides, 1 for girls, 1 for boys, consisting of 16 ft. 4 in. of steel pipe, 8 ropes with 3 knots each, each rope having at its upper end 1 foot of chain; cost $25 each. Horizontal ladders (2) adjustable in height from 4 ft. 6 in. to 6 ft., made of wood with supports either wood or pipe frame ; cost $30 each. Swings with 4 seats each (2) made of gas pipe frame with manila rope, 9 ft. high ; cost $40 each. Tether poles (4) made of gas pipe pole with 4 wooden paddles ; cost $4 for complete tether set. Basket balls (4) ; cost from $2.75 to $4 each. Playground base balls (2 dozen for the season) soft ball regular size with light bat for the boys and paddles for the girls ; balls cost $6 a dozen. Teeter boards (2) for the smaller and younger children 6 to 7 years old; boards 13 to 14 ft. long on supports 20 inches high ; cost about $5 each. 6l AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Jumping ropes, 2 dozen short and 2 long ropes for the season. For the Municipal Playgrounds the approved plan calls for a shelter house or pavilion with toilet arrangements, storeroom and if possible shower baths ; a wire fence around the grounds with a hedge or shrubbery on the inner side; a running track between the girls' and boys' sides with facili- ties for jumping and an open space about 60x150 ft. for miscellaneous games. For girls and young boys, apparatus is needed as just outlined for the school yard outfit with the following additions : traveling rings, swinging rings, seat swings (2) 12 feet high with 4 seats each; giants strides (2) ; tennis courts (2) when feasible. For the older boys the following apparatus is needed; traveling rings, swinging rings, horizontal bars (2) adjustable for height, 1 full sized base ball diamond and 2 smaller ones ; 2 tennis courts when feasible. The foregoing details concern the equipment approved for Philadelphia school and municipal playgrounds, the plan being followed wherever possible. To shed further light on what sort of apparatus is made, the following drawings are presented. These are all standard pieces of apparatus, in actual use in playgrounds. Lack of room sometimes prevents a frame to occupy much ground space. In New York City vacation schools the hexagon shape is used, with apparatus attached on all sides, with good re- sults. This frame may be made of wood or iron. 62 63 A smaller frame to fit a more restricted space, showing the apparatus in use. The opportunity to climb ladders and slide down poles is appreciated by the children of both sexes, although the illustration shows boys only. This frame is at Germantown, Pa. In this drawing is shown a long lasting type of swing frame, simple and safe. Additional sections can be put in place as desired. The triangular construction of the frame obviates the necessity for deep foundations, the pipe frame being secured to a plank buried one foot in the ground. 6 4 Every small boy and girl approves the see saw, whether in a playground supplied by a city or in the yard of a new house where the carpenters have left their planks and saw horses handy. In the manufactured see saw, shown here, the plank does not slip off at awkward moments, but is fastened at the center to the support, so it cannot turn to the side nor hit the others. A simpler form of see saw, used at home as well as in school yards. 65 66 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS -,r*r - •' v; ^ S: The merry-go-round is full of fun for the children and good to look at for the older folks. It will keep a lot of children busy at one time. Invented for playground purposes by Tehurdore Worth, for- merly superintendent of parks at Hartford, Conn., this is at once the most expensive simple piece of apparatus and the greatest economizer of space. Eighty children have been known to use it at a time. It can be operated in a space 20 feet square, thus allowing 5 feet per child. t£f~*a*« O W W) *-" .2 3 'S'H Ml o « s •rl " § o -2.5 o m fins !§'>>§ ^4S o c ft hi) cr^2 CHAPTER XL DETAILS OF PLAYGROUND ORGANIZATION, CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT. An Elaboration of the General Information Con- tained in Preceding Chapters. By Arthur Leland. Now is the opportune time for the smaller of our large cities to acquire proper provisions for the play of children. Land is comparatively cheap, with values steadily rising. The large cities, Boston, Chicago, New York and others, have shown the absolute need of playgrounds ; such a need that land in some of these cities has been acquired at a cost of a million dollars an acre. But it is difficult to bring the lesson home to the smaller city. It has been estimated that the public parks and play- grounds of New York City are worth as vacant real estate $1,200,000,000. The original cost of these sites was $66,456,- 000. This is good evidence that delays are expensive. The writer aims to make practical suggestions, gleaned from his experience as supervisor of playgrounds in Louis- ville, St. Paul and Denver showing the needs and the best way of organizing a system of public playgrounds in the smaller of our great cities. A number of the problems that come to those who have to do with these centers of social and physi- cal activity will be considered and, we hope, considerable practical light shed upon the questions that are apt to perplex and handicap. THE FIRST ESSENTIAL FEATURES of a playgronud in the order of their importance are : For Boys Seven to Sixteen : Space to be used as baseball diamond, football field and skating rink according to the season, giant-stride, shower-baths, space for athletic games, basketball, track and field athletics, traveling rings, trick rings, turning pole, trapeze, swings, see-saws, parallel bars, ladders and sliding poles. 79 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS For Girls and Small Boys : Swings, giant-strides, see-saws, space for basketball and other games, lad- ders and sliding poles, traveling rings, trick rings, shower-baths, turning pole, parallel bars, etc. For Little Children : Shade, sand boxes, big wooden blocks the size of bricks, little wagons, shovels, pails, baby swings with leather seats and space for kindergarten games. Attractive grounds, shade, toilet rooms and organ- ized games are necessary in order to hold the child- ren. The recreation park idea of the playground is the ideal but its full completion requires four to ten acres of ground. The playground should be built with a view to future enlargement, upon a block which has vacant land opposite or adjacent. The playground must have a baseball diamond. The space given to it in the plan is a very meagre allowance, only a three- quarter size diamond, upon which only boys under sixteen can play, using balls which are not very lively. The rest of the playground must be protec- ted from the batted balls by a high fence. Occa- sionally balls will go out in the street. A playground without a baseball diamond will be used almost entirely by girls and boys in kilts dur ing the baseball season. Any vacant lot within ten blocks, where baseball can be played will be more attractive to the boys. In a suggested plan the ground is graded level with the exception of the baseball diamond, which is lowered two and one-half feet, draining to the cen- ter where it is connected with the sewer. The banks on the sides make possible a skating rink in the winter and make baseball much safer in close quarters. Outside the baseball diamond is an eighth of a mile running track; then a grassy slope to the upper level. The borders around the grounds are a few inches higher than the play space and covered with turf. Lilacs are grouped in appropriate places. Along the front of the grounds is a buckthorn hedge, while one side has a hedge of lilacs. The entire playground must be enclosed by a high iron post or wire fence. A cheap, efficient fence can be made of five foot standard field wire fencing, attached to pointed two inch iron posts, set fifteen feet apart with three strands of barbed hog wire on top. Its ugly lines can be hidden by training vines upon it. If the playground fund is very small, do the grading the first year, putting in the apparatus in the order of importance. The gymnasium frame is the most expensive and least important of all. Make the baseball diamond. Plant a few trees and part of the hedge and shrubs ; sow some grass around the borders. Do just enough landscape gardening to suggest what you intend to do, and finish it later. And don't leave out the fence. 80 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS The writer ran playgrounds three years in St. Paul, where the playground committee do not be- lieve in fences. Experience says it can be done, but every piece of apparatus must be taken in every night. Much valuable time must be spent in watch- ing to keep the playgrounds "closed when they were shut." LOCATIONS : — The playgrounds should be loca- ted in that part of the city where juvenile crime is greatest. Ihe effective radius of a small play- ground is not over ten blocks. Organized games will increase the effectiveness of the playground a number of blocks in each direction. THE FIRST WORK:— The city engineer's office will give a plat of the land showing the exact size, grades of the streets, etc. If the land is much be- low grade and filling is scarce, it can be made a sunken garden with catch basins and sewer con- nections so that it drains to the center. If it is on a side hill, it should be graded so that the gymna- sium and space for children's games is level. The baseball diamond and running track should be one to two feet below the rest of the grounds, sloping at a grade of four inches to a hundred feet to a point near the center just outside the infield of the base- bail diamond, where a catch basin is located and connected with the sewer. The man-hole should have two covers, one to drain the field in the sum- mer time and the other without holes to be used when the field is flooded. After the land has been graded, a water system should be installed. Street washers should be placed about ioo feet apart over the space which is to be watered. Care must be taken not to have any of these project above the surface in the baseball field, as they will cause accidents. A hose connection can be put inside the manhole in the center. Home plate can be put over a box in which a hose connection is placed. PLAYING SURFACES :— For the baseball field a good closely cropped turf is best and is practicable in a clay or loamy soil. If the playground is built of sand, six or eight inches of black dirt must be spread over it in order to make a lawn. Three or four inches of coarse cinders, well packed and covered with one inch of cinders which have been run through a half inch screen will make a hard surface over a sandy bottom. If equal parts of screened cinders and good clay are mixed to- gether, dampened, spread one inch thick over a layer of coarse cinders and well rolled, an ideal playing surface will be made for the athletic field, the run- ning track or any part of the playground; such a mixture packs well, is springy, does not get dusty in dry weather and can be played on in the rain. If there is a grass athletic field, the baseball run- ways and other much used parts of the diamond should be made of clay and cinders. About two 81 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS parts of coarse sand and one part of good clay mixed give somewhat the same effect as screened cinders and clay, and if available can be used to good advantage for running tracks and walks. Coarse cinders rolled and covered with two inches of spent tan-bark make a very artistic and appro- priate surface for the basketball court and little children's playground. Under the gymnasium, parallel bars, turning poles, jee-saw and jumping places, fine, soft sand should be spread about a foot deep. Such a covering re- quires no care to keep it soft and it does not blow away. The giant-stride and swings must have ver> hard surfaces under them or in a few weeks great holes will be worn in the ground which will be filled with water every time it rains. A strip of ce- ment side-walk about three feet wide under the swings works like a charm. About the best thing for the giant-stride is a bed of screened cinders mixed with clay spread eight inches deep and packed solid. POINTS FOR COMMITTEES :— The play- ground movement is so well advanced that it is not necessary for the city which has none, to go through the painful process of experimental playgrounds car- ried on by private organizations and maintained by private subscriptions. Such experimentation is apt to turn out with indifferent success. I have in mind the experience of St. Paul. The woman's club con- ducted a playground for two summers; on account of the lack of supervision it became a loafing ground for toughs at night who undid any good which the ladies did in the daytime and later when municipal playgrounds were planned it was thought best not to let anyone know about previ- ous efforts. The movement has reached such headway that it can be taken up immediately as a municipal matter; for example, the playgrounds in Denver were the result of one of the Park Commissioners, W. H. Downing, reading an article in the "Review of Reviews" upon the Chicago South Park play- grounds ; he induced the mayor to read the article which so impressed him that he made an appropri- ation of $5000 to be expended for playgrounds by the Board of Park Commissioners. The South Park System was the result of the Chicago investigation of the Charlesbank out- door gymnasium in Boston, this leading to the desire to emulate and excell. After study and investiga- tion the present plan was submitted to the people and they voted to give the commissioners power to issue bonds for $5,000,000. However, every city may not have a mayor like Denver or Park Commissioners like South Chicago or Denver. The people want playgrounds when they know about them. You may have to make them ask the administration for them. The best 82 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS way to operate is to make an organization, the par- ent of the movement. The woman's club, civic league, juvenile court association, social settle- ment, board of directors — almost any charitable or philanthropic organization which can be interested will do. A joint committee selected from each ought to make a fine working body. The Commer- cial Club, Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, local improvement associations, ought to be in- terested and represented on the committee. Public sentiment must be created. The newspa- pers will be glad to devote space to well written articles to be published with pictures showing what is being accomplished. Take some city about the same size as your own for example. You must show the needs of playgrounds in your city. Have committees tabulate the amount of play space available in different districts. Washington, D. C. has been successful in such investigation. Find out also how the children of different parts of the city spend their spare time when out of school. Secure figures showing the differences in juvenile crime in crowded districts, and the parts of your city which have plenty of play space. Publish all the figures in the Sunday papers and prepare a pamphlet for general ciruculation. Have the paper publish editorials on play and the need of facil- ities for play. Quote Pres. Roosevelt's views on playgrounds, (see "American Gymnasia," March, 1907.) Have prominent people write letters to be published in the papers. When the public is warmed up to the subject secure a big free public lecture on playgrounds by Luther H. Gulick or Jacob Riis of New York, Joseph Lee of Boston, or W. H. Routzahim of Chicago. If you cannot get any of these, the American Civic Association, Phil- adelphia, has a department of lantern slides which one of your local speakers can use in preparing a talk. See the trade unions and political clubs. Have as many different interests see the city offi- cials as possible. They will do most anything for votes. If you get enough votes back of playgrounds they will appropriate money for them. (As an ex- ample : Political ward leaders in Boston find that if they advocate playgrounds and gymnasiums for their wards that their personal prestige is much advanced. One result is that the mayor is per- plexed how to distribute the favors of this sort.) If there is no board especially interested and if the sum appropriated is small probably the best way is to have the appropriation placed in the hands of the controller or auditor to expend as the play- ground committee recommends. This is the way the fund was handled in St. Paul the first year. As the movement becomes permanent, either a sep- arate department must be created as in Los An- geles, which has a Board of Playground Commis- sioners appointed by the mayor. This board con- sists of three women and two men. 83 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS In order to make the playgrounds permanent in case a separate board is desired, the city charter must be amended making an appropriation for playgrounds ; when this is done it would be well to give the juvenile court the power to appoint the board and thus keep it out of politics. St. Paul secured an amendment to the charter appropriating $10,000 a year for the playgrounds. This was voted on by the people and carried largely on account of the electioneering done by the school children who took circulars home asking their big brothers and fathers to vote for the play- ground ammendment. However, they did not know that the city charter forbids the creation of any new board or a provision covering it could have been included in the Charter amendment when it was up for public approval. Finding it impossible to have a separate board created as the charter could not be changed again for two years, they de- cided to ask the Park Board to take the official responsibility of the playgrounds, they to be re- tained by appointment of the mayor in an advisory capacity. This was embodied in an ordinance and an advisory committee of three appointed who ex- pected to have charge of the playgrounds, using the Park Board to put the official stamp on their proceedings. Now the Park Board were not par- ticularly interested in playgrounds and declined to be official figure-heads. Nearly every advice of the committee was a bone of contention. Every mat- ter concerning money was referred to the Supt. of Parks with power to act. Neither the committee nor its employed officer, the supervisor of play- grounds, had any power. The friction was so strong that the supervisor had to spend much of his time keeping peace between the board and the different members of the committee. Any plan of work the Superintendent of Parks didn't ap- prove of was held up. Two years of this nearly gave all concerned nervous prostration. The park board is best fitted to handle the question of construction and acquiring land. The school board can best handle the operation of the playgrounds, which is an educational feature. However, take the board which is the most inter- ested and has the fewest political strings to tie to it. If politics are in danger of spoiling the string it may be best to handle the playgrounds as is done in Louisville, Ky.. The Recreation League is a philanthropic organization made up of inter- ested people who contribute money each year. They elect an executive committee, one of the members of which is a member of the Board of Park Com- missioners. The League raises enough money an- nually to pay the salary of a supervisor of play- grounds, the only official position paying enough salary to make it a political plum. The Park Board furnish land in the small parks and appoint a man and woman instructor at each upon recom- 84 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS mendation of the executive committee. They also make an appropriation for supplies which are purchased on approval of the playground members. The South Park Commissioners, Chicago, are an exceptional non-political board as they are ap- pointed by the judges of the district court. Play- grounds and park work items are equally im- portant and practically identical. They delegate the supervision of athletics and gymnastics to a director who is an experienced teacher of physi- cal training. Denver is evolving a good system which ought to work anywhere. The Board of Park Commission- ers have employed a supervisor of playgrounds, who is responsible for the expenditure of the play- ground fund subject only to the general oversight of the Superintendent of Parks and the board. He attends to details of grading, distribution, equip- ment, selecting and training assistants, operations of grounds as well as having general supervis- ing of athletics and gymnastics. The way land will be secured will depend upon the city. The best way is by a bond issue as it is a comparatively easy matter to secure a referendum vote for playgrounds. For example : the experience of South Chicago in securing $5,000,000. Louisville secured a bond issue of $90,000 for its purchase of a playground of fifteen acres in the heart of the city. The school children went to the park from all over the city near elec- tion day and made a demonstration which helped carry the referendum. The land for two other park playgrounds in Louisville was donated and one was made in an old cemetery. I assisted in engineering a movement to issue bonds for $40,000 to purchase a park playground in Lexington, Ky. The political boss there was president of the street railroad. I secured figures from the Louisville parks showing the increased at- tendance at the parks when they were made into playgrounds. He gave me his support. The news- papers gave their support and the people voted the bonds. A park system has since been created from this beginning. In St. Paul no bonds could be issued so we begged, borrowed and bought the land out of a $10,000 a year appropriation. < Another method of securing land is by local as- sessment. Minneapolis secured a tract of 40 acres near the centre of the city for a park and play- ground by assessing the benefits over a radius of ten blocks. Denver has a city government which is showing how to make the city beautiful. Its mayor is alive to every good thing. Park and boulevard exten- sion are all the rage. Denver has four park dis- tricts ; the mayor appoints a commissioner from each one. They have power to secure land for 85 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS parks in each district by purchase or condemnation, limited only by the protest of 25 per cent, of the property owners in the district, which cover from 70,000 to 200,000 lots. The cost is assessed upon the beneficial property. TYPES OF EQUIPMENT :— Swings, see-saws, giant strides, horizontal and parallel bars are the safest, most useful and the cheapest articles of playground equipment. The open air gymnasium with ladders, travelling and trick rings, trapeze, climbing and sliding poles, give children oppor- tunity for development of arms and trunk and serve the psychological purpose of attracting attention to the playground; the effect is impressive. How- ever, I have found that the interest in the gymna- sium apparatus wears out. Where only a limited amount of money is available, the out door gymna- sium frame may be dispensed with. A merry-go-round, designed to be used in the playground without danger of accident, would be a most valuable feature. Jumping standards, spring boards and playground slides are also very popu- lar. The teeter ladders and revolving see saw, or "flying Dutchman," give lots of fun, but are best adapted to large children ; and then accidents are apt to happen if not closely watched. In passing judgment on playground apparatus, the following points should be considered : (a) Is it safe? Will it run itself, or will some one have to stay by it all the time to keep the chil- dren from accidents? The teeter ladder and "flying Dutchman" are examples of apparatus interesting but somewhat unsafe. (b) Does it appeal to some fundamental instinct so that it will be interesting after the novelty wears off? climbing poles and ladders, for instance. Any pieces of apparatus which includes the art of falling, swinging, or gliding, conquering time and space, seem to take the place of foreign travel to the city child, and are intrinsically interesting. The hori- zontal and parallel bars, other gymnastic apparatus, jumping standards, etc., depend upon competition and teaching for their interest. (c) Simplicity. The less adjustability the better from an administrative standpoint. Have different sizes of apparatus for children of different ages. (d) Expense. (e) Durability. In all probability the city would be liable for accidents occurring from breakage. Playground apparatus which can stand 365; days each year, of hard service, during the rains of spring, alternating with blistering sunshine and alkali dust, together with dry heat for the rest of the year, is hard to find. Last year two complete gymnasium equipments of a standard make were mirchased for use in the playgrounds of one city. It was found necessary this year to replace all the rope and wooden parts with the exception of the 86 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ladders which are preserved by varnishing and dressing every few weeks. During the first part of my experience as su- perior of playgrounds we didn't have the money to purchase ready-made apparatus, so I had to make it. After acquiring the habit it goes against the grain to pay money needed lor land or teacher, for equipment which is not just what is wanted, when more satisfactory apparatus can be made at two- thirds the cost. MATERIALS. — Wood and rope should be dis pensed with as far as possible in the construction of playground apparatus, and galvanized metal wire cable and galvanized chain should take its place. FRAMES. — The uprights and frames for all ap- paratus can best be made of 3-inch standard wrought iron pipe, threaded together into standard "T's," and "L's" and set in a five to one mixture of con- crete. It is the custom of equipment houses to make the frames for swings and the other miscellaneous playground apparatus of 2-inch pipe, which requires special fittings and braces itself. The 3-inch pipe method of construction is, I think, cheaper and more satisfactory and requires little if any bracing. SWING FRAMES.— The uprights should be 13 feet long, threaded at the top. Drill 1-2 inch holes respectively 6 inches and 12 inches from the bot- tom of the pipes, and insert through them 1-2 inch x 12 inch iron rods. The uprights are set 4 deep on a bedding of concrete or a large rock and sur- rounded with 18 inches of concrete. The top pipes are each 11 feet 3 inches long, joined with wrought "T's" and "L's." Each section of this length ac- commodates three swings, which occupy a space of 18 inches each, and are placed 18 inches apart on the pipe. A frame of this size accommodates children both large and small, requires no bracing, and if kept painted, will last indefinitely. ROPES. — The only material I can recommend from experience is 3-4 inch, four-strand manila rope. I shall make some wire cable swings as an experiment for use this year, but am afraid the common cable will be too stiff to swing straight and too small for the children to take hold of ; the flex- ible cable will be all right until the small outside wires begin to wear away and then there will be danger of cutting the children's hands. SECURING SWING ROPES TO PIPE.— In order to secure the swings to the pipes, a number of special castings are required, which I will describe later. In the upper ends of the rope a wedge screw made of lead cast around a 2 1-2 inch lag screw with the head cut off, is imbedded, and then the rope is pulled into the center of the hook. At the lower end of the rope, a casting comes through the swing board extending 21-2 inches above it, and serving to hold the rope which runs through it and is held firm by a wedge screw, as well as protecting the rope 87 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS from the feet of the children and strengthening the swing board, which is made of I inch x 6 inch x 18 inch oak. I find a light board so strengthened results in less serious injury if it hits the children. SEE-SAW FRAMES.— The frame calls for three uprights made of 3 inch x 4 feet 6 inch pipe with the bottoms drilled as for the swings and set in con- crete so the top of the board will be 31 1-2 inches from the ground. The top of the frame is made of two pieces of galvanized pipe 3 inches x 9 feet. This gives space for five see-saw boards. BOARDS. — The boards are made of good solid oak 2 inches by 10 inches by 14 feet, with the ends rounded, and 3-8 inch by 10 inch bolt put through to keep the ends from checking. BEARINGS. — Two pieces of plank 2 inches by 9 inches by 3 feet are bolted on the under side of the see-saw board. Two castings just like the top part of the rocking joint are inverted with the ends resting on the under plank and then bolted into place ; care must be taken to have the smooth side of the pipe up in order to insure a perfect bearing. GIANT STRIDES.— Most of the giant strides on the market have too soft and too narrow ball races. As a result ttjey run hard. The heads are usually placed too low down (14 feet above ground), so the swinger comes back to ground too soon. The ropes with which they are suspended and the little rope ladders are constantly wearing out. I have de- signed a giant stride head having two ball races, the lower one 4 inches across and the upper one 1 1-2 inches across, using 3-8 inch balls. The bracings are cast in tool steel and the complete machine fits over a 4 inch pipe. For the upright I have been using one piece of black pipe 4 1-2 inches by 18 feet, with a piece of pipe 4 inches by 4 1-2 feet pounded into the 4 1-2 inch pipe a distance of one foot and secured there by hot pins. The bottom of the 4 1-2 inch pipe is drilled for 1-2 inch by 24 inches, each one foot apart. Then the upright is bedded in con- crete 2 1-2 feet by 4 feet. THE ATTACHMENTS.— Instead of ropes I use galvanized 3-16 inch "triumph" chain, extending from the bearing at the top. Instead of rope and wooden ladders I have been using one made en- tirely of leather straps, which I find wears better and gives fewer injuries to the children. Am making one of 3-inch canvas webbing which will be much cheaper if it wears well. HORIZONTAL BARS.— Horizontal bars can be placed each side of the end of the swings by set- ting in a piece of 3 inch pipe 12 feet long. A fixed bar is more satisfactory than a moveable one ex- cept for class work in vaulting. A cheap bar can be made of steel shafting 1 1-4 inches in diameter and 7 or 8 feet long, galvanized. This can be firmly secured to the uprights by a special casting which clamps over the 3 inch pipe and into which a 1 1-4 inch pipe is threaded. 88 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS All of the equipment houses make very good moveable bars, which only need galvanized to make them suitable. PARALLEL BARS.— Parallel bar tops should be made of galvanized metal. Steel or brass tubing I 1-2 inches in diameter and 10 feet long, with the ends rounded, make good tops. The ends may be rounded by tapping a thread on the inside, plugging the end and then filling with lead or brass and filing the ends round and smooth. Two inch galvanized pipe uprights, with 8 inch flanges on the bottoms should be used. Each of these should be set in a bed of concrete 2 feet by 18 inches, so that the bars will be 15 inches apart for boys and 18 inches apart for men. The usefulness of the bars will be in- creased if the pipe uprights are set in at an angle so that the bottoms are 6 or 8 inches farther apart than the tops. BABY SWINGS. — In the playground which does not have a separate enclosure for very small chil- dren there is always danger when they get near the swings. After having a number of them knocked down by the descending boards, I decided to make them some swings which would not cut them if they did ge hit. The frame and fittings were the same as for the other swings, except that the top pipe was only 6 feet above ground, and 5-8 inch rope was used. The seats I made of two pieces of sole leather riveted together. These proved the most popular feature of the playground and enabled us to keep little tots away from danger. LAWN SWINGS. — My experience with swings made of wood, in which several persons sit opposite each other is that they are not adapted for play- ground use on account of the danger of accident. FRAMES AND FITTINGS.— For home con- struction purposes it is the writer's experience that in erection of frames all the necessary rigidity can be secured by using standard "Ls" for connecting uprights with the top pipes, which run the shortest way of the frame. The top pipes which run length- wise of the frame may be clamped to the other top pipes by a special malleable clamp. Gymnasium frames for men should be made so that the top pipes are 16 ft. above the ground; for women 14 ft. and for children 12 ft. LADDERS. — Of all wooden apparatus for use on outdoor frames, ladders are the most durable if they are frequently varnished. Ladders, both horizontal and inclined, made of galvanized iron pipe are much more satisfactory than those made of wood. Two- in. pipe for the sides and i-in. pipe, cut 18 in. long, for the rungs, and threaded right and left, is the ma- terial used. For the inclined ladder the lower ends should be provided with flanges to be set in concrete. The upper ends are clamped to the frame by a spe- cial casting which also has holes for a pair of sliding poles. 89 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS SLIDING POLES should always be made of metal. Wooden sliding poles are positively danger- ous. Galvanized 2-in. pipe is the best material I know of. Poles should be always placed opposite a ladder so that children can climb up one side and slide down the other. Handles should be provided for them to take hold of when going over the top of the frame. CLIMBING POLES.— A very good climbing pole is made of i 1-2-in. galvanized pipe attached to the frame at the top by putting a bolt through the pipe and through the hole in the upper part of the rocker which is used in making a rocking joint. The bot- tom should extend below the surface of the ground about a foot and should be placed so as to swing around in a concrete basin about 2 ft. long and 10 in. wide, which gives movement without the danger of interfering with other apparatus. Climbing ropes wear out very quickly. Climbing poles are much better for playground purposes. TRAVELING RINGS.— Traveling and trick rings should be made of malleable galvanized iron. Leather and rubber coverings are not good for out- door use. Stirrup shape is best for traveling rings. They are attached to the pipe by a special fitting somewhat like the swing joint only swinging with the pipe. Flexible 5-8 in. wire cable galvanized is the best material to be used in suspending all sorts of rings. Traveling rings should each be provided with a swivel in order to prevent the cable from untwisting. TRAPEZE. — A cheap efficient trapeze can be made by putting a piece of i-in. galvanized pipe 28 in. long, threaded at both ends, into galvanized "Ls". File off the threads, saturate the inside of the pipe with soldering acid, put a 5-in. flexible cable through the pipe, leaving the ends long enough to give suffi- cient length for fastening above. Fill the pipe with solder and lead combined and the cable will be firmly imbedded in the pipe. It should be suspended from the pipe above with swing joints. ROPE LADDERS.— I know of no rope ladder which will stand for more than nine or ten months' constant use. One of the galvanized pipe and one of galvanized steel cable that I constructed should be useful for ten years or more. Pieces of galvanized 1 -in. pipe were cut 20 in. long and a 1-2 in. hole drilled, 1-2 in. from each end; then the ends of the pipe were filed round and smooth, plugged with paper and the wire cable run through them. Short wire nails were driven through the cable inside the pipe. The inside of the pipe, cable and nails were saturated with soldering acid and the hole filled with one-half sodder and one-half lead. Note : Any points not made clear in this chapter will be gladly illuminated by the writer, who may be addressed in care of the publishers of this book. 90 PART THREE Special Points for Supervisors and Instructors. One person can take care of children on a play- ground while it would take eight or ten policemen to see to them on the street. — H. E. Downer. Schiller, to whom Gross gives the credit for being the first German exponent of the physiological theory of play — that it is surplus energy, accounted for play by calling it an aimless expenditure of exuberant strength, which is its own excuse for action. A boy cannot play games without learning sub- ordination and respect for law and order. — Joseph Lee. Organized play of some sort, play under control, is the only possible solution, for organized play is freer than free play. — L. H. Gulick. Many practical questions for the solution of which we have been looking to the church and school will be found to belong to the playground to solve. — S toy an Tsanoff. 91 CHAPTER XII. PERSONAL HINTS TO SUPERVISORS. How to Make Work Known — Reports — Assistants — Training Helpers — Pedagogy of the Playground. By Arthur Leland. It is somewhat of a task to secure a man with experience and technical ability who is willing to supervise playgrounds during the three summer months. When the playgrounds continue the year round, as they do in many places, it is not so difficult to find and hold competent supervisors. The supervisor must attend to business details, train his assistants, and carefully supervise their work. When he is employed by a committee who have little practical knowledge of the operation of playgrounds, the work of outlining needs and methods falls largely upon his shoulders. However, he should educate the committee up to his ideas, and have them do most of the planning, doing nothing without their ap- proval. The successful supervisor will do his best to be on terms of good fellowship with the city and sporting editors of all the local papers, for without their aid the success of the movement will be seriously impaired. The playgrounds are a public enterprise ; the people have paid taxes or subscribed money for them, and should be kept informed of their prog- ress and needs. Well written news of the playgrounds should be taken to the city editors for publication in the Saturday or Sunday editions. They will usually publish all the photo- graphs you can bring. Don't be too modest about the play- grounds ; no one will know anything about them unless they are told. "Have something doing," and let the public know about it. The Supervisor's Report should contain a record of at- 92 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS tendance, record of work done, games played, policy of the work, moral benefits, and any other items of interest. Play Directors. — After finding a well trained and tactful supervisor, the task of securing and training assistants is not a difficult one. The theory of the kindergarten is very similar to that of the playground, so kindergartners will be found well trained in playground principles, and essential to success if girls and small children are desired in the playground. Some kindergartners are able to supervise the play of the boys through the help of larger ones, but as a general thing, boys over ten should be put in charge of young men. High school graduates and college boys, having experience in cap- taining base ball, foot ball, and other athletic teams, generally have the qualifications necessary for success as directors of the boys' play. Success depends on personality. No amount of technical training will suffice if love of children and play are absent. Method of Training Assistants. — Before the opening of the season, call the assistants together and outline the work to be done, the general methods to be used, and a few funda- mental principles to be observed. It will be found advisable to continue these meetings about every two weeks, discussing at each different problems as they arise, and training the assistants in the methods of teaching various branches of the work. Put your assistants on their own resources. Give them ample room to develop their own methods and ideas. The supervisor should visit each playground at different times of the day often enough to carefully observe the work being done, and suggest any changes or additions which will add to the efficiency of the playground. When any difficulty arises, it may be necessary to spend a great deal of time at one playground until it is settled. Playground Pedagogy. — The fewer rules the better: Fair play, gentlemanly language and behavior, no smoking, are enough. Try to create public sentiment in favor of good conduct, and the children will help carry the playground with you. Keep everyone busy doing something. Make the chil- dren as useful as possible. Make someone responsible for each game given out. Appoint leaders in mischief as assist- 93 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ants in caring for the younger ones. Never suggest a new game to the children until they get tired of an old one. If any boy gives continual trouble, turn him over to the park guard or police only as a last resort. In some cases, residence transferred to an industrial school may be advisable for him. The playground will cure most cases of toughness caused by environment; natural toughness needs more vigorous treat- ment. (See also chapter 34.) Giant Stride. (See chapter 19.) 94 CHAPTER XIII. THE MATTER OF DISCIPLINE. A Normal Boy Approves the Intelligent Grown-up Who Makes Him Mind — Keeping Children Inter- ested — Doing Nothing Gracefully. That there must be no stern discipline and harsh penalties in playgrounds is a principle often publicly approved by advocates of such establishments. There should be no evi- dent supervision, the students tell us. The children should be encouraged and permitted to carry on spontaneous, unre- stricted play without any conspicuous interference or ordering by elders. The theory is good and the purpose of the theorists is not to be questioned, but the practical experience of super- visors and instructors has demonstrated that as a rule such wireless telegraph methods are unpractical, and in the long run not good for any interests concerned, least of all good for the children. For the success of the work as a whole, for the benefit of the instructors, for the preservation of property, and still more vital, for the best good of the children themselves, discipline is absolutely essential and must be known to exist in every playground, gymnasium and recreation center of any type. It need not, should not, be unreasonable, tyrannical, harsh voiced, scolding, nagging discipline ; but it should be the intelligent, kind but firm, prompt and consistent show of authority, whenever necessary, that makes an impression and reduces the chances of too frequent enforcement of penalties. A person capable of being a teacher, a leader, of boys and girls ought to know the psychology and philosophy of dis- cipline — from the elemental point of view of the children themselves, rather than from books and school desks only. It is a startling surprise to some instructors to find out that boys as a class respect a teacher who enforces discipline, 95 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS who does not always let them have their own way. Boys of adolescent age are looking for ideals, for heroes, for models ; and they want the real article, strong and reliable. Did you ever have the experience of hearing a boy tell you seriously how much he liked you? Why? Because you made him mind and do what you wanted him to do, when you wanted it done and the way you wanted it, not once in a while but all the time. To be sure not every boy, not very many boys, express such thoughts. That is, if they do grasp the principles they are not able or inclined to tell their elders spontaneously what they think. Actions say more than spoken words sometimes. Once you have convinced your boy (or your boys) that you are sincere, fair-minded, know what you w r ant and how to get it, he will give you his loyal co-operation and hearty good will. He is apt to more than hold up his end of the tacit agreement. You will find yourself at times working hard to live up to his ideals. Every normal boy of this age, about 12 to 15, feels just this way at some period of his development, while he is test- ing and experimenting with life as it comes to him in details. Most positively it is not doing justice to boys anywhere to let them have their own way, unless that way is right. And it does still more harm to the efficiency of the play- ground, the gymnasium, whose director allows unwholesome freedom through a mistaken idea of pleasing his boys or with the thought of increasing his own popularity. Lasting popu- larity comes by consistent, intelligent discipline equally and impartially enforced. Over the door to the playground shelter in one ground is the sign, made by one of the girls, "Fair and Square." In another one of the young men spent a couple of hours paint- ing an ornamental design in which were the words "A Square Deal for All." The application of the phrase came when one girl occupied a popular swing over the allotted period and de- clined to give it up to the next in line. Then the instructor pointed to the sign and asked quietly, "Are you giving Lottie a square deal?" The swing was surrendered without delay or objection. 96 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Such arguments usually work with boys or girls if a tactful instructor makes the application. How does discipline work out in another respect? Does it take too much of the instructors' time and energy? In one playground in which the season's attendance was over 67,000 the number of cases of discipline was 45 of enough seriousness to be recorded. Of these 43 were for smoking, profanity and repeated disobedience ; the other two were for a serious breach of propriety by two large colored girls. This particular playground was Waterview Park, Philadelphia, where discip- line played an important part in the success of a long season. An experienced teacher will know the value of keeping children interested, giving them something worth thinking about. This is a valuable aid to discipline. Off-hand talks and personal hints, tactfully given, on personal hygiene, on matters of what to eat and what not to eat, when and why not ; importance of good air day and night, sunlight and its value, proper clothing for health, care of the skin — these things have far and deep reaching results when presented to the young people in the playgrounds. A play ground should be more than a place to play or "kill time" ; it should be a real school of health. A competent instructor can easily do a great deal to make it so. Keep all hands busy — even if you keep them busy doing nothing gracefully. Repose is almost a lost art. We may teach it in the play- grounds. Allow and encourage certain relaxation and make that a part of the game or exercise. Get complete body and mental rest for even a few minutes and much good has been done. "Practice what you preach." Don't "fly all to pieces" every few minutes in nervous explosions and then wonder "why the children behave so." Energy and the showing of it is a child's right, but wasting energy is not usually necessary. : / .||"sr|| *»iiix^«t Htui vw [ *•«» ^nfki m»vt ■ I Tmm\T>w\ — \»V*»» m^C A Type of Playground. 97 ' CHAPTER XIV. SUGGESTIONS TO INSTRUCTORS IN MUNICIPAL PLAYGROUNDS AND GYMNASIUMS. Classification of Terms — Plans and Object of the Work — Indoor Program — Outdoor Activities — Ob- j ects — Nomenclature. The following directions and suggestions were prepared for the instructors of the South Park System, Chicago, by the director of gymnastics, athletics and playgrounds. A few of the items would need to be modified to meet conditions in other localities, but all the instructions are worthy of study by those who are doing playground teaching or who desire to do so. By E. B. DeGroot. CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS.— In communicating with each other, and when talking of your work to the public in general, you should avoid confusion of names and terms in describing or qualifying your department and its activities. I therefore request you to speak of this department as the "Department of Gymnastics and Athletics." Speak of the man in charge of this department as the "Director" and of yourself as the "Instructor of Gymnastics and Athletics" (Men's or Women's Department) in a particular park. Add to this that the Department, the Director and the Instructor are of the South Parks, and subordinate to and under the direction of the Superintendent and the South Park Commis- sioners. In speaking of the activities of the gymnasium, athletic and play field, avoid the use of such terms as "physical cul- ture," "physical training" and "physical education." The term "physical culture" means either too much or too little for our use. In the best sense, the term means the training of the muscular and neural systems to the highest 9 8 W o M o r£3 CO > a C «A > 03 3 * O a> Wl to 3 £* O cfl a H TO £ +-> > H PI a; u cu P! PS T-t CD «5 cu CD -M fi c3 bfl C cu as C P) C P5 a; O cu • i— i 'O ** Pi aj rr) »~l ^5 pj H i-l CU O Wl CT3 > CD o to )-i rrl )-< & o c & p <+H p) p< o u a; o aj WJ T3 bfl Pi 4H o CO "to a; fit & 4-J ■-1 s CI bfl ^3 c t-i CU < 3 cu * -(-> o rt bfl r AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS sons, teach enough models to last a playground instructor a summer. Sewing should be taught systematically. A sewing teacher could teach a good needlewoman all the required fun- damentals in a few lessons. Millinery can be taught with doll models, also ribbon tying and bow making. Boys delight in a class of knot making. Sometimes an old sailor will be delighted with the opportunity to teach the boys. Raffia work and basketry with a good teacher are excel- lent, though comparatively expensive. Nothing should be taught until the instructor has first mastered it well. Neither should any such instruction be un- dertaken that is not properly grounded fundamentally and well graded. Running High Jump Over Vaulting Bar. (See chapter 20.) 123 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Dip and Swing Exercises on Parallel Bars. (Selected from a prospective book by A. B. Wegener, entitled "Tech- nique of Gymnastic Exercises.") This type of exercise is for young men with good development; it ought not to be used except sparingly for any class of men and then may well be counteracted by setting-up movements that will expand the chest. (See chapter 19.) 124 PART FOUR Games and Exercises for Children and Grown-Ups. Play at its best is only a school of ethics. — G. Stanley Hall. Play may be work for men and women; work may be play for children. The whole test of the worth of any sport should be the demand that sport makes upon the quality of the mind and body which in their sum recall manli- ness. — Theodore Roosevelt. A team in athletics or sports without the spirit of fair play, clean and honorable conduct, is like a team of unmatched horses. Team spirit is the germ of devotion to city, state and nation. It should be the buzziness of yung persons to assist Natur, and strengthen the growing frame by athletic exercizes. — Noah Webster. 125 CHAPTER XVIII. SIMPLE MARCHING AND RUNNING. Xot to Make Soldiers, but to Help Effective Class Exercise — Some Sample Movements — Executing Fancy Figures. Marching in organized ranks is an excellent means to put ideas of discipline and the need for concerted action in groups into the minds and lives of boys and girls. Elaborate military drill is not always feasible and still less often desirable. In many cases it can be used with excellent results, but in the long run, in the majority of playgrounds or gymnasiums, it is a waste of time without much compensating advantages that cannot be gained by better methods more in keeping with ap- proved physical education ideals. But military drill and sim- ple marching are not necessarily the same thing. Any teacher, in gymnasium or in playground, ought to be able to guide a class in simple marching by command. Xot very many such teachers can conduct military drill in good form. If we were trying to make soldiers of our boys, then mil- itary drill would be a fundamental. But this is not the pur- pose in many places such as are being considered. We want certain physical benefits to come, with following results of which stiffness in any form is not necessarily a part ; at least not in playground work. Such simple marching as will be outlined is useful not only for marching as such, but for squad formations and whole class formation as well. What better effect can be had in the way of beginning class work, for example, whether indoors or outdoors, than by lining up the class in single rank, facing the center of the room or field, or the part of room or field that is to be used ; having the class lined up by height, tallest at one end and gradually dropping down to the smallest member at the other end ; then 126 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS at word of command : "Class — forward, column right (or left) — March !" This begins class work in systematic manner, producing a good effect on spectators, on pupils and on the instructor. (See drawings, or cuts, on page 130.) Not many good teachers, perhaps it is safe to say not any good teacher, will allow a class to use the "helter-skelter, get-there-any-way-possible" method of starting class exercise. Doing so means much more work for the teacher when he wants to get things done, and it means much more irritation on the part of the pupils, thus detracting from their pleasure, which ought not to be. Organized methods are best. The way mentioned is one of the simplest. Another way is to line up the class, count off in fours or threes or twos, whichever is desired, or according to size of class ; then at command, "Class — forward, by fours (or threes or twos) — March!" In this case the marching forward should end at the apparatus or the part of room or field in which the squad is to begin exercise. In neither case mentioned is marching for itself provided for, but simply marching the class from its initial formation to its apparatus or place for squad exercise, the evolution occu- pying two to four minutes. Marching movements may be begun from the first posi- tion mentioned. When the class has marched forward at com- mand, it can then be directed in its course as the teacher may desire. It is always desirable to have an experienced leader at the head of the line. Never have a "green" pupil there if it can be avoided. After the class is able to march in single column, the next stage is to double up into column of two or fours. See cut D.) Military marching nowadays does not provide for columns of threes, but this formation may be used for physical training purposes. A column is a line of men each behind another. This is also properly called marching in single file. If two or three or four men are marching side by side (see cut B) it is a column of twos or threes or fours. A rank is a line of men side by side, as in cut E. This is the position first mentioned in this chapter. With a very 127 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS large class it may be advisable sometimes to line up in two ranks, one behind the other, as in cut F. In this formation, each line of men acts together. That is, if the order is ''Right, face!'' both lines face right together. At ''Column, forward — March !" both lines march forward, side by side. The usual turns made by a marching class in column are made at right angles or countermarch. Both are indicated by cuts. The command for turning at right angles has already been given: "Column — right (or left) — March!" If the teacher wishes the class to countermarch (cut C), the com- mand to be given is: "Column, right (or left) about — March!" There is a proper way of turning on a specified foot in making the turns, and an instant at which command should be given. These points and others can be easily obtained from books devoted to the special subject of marching. (See list at end of this book.) After simple marching comes Fast Marching and Slow- Running. This can be done in just the same manner as has been described in outline. Another good scheme for slow class running is for the instructor to take place at the head of the line and lead the class as he wishes it to go. This is a very good way and perhaps best of all ways, unless there is at hand a competent leader or assistant who will set the right pace and not go too fast nor lag too slow. A slow class run should not be a race, but should be done in good order, each pupil keeping proper place and distance all the time. The length of the run can be determined by the judgment of the instructor, but ought not to be for more than three minutes for a new class, nor long enough to exhaust or over tire any class that has more work to do. For physiological results of best sort such a class should start as a fast walk, lead into the slow run, and towards the end of the time allotted should increase to rather fast pace, then slow down gradually and end in a walk. Breathing exercises should come during the final walk, with or without arm movements. Some figures that may be executed in marching, after simple marching has been used, are to be had in special books. Some of these figures can also be used in class running. (See list at the end of this book.) The maze or spiral figure 128 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS is a favorite for running classes and is always lots of fun. It ought to be done well and in order, not allowing the class to get confused and the line to be broken. To prevent too much confusion with a new class it is better not to "wind up too tight" ; that is, not to m^ke the spiral grow too small in the middle. After the class gets proficient and used to the sensation of circling about so many times, "wind up" as tight as you like, and lead the way out of the middle yourself as best you can. A Combination of several marching and running exercises may be made up as follows : (Diagrams on next page.) MARCHING. — Single file once around the playground space. Column right and left about, working back and forth. (See diagram No. i.) Once around. Down center, file left and right alternating. Around and down center by twos, column of twos R. and L. alternating. Around and down the center by fours, divide R. and R. and L. alternating. Around and down center by eights, divide R. and L. by fours. Around and down center by fours, divide R. and L. by twos. Around and down center by twos, divide R. and L. by file. Around and form in file, ready for the run. RUNNING.— Once around. Form fours, left oblique. Right by file. Maze or spiral and unwind. (See diagram No. 2.) Figure eight until figure is shown. (See diagram No. 3.) Out of figure eight and execute — Arms side horizontal. Arms front horizontal. Arms vertical. Slapping knees. Slapping heels. Close the run with a short walk on toes. 129 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Bring class to halt, facing instructor. Breathing exercises, arms forward up over head and down to sides, several times. =*- It&i 5* Music is of course desirable for good marching, at least while learning, to indicate time and rhythm. The end can be gained in many ways : a small boy and a drum, a stick and a box, clapping hands, harmonica, singing, etc. o o o O O £ o o o Oj toooooooooioo ooooooooo oooj oooooooooooo oooooooooooo (See chapter 18 for description of above marching move- ments.) 130 r CHAPTER XIX. EXERCISES ON OUTDOOR APPARATUS. Suggestions — Giant Stride — Ladders — Horizontal Bar — Vaulting Bar — Rings — Rope Climbing — Pole Climbing — Other Apparatus. Apparatus work in the outdoor gymnasium need not differ much from that done on indoor apparatus, except that some apparatus is used in playgrounds that has not ordinarily a place in indoor gymnasiums. The horse, the buck, the parallel bars, the ladders, the rings, etc., are at home in both places. Exercises for them can be secured from several books for that particular purpose. (See list at end of book.) The giant stride, teeter ladder, seesaw, merry-go-round, etc., are typical of outdoor requirements, although some of them are now and then found in indoor equipment. Apparatus in outdoor gymnasiums is ordinarily used in different spirit from that indoors. Less attention is paid to form and technical correctness of exercise. The apparatus is regarded more as something to be gotten over, an obstacle to be overcome, than as a means for performing in correct form. In other words, the recreative idea is uppermost out of doors. There is no reason, however, for not doing gymnastics on outdoor apparatus just as carefully and accurately as indoors. The writer's mind goes with this method, but it is not the method used in most American outdoor gymnasiums. There are reasons of value why this is so. Sometimes it depends on the local conception of the pur- pose of a playground in general and of an open air gymna- sium in particular. The idea of a playground as a place for pure re-creation might naturally place the gymnasium in the light of one means to secure that recreation. If the play- ground be considered an important place for rational educa- tion in the broad sense, then the gymnasium department is likely to be systematically used as one means to educate the 131 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS children and the older ones in certain social, moral, ethical, principles. The exact status of playgrounds is not yet ac- ceptably defined, hence the use of apparatus varies widely in both extent and method. Where apparatus is used systematically, the feasible way is undoubtedly to divide the class or large group into small squads or little groups, each squad having an instructor or a volunteer leader. The squads should alternate in the use of each piece of apparatus so that all the exercisers use all the ap- paratus at some time during the allotted class period. By this method some degree of discipline can be maintained ; not too rigid but enough so to prevent undue scrambling and confu- sion, and to make it possible for each indicidual to have a fair show. Without some such systematic arrangement, the "smart" ones will do an exercise they like as many times as they can, to the disadvantage of more timid ones who stay in the background. The timid ones need encouragement; the over-strenuous need repression ; a system and an instructor able and willing to enforce it will do both, thus adding to the general efficiency of fair play, exercise and a good time. The illustrations given in this chapter are meant for in- spiration without attempt to be complete, exhaustive, or sys- tematically arranged. (See pages 134, 135.) Giant Stride. — A piece of apparatus of much value en- joyed by children. Exercises are usually performed in circles in motion. See illustration (page 94), showing six girls run- ning in the ordinary way. When sufficient momentum is ob- tained the girls may raise feet from ground and be carried along in the air, touching feet to the ground now and then to keep up the motion. The same idea can be carried out with simple dancing steps in place of running. Fig. B and C (page 135) show different methods of hold- ing the ladder or grip while running or skipping. Fig. D, E, F show the exercisers swinging with feet raised from ground. Fig. G shows two boys running on one ladder. All exercises should be reversed ; that is done on both right and left sides. 132 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS (See "Code Book," Puritz; "Elementary Gymnastics," Arnold; for variety of systematically arranged exercises. See list at end of this book.) Ladders. — There are various types of gymnasium and playground ladders as shown in the illustrations in chapter 8, including the horizontal, inclined, and vertical, and com- binations of the three. (See page 117.) Most children will find uses for this class of apparatus without instruction but for classes and systematic exercise with large numbers, as well as for the children who are not spontaneously adventurous, some instruction or guidance is desirable. The illustrations suggest possibilities. (See "Code Book," Puritz, for addi- tional exercises.) Fig. A — (Page 134) Hanging, hands in ordinary grasp, right leg raised to side. Fig. B — Hanging, hands reverse grasp, both legs spread. Fig. C — Hanging, hands grasping rungs of ladder, left foot raised behind. Fig. D — Facing end of ladder, both knees raised, arms extended, hands grasping sides of ladder. Fig. E — Facing end of ladder, legs raised from thighs, arms flexed, hands grasping rungs. Fig. F — A method of climbing the vertical ladder. Fig. G, H, I, show three methods of climbing an inclined ladder. Fig. J — Ascending side ladder on side. Fig. K — Ascending inclined ladder on back. Horizontal Bar. — The horizontal bar is popular with boys of all ages and with girls under some conditions. The bars are sometimes made adjustable so that the height from the ground can be altered to suit the performers. Sometimes sev- eral heights of stationary bars are provided. In chapter VIII, is shown a bar which may be adjusted to almost any height needed. Drawings (page 134) show sample exercises and positions from elementary or simple to more advanced or those more difficult to execute. The difficult exercises should never be tried by inexperienced children unless a competent instructor is at hand to aid if necessary. Still accidents are surprisingly 133 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Horizontal Bar. (See page 133.) Ladders (See page 133.) Broad Jump. (See page 142.) 134 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Giant Stride. (See page 132.) 135 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS few with children who do try "stunts" regardless of conse- quence. Instructors should not prevent boys from trying and learning the difficult and dangerous feats. That is an im- portant part of the boys' education. (See Mr. Lee's remarks in chapter VII.) Fig. A — Ordinary hanging position. Fig. B — Grasping left wrist with right hand, pull up. Fig. C — Traveling along bar, hand over hand. Fig. D — Feet to the bar, knees bent. Fig. E — Feet to the bar, knees not bent. Fig. F — Traveling along the bar, with body turns. Fig. G — Circling the bar, keeping legs straight. Fig. H — Turning through the hands or ''skin the cat." Fig. I — Showing completion of movement in H. The performer may drop to the ground from this position or pull- up and return to starting position, shown in A. The return is difficult at first. Fig. J — Starts as I but when feet reach the bar they are kept there and body forced through to position shown in drawing. The following are in the line of "stunts" for beginners and it is always wise to have someone at hand who is com- petent to look out for the exercisers. Fig. K — A method of circling the bar known as an "In- step circle." Fig. L — Another form of "Instep circle," both insteps being used. Fig. M — "Knee circle" forward ; may also be done back- ward as shown in N. Fig. N — "Knee circle" backward. Fig. O — A little more "nerve" required to do this "knee circle" forward ; performed thus : first, position as in Fig. N ; second, right (or left) leg up until instep touches bottom of bar; third, let go right, (or left) hand and immediately circle forward. Fig. P — Balancing on one hand on bar. Vaulting Bar. — This is a bar placed at about the height of the performer's chest. It it used mainly as the name sug- gests—to vault over. When the horizontal bar is adjustable 136 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS (as mentioned under Horizontal Bar) it can be lowered to the proper distance from the ground. Exercises are shown in the accompanying drawings, A, B, C, D. (Page 135.) Rings with their possibilities are of practical value, and interest boys and girls. The exercises (page 135) shown by drawings A, B, C, may not arouse so much enthusiasm from energetic older boys as the exercise shown in Fig. D, which may be made into a competition by having the boys jump for records ; that is, to see which one or which side can get over the greatest height. Fig. A — Hanging, one arm bent, other arm extended to side. An advanced gymnast may be able to extend both arms to sides at same time making a "cross." Fig. B — Hang, head downward. Fig. C — Turn over (forward or backward) from stand on ground ; this is called the "dislocation" turn ; it is well for small boys to not do much of it ; it is a "stunt" that the aver- age boy wants to do. Fig. D — A method of using the rings as a means to jump over an obstacle. The exercise is done while swinging and an expert will be able, after practice, to get over an obstacle higher than the rings. The obstacle shown here is a set of jumping standands ; any other obstacle may be used. Rope Climbing is one of the best of exercises, not only for strengthening the muscles of the arms and legs, but for increasing the healthiness of the heart and lungs. So many muscles work together in climbing that the exercise is a cap- ital one for aiding respiration and nutrition. There are sev- eral methods of ascending the rope. One is known as "one hand leading," in which the climber should stand close to the rope, then reach up and take hold with both hands, one just above the other ; then raise the legs, without bending the arms, and grasp the rope ; with one leg on top and one under- neath. The rope should be held between the heel of one foot and the instep of the other, and between the knees. Now pull with the arms and straighten the body until the chest touches the hands. After this reach up again, one hand at a time, and repeat the movements described. A good deal depends upon a good hold of the rope with the legs, as much 137 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS of the weight of the body is thus taken off the hands. In the hand over hand climb one arm is moved for every stroke of the legs. To climb by means of the arms only is a good ex- ercise for the biceps and other muscles. In learning, short steps should be taken, and the arms should be bent as much as possible. Later the economical way is to take longer steps. — Gymnasium. Pole Climbing is another natural exercise that all normal children take to as a healthy duck to the water. The draw- ings, A, B, C, show three ways of climbing. Drawing D shows how to turn upside down between two poles. (See page 135.) Fig. A — Same, with ordinary climbing position, using both arms and both legs. Fig. B — Climbing with aid of hands and legs ; using hands and one leg only. Fig. C — Climbing without aid of legs, using hands only. Fig. D — Turning over on two poles, done in similar man- ner to Fig. C on rings. The buck, parallel bars and vaulting horse are universal pieces of apparatus in outdoor gymnasiums and in different forms are used in nearly every indoor gymnasium. There are numerous books of exercises. For a variety of suggestive ex- ercises with apparatus the book "Popular Gymnastics," Betz, is of real value. (See list on page 268.) Hurdle. (See chapter 20 ) Pole Vault. (Drawing C, page 142.) 138 gS .£ en d) SO) .-2 — i »-• -t-> o W W O) CD Hi rO >-< r^ O o +-> •+-> o a> . C rv.,-1 CO cu u G ° o On CO CHAPTER XX. ATHLETICS AND ATHLETIC GAMES. Use Individuality — Girls Entitled to Athletic Atten- tion-^) ft-hand Competitive Events — Public Schools Athletic Leagues for Boys and Girls — Relays — Walk- ing — Fancy Starts — Serpentine Race — Obstacle Races — Medicine Ball — Other Activities. Athletics are especially well adapted to outdoor uses. They belong in the open air. In the atmosphere of that sub- stitute for out of doors, the gymnasium building, athletics al- ways seem more or less like plants and trees boxed and potted in men's houses. In the playground, athletic events of all sorts give much pleasure and interest many boys and men who are little concerned about gymnasium apparatus work or anything else the establishment offers. There is no harm in this. There is no sense in trying to make every man in a mould, trying to turn out so many imitations of somebody else. Still less with a boy. What is a boy's individuality for? There is no use trying to drive him like a squealing pig. and about as unsuccessfully, into playground work he will not let you see he likes. If you are as wise as you ought to be to hold a playground appointment you will know how eas- ily most any boy can be made to do almost anything a wise instructor wants him to do, if your patience holds out and you have something else to lead him to. Right here is one of your chances, you playground in- structor, to make the playgrounds live up to their ideals of service. Here you see one of the ways by which you can help a boy to be the sort of a man he ought to be and without be- ing turned out of a mold made for some other embryo man. But the girls have just as much right, thanks to twenti- eth centurv intelligence, to athletic attention as the bovs and 139 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS men. Better still, they are getting it in the playgrounds and gymnasiums that are up-to-date. The ancient who wrote that "When strong is the mother her sons shall make laws for the people," hardly saw how the work of the American playgrounds would justfy his proverb. Truly there are no agencies today for the masses of the people that are making strong the frames of future mothers better or easier than the municipal gymnasiums and the playgrounds in cities. Boys and girls always like running and climbing; in- herited traits of prehistoric ancestry, the students tell us, but still matters of usefulness in today's civilizaion. Let the boys and girls run, then, and let them climb. They will any- way, so you may as well save yourself the trouble of putting obstacles in the way. Better guide their activities in these lines. Better conduct little informal running events for boys and girls under your watchful eye, or that of your assistants, and so use youthful energy naturally and rightfully. Your playground ideals may be very serviceably and practically ap- plied even in a 20-yard dash. Set your class of little girls, and big ones if you can, to running joyously down the grassy slope or along the cinder path after a rolling ball when they get restless and you want a minute of rest yourself; still better, help them get the ball ; your dignity won't suffer and your influence with the class will increase. Well regulated, not overdone, familiarity and participation in the work of your pupils is an excellent thing for all concerned, more so probably in playground work than ordinarily in gymnasiums, where the walls and roof seem to spell restraint and repression. There are many technical points that can be made plain to the boys, and some of like nature to the girls, regarding right ways to jump, vault, make starts, run, and so on. There are too many of these to make detailed mention possible here. For example, in the running broad jump the instructor may explain as well as illustrate (when possible) but explain at least, how to go about this form of exercise to get correct form and to get the most distance for record; the two aims belong together. Good form and good records seldom come apart from one another. In other words doing things right 140 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS brings a definite reward. Most any instructor will see the ethical bearing of this on life in general and can tactfully let the older children into the secret at opportune times. In the Running Broad Jump it is important to know how to strike the "take off" (the place from which the jump is made) at the right instant so not to loose the force of the coming jump. This calls for practice and much of it, in most cases. Any old way will not do, if good results are to follow. Then having made the "take off" properly, the jumper needs to acquire the knack of getting the knees well up to the chest from the instant of leaving the "take off," while going through the air and until the instant comes to extend the legs forward to get the most distance when the feet strike the ground. These elements of a jump in good form need a great deal of practice and intelligent coaching; it can be done in classes for all general purposes ; the intelligent individual who gets to the stage where he or she wants to try to "break a record" can have an occasional word from an instructor that will help. Making champions, giving a great deal of attention to one or two or half a dozen individuals, is very seldom feasible on playgrounds that are properly conducted, unless there be an instructor whose business it is to do such things. If the general run of individuals, the masses, suffer be- cause the instructor gives too much time and thought to a few, the few should be left to solve their own problems. This mistake is made in some city playgrounds and they have become mere athletic training fields for a few would-be cup winners. There is nothing whatever to be said against this ; it is part of the purpose of a playground for older boys and men to make such practice and training possible and con- venient with expert instructors ; but the point is that the needs of the many must not be sacrifieced to please the few. It is just this sort of mistake that has caused grave maladmin- istration in college physical training; the great mass of stu- dents get less attention than they require while the few star athletes get much more than they ought to have. Play- grounds need to be administrated so that this criticism can- not be justly made against them. 141 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Running Broad Jump, or Long Jump, over Obstacle. — In this exercise the "take off" or start of the jump is some dis- tance from the rope. The object is to clear as great a distance as possible. This jump is an opposite to the High Jump where the purpose is to get up as high as possible. The reg- ular Running Broad Jump in athletic competitions is done in the same way, usually without the obstacle to jump over. For playground purposes, aside from the set contests, the ob- stacle offers a pleasing variation. The "take off" out of doors may be from the level ground or from a raised board as shown in the drawing. Pole Vault. — The starting position "A" (page 134) shows how pole should be held with lower end up at about level of eyes. After the run toward the rope, at the instant the vault is to begin, the end of the pole is placed on the ground (see B) and the vaulter rises with the pole in the air. Drawing C (page 138) shows him in the air about to go over the rope. There are two forms of Hurdles, the low and the high. Both are in common use. The low hurdles are commonly used for girls and boys ; men use them also. The high hurdle is by regulation 3 ft. 6 in. high, the distance run being 120 yards, the hurdles ten yards apart with the first hurdle 15 yards from the starting point and the last hurdle 15 yards from the fin- ishing line. The low hurdle is 2 ft. 6 in. high, the distance 220 yards, the hurdles 20 yds. apart with the first hurdle 20 yards distant from the starting line, and the last hurdle 20 yards from the finishing line. These are the official distances and heights. Of course for ordinary playground purposes it may be wise to modify both. (See drawing page 138.) In the Running High Jump the object is to go over the bar or rope at a distance from the ground. In a contest each jumper is allowed three trials at each height and if he misses three times in succession at a height is diqualified from fur- ther jumping. For playground purposes this rule may be overlooked, in practice, although it is important that the of- ficial ruling be understood so that there may be no confusion in actual contest, when disputes over rules are always dis- agreeable. The Public Schools Athletic League Movement, which 142 A Game of Basketball. The illustration shows the ball in the air, having been tossed up by the umpire now seen standing at the right, and being jumped for by one of the "centers." Modern physical training in playgrounds and elsewhere wisely pro- vides athletics for girls as well as for their brothers. Here is shown a girl making a high jump. Note the instructor standing ready to lend a hand if necessary. At the extreme right is the scorer, with score sheet ready to record the height of the jump, this being a contest. AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS has been taken up in various cities to systematize that part of the school boys' physical activity, extending also to the girls, has a natural alliance with playgrounds. Considerble infor- mation on the subject is easily obtainable. The idea that has been in the minds of most of the pro- moters of the Public Schools Athletic League has been "not merely or mainly to promote athletics among those boys already athletically trained, but to develop a large number of boys who know nothing about the various sports." An important element in the accomplishment of this purpose in New York City has been the type of work known as Class Athletics, the object being to get every member of a class in a school to compete ; the class securing the best average get- ting a trophy, to be hung in its school room until the next competition. A so-called "button test" affects the individual boys. Each boy who, hanging from a bar, can pull himself up by his arms a certain number of times ; run a certain distance in a specified length of time; and jump a certain distance, is awarded a bronze button. There are also track and field sports, basketball, football and baseball competition. (The P. S. A. L. Handbook contains details.) The ideal, in evolving plans for organized athletic work in the classes, has been to maintain and emphasize the difference between school athletics, or athletics that can legit- mately have a place in connection with educational work, and the athletics of the athletic club ; also to avoid "athletics being run away with by the intense competition spirit." The ideal thus outlined has been followed with a considerable degree of success, although with some lapses and occasional disadvan- tageous circumstances peculiar to new movements. Girls' Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of New York City. — The girls' branch has been doing, since 1905, a work of considerable importance for the girls in the schools of New York City, and also, incidentally, for their teachers. The type of work carried on has been mainly folk dances and athletic games. Between 7,000 and 8,000 girls at- tended classes in 1907 in 128 schools, under 250 teachers. 143 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Athletic Features. — Of organized athletic events or meets for the boys and men, and for the girls and women, little will be said in this book. A trained instructor is needed for this work who ought not to require much from books of this type. There are many informal off-hand competitive events that are just as enjoyable and beneficial as those requiring more machinery and trouble, aside from those that are classed as games. Some events come on the border land and are both games and athletics. Such, for instance, is the Potato Race, always a source of fun and excitement if sides are well matched. The Medicine Ball Race is of similar nature. Bas- ket Ball Relay Race is another. Obstacle Races are of similar class. They take in running, not too long nor too arduous, or not necessarily so, are not over competitive, and take in a little of the team spirit of organized games. For boys there is good fun in a Four Legged Race, Wheelbarrow Race, Three Legged Race, in Walking Matches, in various Fancy Starts for 20-yard dash. In the Wheelbarrow Race, one boy has his hands on the ground while another boy grasps his feet. The boy on the ground walks or runs on his hands as the other boy pushes him along, not too rapidly, wheelbarrow fashion. This event becomes a race when four or more couples are lined up to race for the finish line. In the Three Legged Race two boys have a leg each fas- tened together below the knees so that the two legs united move as one. In running, each boy clasps his inside hand over the outside shoulder of his mate. In a Four Legged Race two or more individuals start on signal, on hands and feet, and continue in the same position to the finish. Walking Matches may be started as in running races or may be varied by starting back to the finish line, walking backward instead of forward. Fancy Starts for 20-yard dash may be from lying down position, head to starting line, feet to line or side to line. At signal to "go," the boys must rise from prone position and get under way for the run by the quickest method. A more elaborate event, but one that calls for no format 144 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ft>.^>' ^•Afcio. 4»j&, rrf f i p ife > ^ at. W^a 4 * L "" ~k-..;-. L.W on i ■. Top drawing shows start of Stone or Potato Race. (See page 165.) Second drawing shows finish of above race. Third drawing shows Ring and Apple Race. (See page 165.) Bottom drawing shows the Serpentine Race. (See page 146.) 145 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS organization more than choosing sides, is the Serpentine Race, equally good for boys and girls. Ten staffs or poles about four feet high are stuck into the ground in a straight line about ten feet apart. The first pole should be ten feet from the starting line and the last pole ten feet from the finishing line. If a number of runners are to take part, four lines of poles should be set up. Unless several such courses can be laid out, the competitors will have to run separately and be timed. The race is run by passing the first staff on the left side, the next on the right, the third on the left, and so on. The one reaching the finishing line in the shortest time wins the race. This race may also be run with dumbbells or even stones placed on the ground or floor at regular intervals, instead of staffs. The distance between poles can be altered at will ; or the number of poles can be decreased, thus reducing the dis- tance to be run. An elaboration of the same event can be made by hop- ping on one foot instead of running. Either foot may be used but only one ; that is, feet must not be changed during the race. It may be wise to use only five or six poles, for hopping is much more difficult than running. A third event on the same foundation is the Chain Race in which from 8 to 30 boys (or girls) can compete at each line of poles. The leader of each group toes the starting line as usual. The second boy catches hold of the first boy's belt, or coat, or grasps one shoulder; and all the others do likewise until the chain is complete. The chain must not be broken nor pole knocked down during the race. The finish is when the last boy passes the finish line. The group finishing first wins the event. There is plenty of fun in this for both spectators and par- ticipants, hence it is good for exhibitions. From 8 to 120 boys may participate at once, as indicated. Of Relay Races there are many varieties but the funda- mental principle is the same in all. (See also Chapter 30.) Usuallly two sides are chosen, of equal number of persons. Each side should have a captain or leader. The leader se- lects the member of his or her side to start first and those to 146 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS follow in regular order. This is done before the race starts. On a mark the first runner stands or ''sets" ready for the in- structor's signal. At the signal the one member from each side starts. The runner completes the allotted course by re- turning to the starting point, touches the hand or person of the next runner, who immediately starts off. This goes on until all the members of one side or both have run. The side that first gets its last runner back wins. So much the general principle of Relay Races. Now for a concrete example. Take the Basket Ball Relay mentioned above : The two sides of from four to a dozen individuals are chosen. The leader, or captain, may place them in the order in which they are to start, or the instructor may do so. The first boy (or girl) on each side has a basket ball. At the signal he runs to the regular goal perhaps 20 yards away, tries to make the goal by putting the ball in the basket and keeps trying until he does it. The one who gets his ball in first returns as fast as he can with the ball to his starting point, touches the next boy who at once starts over the same course. This is kept up until all of one side have run, made baskets and returned to the starting point. The real fun comes when two boys are at the goal trying to make the basket simultan- eously. If desired the same game may be played with a box or a barrel standing on the ground in place of the elevated goal. In this case, the ball is thrown or tossed from a line a few feet in front of the receptacle. It can be played with a bean bag or bag of sand tossed into a box. (See also chapter 30.) The Basket Ball Relay is just as good for young men, or for girls, as boys. If an instructor has to deal with a group of boys or men who are "basket ball fiends" and would appar- ently play the game continuously, the basket ball relay is one of the strong temporary antidotes. In an Obstacle Race the contestants pass certain obsta- cles on a course. Perhaps the obstacle will be a jumping standard midway in the course to be jumped over without knocking off the bar or stick. Or the obstacle may be crawl- ing under a blanket spread on the grass with the four corners 147 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS fastened down by large stones or wooden pegs. Two or more obstacles may be placed in a course. If the class is large, a whole playground may be used with a number of obstacles. If two sides have been chosen in this latter case, care must be taken to so plan that the two sides do not get confused and mixed. This precaution is necessary because with a large class there are likely or almost sure to be slow members who do not keep up with the procession and so provide the chance for confusion. Regular apparatus can be well used for the obstacles. For example, the class divided in two sections might start from the line of departure on signal, vault over a bar or a horse, then under the blanket on the grass, then climb a lad- der and down the other side, then a io-yard sprint down the track to and over a low hurdle, on over the track and jump the stick for high jump placed low, then across the grass to the frame and travel hand over hand from one end to the other (provided the frame can be so used), then back to the starting point. The side getting all its runners back over the starting line first wins. Of course advance planning must be made to prevent the sides coming together, as before stated, but this is easily done. A less elaborate form of obstacle race would use only a small section of the playground, perhaps only two or three pieces of the apparatus. If there should be no apparatus the obstacle race could still be used. Most any playground will yield an empty barrel, an old box and a stick six feet long or more. If no long stick is to be found set a couple of boys at work splicing two or three short pieces with the string every true boy has in his pockets. Set the barrel with side towards the runners, braced with small stones to prevent undue roll- ing. Place the stick across the box with the two ends pro- jecting on either side. Now start the runners, having them jump over the barrel going and over the stick returning. There we have all the elements in crude form of any obstacle race. The same idea as the foregoing is contained in Follow the Leader, in which a group of boys or girls follow a leader and imitate as exactly as possible every movement the leader 148 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS makes. This as a natural game, that is, boys and girls will use it without direction and hence by suggestion of an in- structor without recognized direction. Apparatus is not always needed to get results. But of course use the apparatus if it is available and get it as soon as possible if it does not exist. Being adaptable and making use of make-shifts is sometimes a good way to influence commit- tees and officials to provide equipment. There was a hard- hearted committee that refused repeated requests for some jumping standards and sticks. They visited a certain play- ground unannounced one afternoon and found the teacher ar- ranging the old box and the spliced sticks referred to and saw how they were used. Nothing was said about it but less than a week later the caretaker informed the teacher that he had received a brand new set of a manufacturer's best jump- ing stardards and a dozen sticks. Results count more than words sometimes. Among other good, informal events that can be used in playgrounds is the Medicine Ball Race already referred to. The main objection to this for outdoor purposes is that the balls may not be adapted to open air usages and may get lost, but this objection should not apply where there is satisfactory discipline or sufficient instructors and assistants. If the balls are not feasible tools, the game can be played with other ap- pliances, as suggested. As an illustration of how a resourceful teacher may over- come such handicaps as lack of equipment, it is related that in a country school where the play spirit had entered there was a desire to have a medicine or basketball relay race. But there were no balls nor money to buy them. So the teacher led her class to a pumpkin patch where a load of excellent equipment was quickly secured, just right for the contest. This particular method would not be very feasible in a city playground ; pumpkins do not grow in sufficient number on brick walls and pavements ; but the idea can be used any- where. For Medicine Ball Race or Medicine Ball Passing (both terms are used properly enough), two sides are chosen as al- ready outlined, but each side is lined up in file, each player 149 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS one to two yards behind the one in front, the first player being on the starting line. The exact distance between players will depend on room available and size of the class. At a signal from the instructor the two players, one in front of each line, start a medicine ball rolling backward between his legs spread apart. The player behind gives the ball a push as it rolls be- tween his legs and each player in line does the same until the ball gets to the last man. He runs forward with it as fast as he can to the head of the line. There he instantly starts it rolling backward again as at first. This is repeated until the first man is again at the head of the line, which indi- ctes that his side has won. The game may be repeated ; usually the players demand an encore. In this case it may be arranged that the side winning two out of three rounds, or three out of five, will be declared winner of the event. With a large class three, four or six lines should be made instead of two. Roughly speaking, a dozen players is enough for a line. A variation of the Medicine Ball Race may be made by using Indian clubs and passing them back from hand to hand, between the legs ; or, still another variation, over the head ; or, still another way, first player passing over the shoul- der, second player passing between the legs, and third over the shoulder, and so on alternating to the end. The first varia- tion has its own name of Indian Club Hustle, an appropriate title for obvious reasons. The clubs may be shoved backwards on the ground or floor. Again a basket ball may be used, each runner being required to make a basket before starting the ball backward between the legs ; or it may be required of the very last runner only that he make a basket. A name for this game is Basket- ball Hustle. Bean bags may be used by girls in place of clubs or balls in either of the foregoing games and variations. The Obstacle Racing Game has some interesting features : Two contestants start at a time from a line. Each with a bas- ket ball. Go under first low obstacle bar. Make goal. Return under second obstacle bar to starting line. One making fast- est time wins. 150 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS This offhand competition event combines several good ele- ments of recreative work. It requires good judgment from those engaging in it. It is intensely interesting to both con- testants and spectators. At no time from start to finish can the winner be picked. It requires no practice or experience, although both are of advantage. It brings in a feature of in- terest to basketball men. Would-be sprinters are likely to re- gard it favorably. Any number can take part, the newest man as well as the seasoned gymnast or athlete. It can easily be adapted for either sex. Boys and girls as well as young men and women can use it. It can be introduced in place of a more formal game. It works well as an event for an exhibition pro- /< \ :l. Q_ ,_Q B «— u \ or— *-o A r gram. It requires no new apparatus or material. It is simple and readily understood by contestants and spectators. The object of the racing game is to carry a basket ball from start to finish in the least time without letting it touch the floor or ground. The contestants are started in pairs. The time of each, or of the fastest, is taken. As many pairs as there are to compete are started. If there are not too many, 151 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS the fastest in each heat are run again, and so on until one is the winner. But if there are many contestants this method is apt to prolong the event beyond reasonable limits. In that case the four best may be selected and run until one is the winner. Each contestant starts with a basket ball held by his hands or arms. He runs to the first obstacle as shown in the diagram (B). The obstacle is pair of jumping standards on which is a stick placed not more than two feet from the floor. (Eighteen inches is better for men and boys.) He must go un- der the stick without knocking it off, and then continue his run to ordinary basket-ball goal (C) opposite the starting line. He has now to put the ball in the basket. As soon as he has made the goal he continues with the ball and goes under the second obstacle, which is like the first, and back to the finish- ing line. Time is taken from the instant the starter's signal sounds until the line is crossed. If a runner drops or loses hold of his ball he must secure it before he continues. If he displaces a stick of either obstacle, that is counted a foul, and he must drop out. But in such a case he is allowed a second trial. He may crawl or roll or get under the bar in any manner he chooses. The man who starts from the right-hand side of the start- ing line will go under the right obstacle first. He will return from the goal under the second or left-hand obstacle, and fin- ish at the left side of the starting line. The man who starts from the left side will take the reverse course. By placing the standards on the lawn or on a grass-cov- ered field, the game can be carried on with good effect. If the pupils will agree, it can be used on a dirt or gravel court, but a good bath is very sure to be needed under such conditions. If it is not convenient to set up basket-ball goals out of doors, this variation can be made : place a box or barrel about ten feet from a line which should be at the position of the basket or goal marked "C" in the diagram. Have the contestants toss the balls into the box or barrel instead of making goals. When regulation jumping standards are not available, the obstacles can be placed with the ends resting on boxes, stones or other supports of sufficient height. 152 CHAPTER XXI. OTHER GAMES ADAPTED TO PLAYGROUND USE. Baseball — Basketball — Indoor Baseball — Volley Ball — Lawn Tennis — Playground Ball — Long Ball — Class Basketball — Double Corner Ball — Lang Ball — Bean Bags — Duck on the Rock — Bull in the Ring — Skipping Rope — Atalanta Race — Stone or Potato Race — Horses and Riders — Progression in School Games. Section One. Team or Organized Games. The preceding chapter has touched on one form of play and games. Now we come to consider more particularly organized games with regular or temporary teams and other paraphernalia ; in the second section of this chapter some games that do not need formal organization of teams but provide for large numbers of individuals playing at once ; and in the third section a plan for systematizing school games for educational purposes. Of course there is Baseball ; no playground can keep house successfully without it. Neither need a new book print its rules. A man 35 years old who recently saw his first game of indoor baseball in a gymnasium was heard to apologize for his ignorance of the national summer game. That is the attitude of many men, for not all Americans are baseball fiends, and this can be proved in case of need. A live Ameri- can boy may not apologize, perhaps, but he will do other things equally good for his purpose if he has to reveal an ignorance of baseball. Indoor Baseball is not baseball out of doors, but it is a good substitute. In the playground it can be used for the strenuously inclined girls who want to do what their brothers do, and has been so used with success. This game is more known, even for men, in the West than in the East, but has a fairly universal use in the United States. 153 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Basketball, although nominally an indoor game, is played outdoors with good results, by both sexes and all ages. The rules are well known or easily secured. Volley Ball is used in a good many playgrounds and is well adapted for the requirements. The space for a game is about equal to that needed for a tennis court. Lawn Tennis is a game of apparently increasing popu- larity and should find a place in such playgrounds and fields as can afford the space needed for the courts. Two courts should be installed, and more if possible. If only one court is feasible, the officials must decide whether to use the space for that purpose or for some other feature. Various adaptations and modifications of ball games have been made from time to time. Two such are here described : By E. B. DeGroot. A question which presents itself to every play- ground worker is what game may be most easily taught and permanently acquired and practiced among children of all ages? An investigation in the playground, gymnasium or school room will demonstrate that it is a game which centers about a ball, or. more likely, a ball and a bat. The factors involved in playing baseball (strik- ing an object with a club, throwing a missile with force and accuracy, and running to base to defeat the throw of the opponent) express, more than the factors in any other game, the activities of our early ancestors whose existence depended in great measure upon their ability to wield a club, throw accurately and run swiftly. Thus great historical significance seems to attach to baseball or games with ball and bat. This thought is, at least, in har- mony with Dr. Gulick's Study of Group Games. However that may be, we have observed in Chi- cago, with Joseph Lee of Boston, that not many games are needed in our playgrounds, but one good game, properly worked out and presented will give the greatest satisfaction to all concerned. Pro- ceeding in accordance with the theory suggested above, we have developed two games in our South Park Playgrounds which we have named "Play- ground Ball," for outdoor use, and "Long Ball," for indoor use. The latter is also played outdoors but not to great extent. Playground Ball. Briefly, Playground Ball is our traditional game of American baseball so modified that it may be played in large cities and restricted areas in spite of the adverse conditions found in these places. This form of baseball is also intended to give encourage- 154 c ■ o w ■*-> o ft 4J V] 3 ns i—i -m ,"^ C -t-> 3 >* o -t-> at o ■ ■-( CU -t-> m o CJ ct- C T3 * i— i H O a; "+H ^ — o c id .44 CD S CO 4> +J ft H o 3 o 0- CJ d CO •i-t C w C -t-> CD H 3 M O •■-) O ,Q AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ment to a prolonged period of playing the national game among men who have passed the age or physi- cal condition when they may comfortably handle a hard ball or run thirty yards between bases. Some of the more distinctive features of this game are as follows : The cost of equipment is very in- significant, there being no reason for the use of mask, protector, mit or gloves. Ten players con- stitute a side, thus engaging two more players than are engaged in a game of baseball. This game will not lend itself readily to the commercial and pro- fessional tendencies so common in baseball. It is distinctively a game for "fun," to be played by either young or old gentlemen. The diamond may be laid out in a school yard, playground, vacant lot, golf club grounds, tennis courts, or on a lawn. The ball is too soft and yield- ing to injure players or spectators. The first batter at bat, at his own discretion (rule XXIV) may run to either third or first base. This play opens pos- sibilities for perception and action that are exlcuded in baseball. It will also more frequently engage the fielders on the left side of the diamond. Scoring by points (rule XIII) gives each playre and team credit for every successful play that places a man on base. This method of scoring (five innings constituting full game) enables school and playground leagues to conduct tournaments and play a great number of games in a single afternoon, with slight probability of ending with tie score. Some of the rules unlike baseball are as follows : Rule I. (The Diamond.) Each side of the dia- mond shall be 35 feet long. The distance from home base to second base and from first to third base shall be 48 1-2 feet. Bases shall be 18 inches square, and the home base 12 inches square. The pitcher's plate shall be 10 x 12 inches and shall be fixed 30 feet from home base on a straight line be- tween home base and second base. The batsman's box (one to the left and one to the right of the home base) shall be four feet long and three feet wide, extending one foot in front of and 3 feet behind the centre of the home base, with the near- est side six inches from the home base. In the South Park playgrounds we make the bases and pitcher's plate of wood, sink and fix them flush with the earth and paint them white. (2x4- inch stick of lumber is used for a pitcher's plate and strips of hard wood screwed to 2 x 4-inch sticks, are iispd tot* riJisps Rule III. (The Ball.) The ball shall not be less than 12 inches nor more than 14 inches in circum- ference. It shall not be less than 8 ounces nor more than 8 3-4 ounces in weight. It shall be made of a yielding substance covered with a white covering. The 14-inch ball is recommended for use where the playing space is a small area. Rule IV. (The Bat.) The bat shall be 2 3-4 feet long and not larger than 2 inches in diameter 1.55 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS at the largest part. It shall be made entirely of wood. Rule V. (The Players.) Ten players shall con- stitute a side or team. The players' positions shall be such as shall be assigned them by their captain, except that the pitcher must take his position with- in the pitcher's lines as denned in Rule VI, while in the act of delivering the ball to the bat. There shall be three outfielders, right and left short stops, three basemen and a battery. Rule VI. (The Pitcher.) The pitcher shall take his position facing the batter with both feet on the ground in front of the pitcher's plate, and when in the act of delivering the ball to the bat must keep one foot in contact with pitcher's plate. He shall not take more than one step in delivering the ball, and his pitching arm must swing parallel with the body. Before delivering the ball to the batter he shall hold the ball in front of his body and in sight of the batter. Rule XVIII. (Scoring.) One run shall be scored every time a base runner, after having legally touched the first three bases, shall touch the home base before three men are put out. If the third man is forced out, or is put out before reaching legal base, a run shall not be scored. The game may be scored by points instead of runs, as follows : Whenever a player arrives safely on a base, one point shall be scored for his side. It shall not make any difference whether a man is left on base when three men and his side are retired. If a player completes the circuit of the bases, four points shall be scored for his side. Rule XXIV. (Order of Bases.) Base run- ners shall touch each base in regular order, i.e., either first, second, third and home base ; or, third, second, first and home base. The first batter at bat, or when there is no runner on base, shall have the option of running to either first or third base. The next batter shall run the bases in the same or- der. Example : The batter must run to third base after he hits the ball, or is entitled to a base, if the previous batter ran to third instead of first base, and is still on base. Rule XXVI. (When Base Runners May Start.) (a) A base runner shall not leave his base when the pitcher holds the ball, standing in his box. (b) A base runner shall not leave his base on a pitched ball not struck until after it has left the pitcher's hand when in the act of delivering it to the bat. He shall be called back if a premature start is made. (c) A base runner shall be on his base when the pitcher is ready to deliver the ball to the bat. Note : Starting too soon (b) shall not exempt a base runner from being put out on that particular play. The umpire must not make a decision in re- gard to a premature start until the base runner has reached the next base or is put out. 156 w/sco/ys//y first-malt iemno half JR* 0|j£ nMTHAU KCONDHALT ■tyt tX&Ai Ro-Q tAs~J) XX XX aa3 x 4 3L_ 432 ' i^rAf^-^J^ '45, .Z3_ /? JTifMCooU «^*P *W« £ 1 ^. (U^&~*» R ~/ X* X* X A* 162 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS every time, in fact a new set of goal keepers is often put in in the middle of a lesson. In addition to the goal keepers' score the guards' score is kept This was shown to be necessary as the guards soon developed the habit of jumping and touching the ball, but not holding it, thus pre- venting the goal keeper from scoring, but weaken- ing their own ability to catch Therefore each guard counts the balls she herself catches and holds no matter where she is standing, whether her posi- tion is guard or in the circle, and no matter how many others may have touched the ball. The score for the day for either side is the sum of all the balls caught according to the above rules, by the goal keepers and guards on that side. Section Two. GAMES WITH TEMPORARY SIDES. Among the games that do not call for permanent organi- zation, always serviceable and interesting, good old stand-bys for small and large classes are Three Deep, Cat and Mouse, Spud, Hang Tag, Drop the Handkerchief, Fox and Hounds, and more of like type. Three Deep can be used with a class of any age. The writer has seen a class of bald headed business men and another of boys, average age 12 years, playing it in one afternoon. Cat and Mouse works better with small boys or girls. Spud is for older boys and young men, but small boys like it too. Hang Tag is for young men especially. Drop the Handkerchief is good for girls and small boys. There is a variation that older boys and young men will play with pleasure, in which a towel or ravelled rope is used in place of the handkerchief and the pursued player hit as many times as possible over the back or, still better, over bare legs. Even a game that is good from the standpoint of the players may grow tiresome, but a wise instructor will be able to introduce variations so that the essential features of the old game may be retained in the new form. For instance, in the game of Three Deep the runner may be made to run as short a time as possible, thus making the game livelier than when he goes around the circle three or four or half a dozen times without being tagged. A good game, but a bit strenuous and adapted to large boys and young men, is called Wrestling Circle, or Circle 163 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Ball. Here the players grasp hands in a circle about a group of Indian clubs. There are just as many clubs as players. Each man tries to avoid hitting a club and all the other players try to make him do just that. When a club is hit and knocked down, the man hitting it drops out of the circle and takes a club with him. Then the game goes on until all but two men have been removed. The two may fight it out a long time before they give up or one is the victor. If a group of strenuous men who will usually turn up noses at "games" can be induced to try this they may have a different opinion of it toward its end. A good game for men, especially for business men, for whom it is not always easy to get good recreation, is Lang Ball, also called Hang Base Ball. Here the principles of baseball are retained but the batter uses no wooden bat. He hangs by his hands to some piece of apparatus high enough to permit his feet to be clear of ground or floor. He kicks the ball as it is tossed by the pitcher. Bases are run by the batter as in baseball. A basketball or round football is usually used. Any number may play. Sides may be chosen or batters may play in order, as in a "scrub" game of baseball. Rules may be adapted to local conditions, but as a general thing three fouls entitle a batter to rest. If he misses a tossed ball it counts as a strike ; if he hits the ball except with his feet or legs below the knees it is a foul ; a ball going behind the bar or support from which the batter hangs, after being struck, is a foul ; a fly ball caught anywhere is out. If the ball is light, as a basketball, the runner may be hit with it between bases and so be put out. Bean Bag Tossing for girls and some classes of small boys is useful. (See Chapter 30, Country Games.) Duck on the Rock is approved by small boys and often by older boys and young men. Bull in the Ring is willingly played by both boys and girls. Skipping and Jumping Ropes are necessary for the girls, and are entitled to a place among games. The instructor should endeavor to show the children how to jump properly, gymnastically ; that k, on balls of feet and not much on heels with the spine jarring and other undesirable features that have sometimes caused jumping or skipping ropes to be 164 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS barred out from playground use. Not too much rope jumping should be permitted young children for physiological reasons. Rope jumping is good for men training for athletic competi- tion, and for policemen and firemen who need agility as well as all round "shaking up." The Atalanta Race is good for either boys or girls. Real apples may be used or some substitute. The distance run is usually one hundred yards from the starting line to the finish- ing tape, the apples being placed midway and being picked up by the runners while going at full speed. A variation of this game is styled The Ring and Apple Race. Six small hoops or rings, made of cardboard or any suitable material, about nine inches in diameter, are placed in a row on the ground where the apples were placed in the previous event. The runners start with apples in their right hands. As they pass the rings on the ground they stoop down and place the apples within the rings and continue running to the tape, there turning and running back to the starting point, which is also the finishing line, picking up the apples on the way back. If the apples are not placed squarely within the rings the missing runner must stop until the apple is properly placed. — (Adapted from Alexander.) (See drawings of these events, page 145.) Stone or Potato Race. — This is something similar to the two events just described except that there are several objects tc be picked up instead of one. Real or imitation potatoes, small stones, dumbbells or even other objects may be used. They are placed in rows equal distance apart. In the original form of potato race, large milk cans are used to hold the potatoes, but any sort of a receptacle is satisfactory, or the potatoes may be deposited in a hole in the ground, or within a circle marked out. The runners start from a line, each one gathering the potatoes in his own row and depositing them one at a time at the starting line. The one finishing first wins. The distance to be run may be regulated by the number of potatoes as well as by the distance apart. The instructor should bear in mind that the distance run, under constant tension, is five or six times the length of the row of potatoes, hence children should not undertake long distances. For men of advanced muscular ability there are two good 165 AMERICAN PLAYGROUXDS ways to apply the same idea. One is to use twelve or sixteen pound shot in place of potatoes. The other is to use boys instead of potatoes. In this case the boys stand in a row equal distance apart, while the men gather them up one at a time and bring them to the starting line. This is a strenuous event, but it has lots of fun for spectators and competitors. Horses and Riders is of similar nature to the foregoing. A circle 18 feet in diameter is marked on the ground. The players are evenly divided. One side., horses, are placed at equal distances around the circle, facing the center. The other side, riders, stand behind them. One rider has a ball. An indoor baseball is suitable or a basketball may be used. At a signal each rider mounts the back of his horse, the horse leaning forward, thus giving the rider a flat seat, which must be retained without aid of hands or legs. The rider having the ball tosses it in the air and catches it twice without dis- mounting. Then he throws the ball to any other rider, who must catch it. toss and catch twice, and then throw to another rider. If a rider fails to catch the ball at any time or in any way dismounts, all the riders immediately dismount and run away. The horses remain in the circle. One horse gets the ball and throws it at one of the fleeing riders to hit him. If hit, the riders return to the ring and become horses, the former horses being the riders. If the thrower fails to hit a rider the game is renewed by the riders remounting their horses, the rider of the horse who threw the ball starting the game. Each horse and rider should be as nearly as possible of like physique and should play together throughout the^ game. — (Adapted from Chesterton.) Section Three. PROGRESSION IN SCHOOL GAMES. A method for classifying games of ball in a public school system of physical training for outdoor use was presented by William A. Stecher in "Mind and Body." The plan was an attempt to train pupils so that grade by grade they would master the various activities in ever increasing difficulty that go to make a good ball player. The plan in detail is described as follows : In Grade I the children are taught to toss and catch a 166 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS bean bag. These simple movements train the sight and develop accuracy of motion. The games used are: I. The tossing up of the bag and again catching it. 2. Tossing the bag to a partner. 3. Tossing it up, catching it and then tossing the bag to a partner. 4. The so-called game of Teacher. In Grade II the simple forms of the first grade are varied and made more difficult by introducing hand clapping before a bag is caught ; for instance : Toss up, clap hands and catch the bag; toss up, clap hands twice, or three times, arid catch. In Grade III throwing (in place of tossing) is introduced as a means for securing speed and accuracy of motion by greater freedom of the arm movements. Catching is made more difficult by using a ball instead of a bag, a basket ball or a large gas ball being used. The games take the form of distance throwning; throwing at an object, throwing to a partner, or tossing up a large ball and catching it. Boundball is played, which consists of throwing the ball to the ground and catching it when it rebounds ; or in tossing it up into the air and catching it when it rebounds from the ground. In Grade IV a small rubber ball is used to play the games of the third grade. As the accuracy increases the ball is thrown to partner. Later it is thrown up into the air, caught and then thrown to a partner. As Boundball it is batted against the ground with the hand as many times as possible. In Grade V the children are led to throw and catch the large ball while moving about. The games take the form of Throwball. There are two sides, the pupils of one side always trying to throw the ball to one of their own side, running wherever they like in doing so. No talking or interfering is allowed. Here we find the beginning of team work. By means of Grace hoops accuracy is taught to the girls both in throwing and catching, while the boys acquire both judg- ment and accuracy in tossing Quoits or Horseshoes. In Grade VI accuracy and judgment are developed still more by the addition of batting a ball. A ball game of low organization furnishes the means of developing team work. The game is Bat up. There are three positions in the game, viz. : a batter, a pitcher, and fielders. The pitcher tosses the ball, which is batted with the open or closed hand. When the ball — a basketball— is caught on a fly the batter is out, the one catching it taking his place. 167 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Accuracy and quickness of movement are also developed by Passball. When playing this the class stands in a circle, facing inward, shoulder to shoulder. A basketball is quickly passed to the right or left, out of the way of the runner who tries to tag it. A variation is to have the runner on the inside and throw the ball over his head to a player standing opposite. Throwing and catching a soft rubber ball is also prac- ticed (a baseball is too dangerous in most school yards). In Grade VII games of a higher organization hold the interest of the pupils. The sixth grade's game of bat up develops into Batball with five positions. These are two batters, a catcher, a pitcher, a baseman and fielders. A large or a small rubber ball is batted with the hand or fist and the simpler, fundamental rules of baseball are learned. If a batter is put out all the players move up into the next higher place. The put out batter is made a fielder. As a preparatory game for basketball Captain ball is played with from six to ten pupils on a side. When a high blank wall is available Handball is played. This is an excellent game which in a high degree develops quickness, accuracy and judgment. It is one of the few ball games where only two, four or six players are needed in order to play a first class game. In Grade VIII we have Basketball. This is played according to the revised rules. According to the size of the playground the field is divided either into two or three equal parts. If it is divided into two parts the centers have the right to run anywhere. In this grade Baseball, the best of all organized team games, is played as hand-basketball. Each side has a full nine and the game is played according to the regular rules, the only exceptions being the size of the diamond, the ball, which is either a soft rubber ball or a basketball, and lastly the bat, the batting being done either with the open or closed hand. The games described above, as well as the other games, are placed at recess, of which we daily have two of 15 minutes each ; also during every second regular gymnastic period. At present the length of these periods in the lower grades is 5 minutes twice a day, and in the upper grades 10 minutes once 168 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS a day. The play apparatus belongs to the school. It is bought with money realized by giving exhibitions, or by donations. Note. — Description of nearly all the games and forms of exercise mentioned in this chapter, as well as events referred to in other parts of the book, are readily found in standard publications. (See also Chapter 30.) In case there is trouble in finding the desired detailed iniormation, a note with stamp for reply, addressed to the publishers of this book, will bring prompt reply. GRADING OF GYMNASTIC GAMES FOR OUTDOOR USE. Condensed by permission from a paper by George Wittich, director of physical training, public schools, Milwaukee, Wis. School pupils must be taught a progressively arranged and carefully designed series of games throughout their whole school life. The first directions and the rules should be imparted by the principals or teachers. After that the games may be conducted by pupils (leaders) who are appointed by the principals or teachers. Nothing can promote self govern- ment better than this method. Suitable play apparatus is of immense value in more than one way and should be installed. Our state normal schools can do very much along the line of educating the play spirit of our young and directing it in accordance with the demands of the child and those of the times, by giving more attention to true and pure educational physical training and embodying a play course into their curriculum. Dividing the gymnastic games which are designed for the playground and gymnasium according to their effects, gives us the following groups: 1. Games that will improve circulation, respiration, co-ordination, quickness of reaction and alertness. Pomp, Pomp, Pull Away is one of the games. It belongs to those designed for little folks on account of its simple organization. The alternate running and resting accel- erates heart and lung activity in a wholesome manner, and the catching, dodging and evading develop quickness of reac- tion and alertness. The captor of one pupil experiences the 169 AM ERIC AX PLA YGRO UNDS same joyful feeling of satisfaction that makes the eyes sparkle and the heart swell, as the other pupil does who was agile and alert enough to evade him a moment before. Black and White develops quicker reaction better. Prisoner's Base belongs to the same type but is of a higher organization and is therefore reserved for the pupils of the higher grades and those of the high school. 2. Games that are suitable for the development of reso- lute and energetic action and strength. Combative games with and without the rope and the wand develop these facul- ties better than any other form of physical exercise because each contestant has an intelligent being before him to oppose his attacks, both contestants are beings who can plan attack and defense equally in an intelligent manner. In the simple tug of war game the adult finds as much pleasure and satis- faction as the little tot does, and will, by exercising an obstinate resistance, improve his energy, determination and strength. Wrestling for a stick, hand-pulling and pushing and wres- tling without the stick belong to the more advanced forms and are suitable for the pupils of the higher grades and those of the high school. 3. Games designed for improving accuracy of movement of the arms and judgment of the eye. These qualities are developed in all throwing and catching games. The simple bean bag game will suffice in the lower grades either as a throwing and catching game or as a game in which the bag is thrown at a mark or an object as at an Indian club. Throw- ing and catching combined with turning, also with forward and backward running, will follow in the course of the pro- gression and therefore belong to a somewhat higher order. Battle ball, Captain ball and Baseball belong to the same type and are suitable for the pupils of the higher grades and those of the high school. The pupils must be taught from beginning to play for the sake of playing and for the enjoyment of the exercise which they can get out of the game. To us teachers the game is one of the most pleasant and agreeable means to gain impor- tant educational ends. In the selection of the game we must always consider the condition of the pupils. To play a game of high organization or to take a strenuous combative exer- 170 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS cise after a lesson in a hard study, for instance mathematics, is absolutely wrong. Mental work affects also the motor nerve centers to some degree ; motor nerves as well as muscles become less susceptible through long continued mental work and lose the ability to respond quickly during the study- period and also for some time afterwards. Therefore stren- uous physical efforts and complicated movements require a greater degree of will-power after long mental work than when the mind is fresh. For that reason basketball, for instance, is out of the question directly after a long period of mental work ; games of a more simple organization are then in place. COMBATIVE AND COMPETITIVE FEATURES FOR SCHOOL YARDS. By George Wittich. (Originally published in "Mind and Body.") Combative games such as tug-of-war with a long staff or rope pulling and pushing in couples with or without the use of the short wand, Foot in the Hole, Rooster Fight, Pig in the Pen, etc., are excellent means for promoting quickness of reaction, resoluteness of action, determination and carriage, and should be taken * * * * once a week as a fourth unit of the day's order if the exercises are conducted in the school yard. In each case seven to ten minutes should be allowed out of every fifteen for this form of exercises. If the exercises are taken in the yard the greater part of two out of five weekly lessons should be taken up with running games, jumping over swinging rope, high jump, broad jump, hop, step and jump, and pole vault. It is an easy matter for the older boys to loosen the ground in some remote corner of the yard sufficiently deep to enable them to practice the above named forms of jumping in a manner beneficial to themselves. Jumping is an excellent means for developing powerful lower extremities and also judgment of sight, co-ordination and general control, besides stimulating heart and lung action. Besides the physiological and psychological effects, these athletic exercises enable the young to notice their improvement in skill and strength and 171 AMERICAN PLA YGRO UNDS to exercise a friendly competition, which is in itself a' stimulus and an incentive to higher effort. Jumping over the swinging rope is an excellent invigor- ating and strengthening exercise for girls and smaller boys. The pupils gladly furnish the necessary rope, which should be of the weight of a wash line. Bean bags of from one to four pounds or a football may be used as missiles for throwing at a mark or as apparatus for throwing and catching for the purpose of promoting accu- racy of motion and quickness of co-ordination. It is advisable to divide the class into two divisions and place them opposite to each other in order to enable the members to throw or put the same object alternately. Putting is a more direct move- ment of the arm than throwing; it is a vigorous straightening of the arm whose hand holds the bean bag above the shoul- der. If the throwing is accompanied by bending and straight- ening of the legs and turning of the trunk it is an excellent co-ordination exercise for the principal parts of the body. These exercises should be practiced left and right in order to prevent one-sided development. Jumping over the swinging rope and all exercises with the bean bag can be executed in the hall as well as in the yard. The yard and the hall permit a large number of games, but only those that employ a large number of pupils at one time and the many forms of combative games should be con- sidered. The game, like the combative and athletic exercises, must be the last unit of a lesson for the following reasons : — i. The most natural activities occur during the game, and new ones are easily mechanized ; consequently the pupils take to this form of exercise more willingly and gladly. 2. Combative games train not only the muscular system but also the physical qualities, which is of far wider reaching importance. They give rise to fair play, judgment, determina- tion and effort. 3. All games create a cheerful frame of mind that causes the pupils to long for the lesson in physical training. The simpler games with the football can be taken up in the lower grades and developed to "Captain Ball" in the 7th and 8th grades. 172 CHAPTER XXII. INTERESTING THE BIG BROTHERS, FATHERS AND UNCLES. Men and Women Who Live in Cities Need to be Shown How to Recreate — Meet Their Known Inter- ests — Find a Point of Beginning — Tug-of-War — Quoits — Hand Ball — Medicine Ball. Men not only do not require very much direction in their playground work as compared to children, but are apt to re- sent any but the most tactfully given supervision. But as men ought to retain much of their boyhood traits, and as many of them do either openly or just below the surface, it is not so difficult to deal with them as might be supposed. A playground instructor can reveal possibilities in outdoor gym- nastics, athletics and games to most men who live in cities. Perhaps if gymnasiums and playgrounds were more com- mon and those that are here were more used, more men would know more without additional information about how to play and recreate. This will be a fruit of present playground and physical training activities. We so constantly associate children and playgrounds that we are apt to forget that the grown-ups need relaxation, recre- ation, play, games, physical training and all the rest quite as truly as the small boys or the girls. Any proper public play- ground system must provide for the men — the fathers and uncles and big brothers. They need such attention and need to be shown how they can be individually benefited. Not enough of them, perhaps, will spontaneously respond to the attractions of a "playground" under that title, but call it, or their part of it, an "outdoor gymnasium" or a "recreation field" or an "athletic field" and they will respond better. The play instinct never quite dies out of a man's nature unless he is abnormal. Too many men are abnormal in that 173 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS they have been educated away from habits of joyous play, invigorating physical exercise for the good it would do them, and the feeling of personal freedom to express their instinc- tive rights. This is due largely to environments, to condi- tions of modern civilization that must be changed. One of the problems of physical training as of playground work in the same direction is how to adapt it to the real in- terests and needs of those who ought to allow themselves to be benefited. We make a little progress certainly if we use titles that seem understandable and suitable to the people we want to reach. It is not so vitally important that we insist on our own technically correct names for things as that we get the people to really understand what we are talking and working for. To illustrate : Many men in gymnasiums conducted by directors who are in the front rank of the physical training profession are taking "a course in physical culture," no mat- ter what the directors say about it. The directors may con- demn privately and publicly what is popularly promoted un- der the often delusive title of "physical culture" and always call their work physical training or gymnastics, but the aver- age man knows very little of the difference and cares less. So, as we try to get full-grown men to make more use of public "playgrounds" we find an obstacle in that name, unless because of extraordinary local reasons the popularity of the place overshadows the name. Or, again, unless we meet them on their own ground. One thing must be looked out for in any playground that tries to attract young and older men : they must not be al- lowed to make the ground a select loafing place. The play- ground, for a list of reasons, is no place for "bums," "drunks" and all the species of the too-strong-to-work type. For this reason some playgrounds in rougher sections of cities have taken out benches, which seems to be attacking the problem from the wrong end. Intelligent supervision, firm policing and less of the "get off the earth" attitude might find response from full-grown or embryo "bums." This is a legitimate line of playground effort. Business and professional men are most likely to be inter- ested in gymnastic work, as individuals or in groups and 174 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS classes. Being men used to exercising their intellects, they can be easily shown the reasons why open-air exercise is bene- ficial. They will, in most cases, object to doing their work in public, and for continued interest they must have restricted hours or an enclosed space so that they may be boys again free from the restraint of disrespectful spectators. After a while, by tactful leadership, they may be willing to appear in public, being more sure of their own footing and less afraid of being laughed at. Business and professional men will recognize, as soon as it has been demonstrated to them, the great value of play and games to their individual cases. For working men, meaning those who labor with hands and tools more than with brains mostly, formal classes of any sort may not suit. But there are other ways to interest them. Men of this type are interested in the Tug-of-War, al- though this contest is less popular now than a few years ago. A point of beginning may be to get- them to accompany the mother and children in the early evening just to sit on the benches or the grass and do nothing but watch — and rest amid good surroundings. The next step is to get them in- terested in some bit of activity for their own benefit. Once find the point of interest and the rest is comparatively simple. Just a private word for officials and committees : When you plan a playground please don't forget the men — the fath- ers, uncles and big brothers — by planning everything for the small boy's benefit. Reserve a definite space, if possible, for the men just as you do for the women. A good game for men is Lang Ball, described in Chapter 21. Pitching Quoits is a man's sport, not very strenuous, but interesting to those who get to like it. No apparatus is needed, but the regular disks and steel rod are best. A few old horse shoes and a stick driven in the ground will answer if necessary. (See "Popular Gymnastics," Betz., for direct- ions and rules.) Hand Ball is real exercise, good fun and quite acceptable to young men and some older men. It is much in use by policemen, firemen, athletes in training, and prize fighters. It can be so played as to be strenuous enough for any of these 175 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS men, or it can be moderate enough for the lawyer, dentist or school teacher from whom only mild exercise is prescribed. Hand ball requires nothing but a blank wall or a high fence, a ball and a piece of ground to play from. But it may have the regulation hand-ball court and all the appliances allow- able by the rules. Medicine Balls were invented for men and are well named. They are usually a feasible item of equipment for the outdoor gymnasium, provided the balls are looked after and not allowed to get astray or be used roughly by big boys — a favorite trick when they get the chance. "Some- thing to throw" is just what they want ■ here we have also a reason why the medicine ball is quite the proper thing through which to give grown up men real exercise. The medicine ball is useful for the lone man who has to exercise without company and is equally good for two or three or for a class of 50 or more. There are various sizes, forms and weights of the balls, adjustable to all needs of any men or boys, and women and girls also. Without going too minutely into the early history of the medicine ball, as used for beneficial physical exercise, it can be stated that it was used in Persia and elsewhere in Oriental lands at least 200 years ago. Its present position in Ameri- can gymnasiums is unquestionably due to its introduction by the originator and adapter of so many means for interesting and beneficial hygienic bodily exercises, Robert J. Roberts, of Boston, Mass., senior Y. M. C. A. physical director. He has written the following account of the origin of the medi- cine ball as we know it today. By Robert J. Roberts. What led me, in 1876, to have made the round leather ball, weighing from 4 to 16 pounds, which I called the medi- cine ball, and which was made for me by Robert Miller's fa- ther, 230 State St., Boston, Mass., was a story that I had read about that time of a certain king who was half sick from eating too much and neglect of exercise. His physician told him that he could be cured if he would eat only certain kinds and amounts of food, and throw around a ball that the phy- sician would give him to use daily, which was filled with some marvelous drugs whose medicinal properties would, 176 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS when the king had exercised vigorously enough to bring on a free visible perspiration, enter his body through his pores, and cure him, provided he took a bath in some warm water that contained some more wonder-working kind of drugs. The physician told the king that if he followed direc- tions faithfully for a month every day he would be cured of his obesity and indigestion, and the other ailments that want of exercise and over-eating had brought on. Of course the physician did not tell the king that all he wanted him to do was to eat less, exercise more, and bathe oftener. If he had done so, the king would, probably, have been angry and re- fused to take his treatment. During the 32 years the medicine ball has been in use in gymnasiums it has helped to cure and keep well thou- sands of people who needed only daily sweating exercise of the amusing kind that the medicine ball always furnishes, and a graded bath after its daily use to keep them well or restore them to health. It can be used alike by weak and strong, young and old, who are in fairly normal condition, from the cradle to the grave, because the exercises can be made safe, short, easy and pleasing, or moderately heavy and hard, according to the needs of the individual or class. The more it is used by the individual alone against a wall or with a friend, or in class work, or in the medicine ball race, where 30 or 40 men can engage in an off-hand competitive event at one time, accord- ing to the size of the gymnasium, or out of doors, in pass- ing around in a large circle, or with a dozen squads (four men each is the ideal number), it has found favor. It will find more and more favor as time goes on. It can be used to imitate many acts of labor and sport, and is pleasing to both man, woman and child. A class of from eight to 30 or more can engage in this safe, short, easy and quick work. From two to eight or more medicine balls may be used, according to the size of the class. Have the class catch hold of hands and form a circle — or an oblong — touching finger tips. In this manner there will be good working room. Hold this distance while pass- ing the ball in various simple ways, using most of the move- ments of the A. B. C. Series No. 1, given below. Pass the i/7 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ball first around to the right, then to the left. Sometimes use basket balls with a small class. Sometimes let a heavy ball follow a light one. These variations add interest. Of course when two men are using a ball alone, there is less rea- son for supervision. The same thing is true when one man uses the ball, as he may well do, by bounding it against a firm wall, with an opponent who never gets tired. A. B. C. MEDICINE BALL SERIES, NO. i. Position, feet about 20 inches apart. Do each movement four times, except No. 12. 1. Throw from floor with straight arms. 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 Bounce, catch, throw with straight arms. Throw from front of thighs. Push from front of chest. Throw from top of head. Throw from back of neck. Throw from a high vertical. Throw from side of right thigh. Throw from side of left thigh. Put shot from right shoulder. Put shot from left shoulder. Do each above exercise once. SERIES NO. 4. This drill is adapted to a small class of enthusiasts. It is of the nature of advanced medicine ball exercise and may not suit an average class so well as simpler movements. Two or three men can find interest, vigorous exercise and amuse- ment in it. Each movement can be repeated until each man can do his share, or four times each as with the other drills, according to circumstances. An instructor may use a few minutes of this drill at the end of a class period, just before the bath. 1. Throw ball over head, catch behind back with both hands, drop to floor and roll to mate. 2. Repeat, catching with right hand only. 3. Repeat, catching with left hand only. 4. Repeat, but throw from behind back to mate, instead of rolling on floor. 5. Have mate repeat the four exercises. 178 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 6. Repeat No. 4, mate catching ball behind his back. 7. Have mate repeat No. 6. 8. Throw over head, catch behind back, throw over head, catch in front of chest, push to mate. 9. Have mate repeat No. 8. 10. Put shot with right hand, mate catching ball with right hand held high over right shoulder. 11. Same with left hand. 12. Have mate repeat Nos. 10 and 11. 13. Put shot for distance with right hand, mate catching ball and repeating movement. (Note. — The complete series of movements were printed in " American Gymnasia," of May and June, 1905.) ffj 3 n C* -l-> H to oj a G0 ■ih a cu o o * H 0) > ^ «j ** # rC >» ctf ~& ^ >» eS 4-> 1-1 S a o a u o> >H rd s a C -»-> to" o !/) TO fl >> W d C to T3 -M M QJ P o X +J o • I— 1 -t-» -M 1-1 TO o cu ft IH £ o •m a _, 03 CI t/J C> IH W QJ »»"l p<-t-> T5 cd '3 o o • .-< +J TO (1) c t-i 3 o fi o M w +J ►» TO r* en M r-l n* ft 3 PU 2 £ to a w ft s ^ S £ 0> © '§ fl § o C •Bis CHAPTER XXXII. THE THREE AGE PERIODS OF CHILD PLAY. "All students of play are accurate in dividing the play life of the child into three periods. This three- fold playlife requires a similar provision in play- grounds." By Joseph Lee. In the practical direction of play a fact of cardinal im- portance is that there are three age periods, each dominated b)^a characteristic impulse. At the beginning, dominant until about the age of six, is the dramatic impulse. Note for instance the names of the games that have survived in the long process of selection : London Bridge, Old Man of the Castle, etc. The impulse is something far deeper than that of mere imitation ; it is rather the instinctive tendency of the child to act out what he feels within him. When a girl plays doll she does, it is true, imitate what she has seen her mother do ; but the essential thing that is happening is that the mater- nal impulse has stirred within her and demands expression. Whatever guidance we give ought accordingly to be ad- dressed to the thing the child is trying to do as he himself feels it. We ought to help him to express, not to imitate. Second comes the age of self assertion — what I have ventured to call the Big Injun age. Its characteristic impulse remains dominant until of the age of ten or twelve, continues powerful, though in a subordinate capacity, for some years longer and lasts in a less degree through life. The first symp- tom of its coming is disillusionment. The boy begins to turn up his nose at the games of smaller children and shows an especial and peculiar aversion to the dramatic play that has characterized the preceding period. . . . The boy's love of mischief is another sign that the Big Injun age has arrived; 237 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS but his tendency to do precisely the most annoying thing he can find — to select as his playthings the boat that he does not know how to manage, the gun, matches, bathroom faucets, the hind legs of the horse — is not as many have supposed a manifestation of the plain, unadulterated Spirit of Evil. It proceeds from the boy's desire for real life. . . . The boy of this age is the severest and most unimaginative critic, the most materialistic of philosophers, the great skeptic, and, therefore, the great learner of all time. The practical corollary of this fact, for playground pur- poses, is that a boy of this age in an incomplete being; a learner, requiring a teacher to supplement him. If you must choose between a playground and a play leader, the leader at this particular period is more important. . . . That the playground is the place where the boy of this age must find the particular sort of life and activity he craves seems obvious. . . . The boy's apparent love of lawbreak- ing is simply another illustration of the impulse of self asser- tion of the necessity that is upon him for engaging in bold and daring enterprises. . . . Some noise in the world he must make ; let those who care that it should be an agreeable noise look to it ; with that matter he will not much concern him- self. Do not be made to believe, whatever the evidence super- ficially considered seems to prove, that a boy's desire for self assertion is at bottom a lawless one. As between lawlessness and games of daring and contests, the boy is comparatively in- different as to which it will be with him. To the boy both doors are labeled "sport." It is for us, who know where the two doors lead, to decide which of the two shall remain open and which shall be closed. The third playground age is the age of loyalty, the time when boys form gangs and when, if given a fair chance, they will form baseball and football teams. This gang impulse is not, as many superficial observers suppose, an evil one ; it is simply a budding of the great social impulse, of the faculty of citizenship, and the boys' gang or team is the kindergarten of the citizen. 238 CHAPTER XXXIII. HISTORY OF PLAYGROUNDS IN AMERICA. When an attempt is made to outline the history of play- grounds in America, a difficulty is encountered: there must be a distinction as to what is meant by the term "play- grounds." The enlightened present-day conception does not accept as a proper playground one in which there was no supervision or systematic work. This definition would rule out such a playing ground as Boston Common and other New England commons of similar type that were set apart in early colonial days ; it would rule out either Central Park, Van Courtlandt Park in New York City, Washington Park in Chicago, and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. These are all in one sense properly enough playgrounds in that they are places set apart for desirable recreation, mainly in the form of baseball, football, tennis, etc., and for simple resting or walking for children and older folks, where there is a chance to breath pure air, see unobstructed sky and feel the sun's rays. This type of playgrounds is usually identified with public parks, and has had a consider- able development during the past twenty-five years in all cities. They have been appropriately called "sport fields." The other type of playgrounds, of the sort now occupy- ing municipal attention, are organized, properly equipped and adequately supervised, as has been pointed out elsewhere, re- sulting in very efficient use and greater benefit to the indi- viduals. Both sorts of playgrounds are of service. The distinc- tion between them is made here so that the history may be more accurately and intelligently outlined. There were playing grounds of the first type in Cincin- nati in the late 6o's. Washington Park in Chicago, in use in the early 70's, contained 60 acres of land set apart for such forms of recreation as baseball, football and tennis. Lincoln Park in the same city was also in use at about that period and in 1895 an attempt was made to equip it in an up-to-date 239 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS manner with apparatus for systematic work. According to the records of the town of Brookline, Mass., there was a vote of that town passed April 10, 1872, providing for the pur- chase of land on which should be playgrounds. A town play- ground eventually materialized from this action, which was undoubtedly the first municipal vote for such grounds in the Unites States. The beginning of the present movement that has brought into being in America the second type of playground, dates from inspiration that came from Germany to Boston in the late '80s. As a result the Massachusetts Emergency and Hy- giene Association established sand gardens for small children in three locations. The next year there were ten such places and attendants or teachers were employed. These sand gar- dens were quite crude and incomplete, from present stand- ards, consisting of little more than heaps of sand at first, but there was rapid progress and elaboration. Philadelphia, New York and other cities soon took up the idea and sand gardens grew in number and efficiency from that day to this. The next step of lasting nature was the establishment of fully equipped playgrounds in which was provision for not only the small children but for older boys and girls, and for men and women. The first such establishment was not called a playground but was the Charlesbank outdoor gym- nasium in Boston, opened in 1889, followed two years later by an addition especially for women and girls. At about this time a law was passed in New York, fol- lowing the historical agitation of Jacob A. Riis, and perfected a few years later, authorizing the expenditure of $1,000,000 a year for small parks in each of which there was to be a playground. This law was passed in 1887. In 1894 land was bought under this law and in 1899 the first park was opened. But once having gotten the start made, New York went ahead rapidly and opened park after park in all the crowded and other sections of the city, some having fully equipped play- grounds and gymnasiums. Coincident with the location in New York of the headquarters of the Playground Association of America, that city has become a center of inspiration for the country. From these early institutions to about 1905, playgrounds 240 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS multiplied slowly throughout the country and varied widely iii character of work undertaken and in administration. Bos- ton and New York maintained their lead and had more such places than were to be found elsewhere. The conduct of all, or nearly all, was in the hands of private charity or philan- thropic workers. During the last five years the impetus given by the far- seeing volunteer workers and private philanthropists has lead to municipal interest and support so that now there are play- grounds scattered over every section of the country. Note. — Detailed facts and comments concerning play- ground history in America may be found in the report issued by the United States Bureau of Education, 1903, and in the book by Joseph Lee, entitled ''Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy." Chronology of Modern Playground, Outdoor Gymnasium and Public Recreation Events in the United States of America. This information has been compiled by the editor of 'American Playgrounds" from numerous sources and is believed to be essentially accurate and com- plete. Corrections of possible errors and information of any omissions of important events will be received with thanks and made use of in a later edition of this book or in other suitable manner. 1821 — First outdoor gymnasium ; in connection with Salem, Mass., Latin School. 1825 — First outdoor playground and gymnasium with supervision and systematic instruction ; at Round Hill School, Northampton, Mass. 1826-First public outdoor gymnasium ; in Washington Garden, corner of Tremont and West Sts., Boston, Mass. First college playground and outdoor gymna- sium; at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Appropriation by Yale College for gymnasium with apparatus on the college green. 1826-8 — Outdoor gymnasium established at Williams, Brown and Amherst colleges. (See Amherst chronology, page 266.) Note. — The foregoing efforts had short lives but are interesting to mark the early recognition of the need for such work as a part of physical training, in connection with educational institutions and out- side. There were no further noteworthy efforts in this line for over 50 years (until the late '8os) except that in — 1852 — First public bath house ; in New York City. 241 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 1866 — First free public baths established by City of Boston. 1876 — Floating summer baths started in New York City. 1889 — First bath in a public school house; in Boston. 1890 — First municipal bath open all the year ; in Mil- waukee, Wis. Note. — The baths in New York and Boston were not in connection with playgrounds or gymnasiums, nor was the one in Milwaukee, but were forerunners of public baths that are so connected at the present time. 1872 — First legislative action recognizing play- grounds, being a vote of the town of Brook- line, Mass., to purchase certain land for play- ground purposes. 1876 — First park playground or recreaation field; Washington Park, Chicago. 1887 — State law in New York authorizing small parks in lower New York City, being the first official step toward the laws of 1895 making definite provision for municipal playgrounds in that city. First sand garden established in Boston, Mass. (Here was the real beginning of the present playground movement.) 1889 — First free, equipped and supervised outdoor gymnasium for public use; Charlesbank, Bos- ton (for men and boys). Incorporation of Brooklyn (N. Y.) Society for Parks and Playgrounds ; first of its kind in New York state. 1890 — First New York City playground; by Society for Parks and Playgrounds for Children. 1891 — Section for women and girls added to Charles- bank Gymnasium, Boston. Incorporation of New York Society for Parks and Playgrounds ; pioneer organization. First school garden; at George Putnam School, Boston. 1893 — First Providence, R. I., playground; by Union for Practical Progress. 1894 — First Chicago playground with equipment of modern type ; Hull House. First Philadelphia playgrounds ; by City Park Association. First Baltimore playground, started by a Play- ground Association of Baltimore ; failed from lack of supervision ; movement revived by Children's Playground Association and play- ground opened 1897. 1896 — University Settlement of Northwestern Uni- versity, Chicago, opened initial children's play- ground on extensive scale in that city, equipped with apparatus. First playgrounds in Pittsburg, Pa. ; by Civic Club, in school yards. 1897 — First recreation pier opened; in New York City. Mulberry Bend Park, New York, dedicated. 242 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 1898 — Outdoor Recreation League formed in New York City. First Minneapolis, Minn., playground; by Im- provement League, in school yard. First Denver, Col., playground; by Woman's Club, on borrowed land. 1899 — inrst municipal playground in New York City, a result of the laws of 1895 ( see l ^>7 above). l 9 Q 2> — Creation of the South Park, Chicago, recre- ation center idea. 1904 — Formation of the Department of Public Rec- reation of the American Civic Association, the first organized effort in behalf of playgrounds nationally. !905 — Opening of the first of the South Park recre- ation centers, Chicago. 1906 — Play festival and field day for country chil- dren inaugurated at New Paltz, N. Y. 1907 — First outdoor play festival in connection with modern recreation centers, at Chicago, June, 1907, on closing day of first convention of Playground Association of America. Organization of the Playground Association of America, the first national organization solely for the promotion and systematizing of the movement. 1908 — Inauguration of extension work by Univer- sity of Missouri Department of Physical Edu- cation to spread playgrounds and physical training to all towns and cities of the state. Formation of Parks and Playgrounds Associ- ation of the City of New York by a union of the Brooklyn Society for Parks and Play- grounds and the Metropolitan Parks Asso- ciation. Playgrounds Congress by Playground Associ- ation of America, New York City, Sept. 8-12. In Germany. (Whence came most of the inspiration for American playgrounds). 1872 — First organized school play as a factor in gymnasium work. 1874-84 — The play movement formulated and ad- vanced by individual workers, writers and lo- cal organizations. 1891 — Organization of the Central Committee for the Advancement of Folk and Child Play. 1894 — First general congress, in Berlin. The foregoing may be taken as a concise statement of initial progress — early playground history in a nutshell — but it is of value to know more details of past successes and fail- ures ; to know more of the foundation upon which the present successful work was built. The information contained in the following pages is taken principally from an unpublished manuscript which was 243 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS prepared as a thesis by H. H. Buxton, in 1899. under the su- pervision of Luther H. Gulick, now president of the Play- ground Association of America and then director of the phy- sical training department of the International Y. M. C. A. Training School, at Springfield. Mass., where Mr. Buxton was a student. The manuscript has been preserved in the library of that school, by whose permission it is made use of in this book. It will be noted that the first movement was simply to transfer to the open air, gymnastics such as were conducted indoors. The early death of each independent effort in the right direction evidently created a wet blanket that effectu- ally hindered any subsequent efforts of special importance for half a century, or until 1887, although there were inter- vening evidences that the idea was alive but sleeping quietly, waiting for the proper conditions and the proper persons to permit it to awake and become a helpful energy for the peo- ple's physical welfare. Two or three other facts stand out that are of historical value and interest. The first inspiration for an outdoor gym- nasium in America took root in Xew England, from physical training sources. After the end of this and its contemporan- eous initial efforts, the next revival came directly from Ger- many, also took root in Xew England, and very soon led to the more ambitious provision for public physical welfare in an outdoor gymnasium of the type that has survived and been duplicated to the present day. Details presented in the following pages are as origin- ally prepared by the author in 1899. Supplementary data since that year is contained in the Chronology included in this chapter. Very recent developments of the movement are re- ferred to in several parts of "American Playgrounds." Cur- rent and future developments may be followed in the monthly publications ''The Playground" and "American Gymnasia." First Efforts. — In 1821 we have a record of the first gym- nasium of any description in America. It was in Salem. Mass.. at the Latin School, where this crude outdoor gymna- sium was started without supervision or instructor, the stu- 244 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS dents being allowed to do any exercises that took their fancy upon the rude apparatus placed in the yard. At the Round Hill School in Northampton, Mass., a plot of ground was set apart for play and gymnastics in 1825, furnished with the German type of apparatus. Exercise was required of the pupils three times a week under the super- vision of Dr. Charles Beck, a former pupil of Jahn in Ger- many. It would appear that the first public gymnasium of any note in the United States was the gymnasium opened Sep- tember 28, 1826, under the directorship of Charles Fallen, a pupil of Jahn.. It was situated in the Washington Garden at the corner of Tremont and West Streets, Boston. The number of pupils increased from 200 at the start to 400 the first year, but in the second year there were but four pupils, due, it was stated, to the fact that the "novelty had ceased and some of the gymnasts had been caricatured in the print shops." In March, 1826, Harvard College placed apparatus in the college playground known as the Delta. This was the same year that Harvard opened its first indoor gymnasium in one of its dining halls. In September, 1826, Yale College made an appropriation of $300 for the clearing and preparation of grounds on the college green for a gymnasium with apparatus. In May, 1827, Williams College, and, in June of the same year, Brown University took similar steps. Amherst College started work in the same direction during the same period. The movement did not spread at this time and soon ceased almost entirely. The next period of interest came in the late 80s when a public outdoor gymnasium and play- ground for both sexes and all ages was opened on the Charles- bank in Boston through the efforts of the Massachusetts Emergency and Hygiene Association. This was the start- ing point of the present playground movement in America. The initiative came through a letter written by Dr. Marie E. Zakrzewska, in 1887, to the association's chairman stating that in Berlin there were placed in the public parks sand- piles in which the children dug and played. The suggestion was made that something of the kind might be done in Bos- 245 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ton. Sand piles were promptly located and the next year a committee was appointed to develop and enlarge the scheme. The next step was to get the use of school yards during the summer vacation period, where additional sand piles were placed. The second year instructors trained in kindergarten methods were placed in charge. The sand-pile work having been started so successfully, the Park Commissions of Boston investigated the matter and decided to use some of the city parks for similar purposes. They also fitted up the Charlesbank open air gymnasium, be- fore mentioned, covering ten acres of land, costing $373,916 and for construction $305,513. At the start an instructor in gymnastics and athletics was employed to supervise the gym- nasium 450 x 150 feet. The gymnasium was enclosed in an iron fence, on the inside of which was "a strip of green five feet wide, studded here and there with bushes and trees ; in- side of this is a cinder running track, five laps to the mile. Within this the ground is fitted with gymnastic apparatus and places for high and broad jumping, running, pole-vault- ing, putting the shot, throwing fifty-six-pound weight, etc." New York. — The playground movement in New York was started, as usual in all cities, by private individuals. The first establishment "was located on the corner of Seventh Ave. and Thirty-seventh St. and was opened May 1, 1896, by Miss Grace Dodge. Apparatus was installed and some systematic work was carried on, including team games of baseball. In winter the grounds were flooded for skating and sliding." At about the same period the Nurses' Settlement opened small playgrounds on Henry St. The Union Settlement maintained a large playground on South 104th St. and others were maintained on West 37th and West 68th St. respectively. The mayor of the city was partially interested by priv- ate individuals in the matter of providing playgrounds and outdoor gymnasiums with provision for athletics, games and gymnastics. The Outdoor Recreation League was organized "to obtain recognition of the necessity for recreation and physical exercise as fundamental to the moral and physical welfare of the people ; to secure the establishment through 246 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS the city of New York of proper and sufficient exercise in rec- reation places, playgrounds and open air gymnasiums for the people." The school board at a meeting June 13, 1898, voted that eighteen yards be "used for purposes of recreation during the vacation months the expenditures made necessary to be paid from the funds now at the disposal of the board." . The first superintendent of these school playgrounds was Seth T. Stewart, a pioneer promoter of the movement. In 1898 a comprehsive plan for an extensive series of playgrounds was prepared and adopted by the school board. An appropriation of $15,000 was made for the work. (The details are to be found printed in the regular report of 1898, pages 28-32.) Twenty-four playgrounds were opened during July and August in charge of 153 directors and assistants, who were called together four times during the season to meet the superintendent for conference and instruction, "with a view of securing thorough play through the following points : 1 — Character building ; 2 — Co-ordination of physical powers ; 3 — Development of physique." In the school buildings adjoining the playgrounds, li- braries and reading rooms were opened and quiet games such as checkers and chess were played in them. Kindergarten games were used by the children in the yard, gymnasium ap- paratus was installed and a variety of group games were used. Affiliated with the Outdoor Recreation League were nineteen societies in the city. The league opened August 27, 1898, with formal dedication exercises, the Hudson Bank Gymnasium and playground, this being the first of its kind in New York City. It was situated at 53rd St. and nth Ave. The opening address was delivered by James E. Sullivan, then secretary of the American Athletic Union. Seth T. Stewart of the Board of Education and Charles B. Stover of the league were speakers. A demonstration of gymnastic exercises was included in the program. The grounds were well attended until closing exercises for the year in October, when prizes were awarded in cometition. Philadelphia. — The playground movement in Philadel- phia was first agitated by several societies such as the Civic 247 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Club, the Culture Extension League, the City Park Asso- ciation and the College Settlement. The first meeting to con- sider the advisability of establishing playgrounds for chil- dren in the crowded districts was held in the winter of 1893 under the auspices of the City Park Association. The mat- ter was kept before the public through the newspapers pre- ceding a large meeting May 25th, 1894, attended by leading citizens, editors and friends of the cause. The City Park As- sociation opened a playground that summer. June 12, 1894, the Women's Christian Temperance Union petitioned the board of education to keep open the public school playgrounds during the summer months. A similar petition was communicated to the board in February of the following year by the people who had been advocating play- grounds. Further efforts were made to get the board of ed- ucation to favor the movement. The favor was finally se- cured and four grounds were opened during July and August, 1895, as an experiment. The result was favorable so that for the year 1897 the appropriation was increased from $1000 to $3000, thus insuring the growth and effective of the move- ment. In 1898, twenty-five playgrounds were maintained by the board of education with aid from the Civic Club. Besides the school yards, different societies conducted playgrounds. The Culture Extension League equipped two, one in Dickinson Square covering about three acres, the equipment of which cost about $12,000. Here there were separate buildings for boys and girls with baths and the grounds contained running track, sandgarden, swings and other apparatus as well as space for games. The grounds were flooded in winter for skating and were opened all day until ten o'clock at night. In 1899 the children's new playground and day house in East Fairmont Park was completed. It was erected under the provisions of the will of Richard Smith at a cost of about $200,000. This building, in addition to being a play place for children, included provision for mothers and babies, includ- ing a diet kitchen and nursery with proper attendants. Baltimore. — To the United Women of Maryland is due the credit of starting the playground movement in that city in 1897 through inspiration that came from Boston, largely 248 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS through an address given at Baltimore by Miss Ellen M. lower, chairman of the Committee on Playgrounds of the Massachusetts Emergency and Hygiene Association. Although the United Women of Maryland are credited with starting the Baltimore movement, there was a Play- ground Association of Baltimore in 1894, which began work with much enthusiasm. Having no competent supervisor to look after and direct the play of the children, the efforts soon failed. July 1, 1897, the Children's Playground Associa- tion of Baltimore, a department of the United Women of Maryland, opened its first playground in the grounds of the Eastern Temple high school. Another ground was opened for colored children. The following year, 1898, five play- grounds were opened and the work has continued to date. Pittsburg. — In 1896 the education department of the Civic Club, Pittsburg, Pa., made a successful effort to have opened some school yards during the summer months for small children. The work was supported by contributions from private individuals. Providence. — The Union for Practical Progress started the playground movement in Providence, R. I., in 1893, with the aid of the Providence Free Kindergarten Association, after investigating what was being done in Boston. In 1897 the association took charge of the whole work as the union had ceased to exist. The school authorities granted the use of several grounds and rooms and Miss Helen P. Howell was appointed superintendent with a corp of assistants, including fourteen kindergarten and primary teachers. The grounds were opened from July 7th to September 8th with daily morning and afternoon sessions, except Saturday afternoons and Sundays. There were nine grounds opened in 1897, seven for small children and two for larger boys ; one fitted up with outdoor gymnasium apparatus quickly became very popular. Chicago.— It was thought originally that the complete chain of parks and boulevards encircling Chicago would sat- isfy every need of the growing population. This proved a mistake, and it was seen that something must be done for the children of the densely populated portion of this, the greatest city in the West. The mistake was due at first to the supposition that 249 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS everybody could go to parks and spend a joyful time, if not every day, once a week or so. But this city is no different from others. Hundreds of persons never have time to visit the parks once a year, much less once a week. Parks or some such requisites must be furnished people in the thickly settled portions of the city. "In 1896, under the auspices of the University Settle- ment of the Northwestern University, a large and splendidly equipped playground was opened which would accommodate from three to four thousand children." The expenses for this work were paid by several gentlemen who desired to furnish an object lesson to the city. "Numerous swings, large and small, giant striges, seesaws, sand piles, etc., afford ample amusement for the children, who fairly swarm here. There is also a large shelter provided with plenty of benches, and with a retiring room. A police officer, who is a father to the boys, and a matron have charge of the grounds. The police in the neighborhood are much interested in this venture ; in the spring they planted six trees in the grounds," showing their appreciation of the work. In 1897, the West End District of the Associated Chari- ties maintained a playground in the Washington School yard, and in addition supported for five years near the Hull House a large playground in a vacant lot. In the spring of 1898, an appropriation of $1,000 was ob- tained from the city council for "temporary small parks." This sum was placed at the disposal of the vacation- school committee of the Women's Clubs. Six school yards, with basements and one room to be used on hot and rainy days, were secured from the Board of Education. The Turnverein was greatly interested and loaned portable gymnasium appa- ratus. Note. — The progress of the movement in Chicago to its present status is detailed in Chapter 28. Brooklyn, N. Y. — Pioneer work of value was done here in 1889 when the Brooklyn Society for Parks and Play- grounds was organized under a state law passed the preced- ing year authorizing the incorporation of "societies for pro- viding parks and playgrounds for children in the cities, towns and villages" of the state. Independent interests 250 o o H > •l-H ^3 o u AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS maintained a playground in City Park in 1897. The society later conducted three playgrounds. Milwaukee. — The Milwaukee City Park Commissioners established a playground in West Park for trial in 1897 with sand piles and movable apparatus. San Francisco. — The California Club, composed of women, took the initial step, in 1898, for the establishment of playgrounds. Playground Development Abroad. As the American playgrounds started with sand gardens in Boston, so the German playground movement started in Berlin sand gardens. Very typical of German methods is the systematic promotion, perhaps in a little more serious way than is likely to be adopted by Americans. The older Ger- mans seem, when viewed through American eyes, to play in much the same way that our young children do ; that is, they make a business of playing. This method may be satisfac- tory in Germany, although the recent and current efforts to introduce there more of the free play and athletic spirit found in England and in the United States, seems to show that the German leaders recognize a deficiency in their own methods. While the Germans are getting ideas from America and England, it is worth while for these two nations to make more use of the German method of great open air folkfests for many people and all people. There is much literature in the German language relat- ing to playground work. A recent translation which presents a history of the movement was printed in the "American Physical Education Review" of June, 1908. There is also a summary of German conditions in the report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1903, which report has considerable material of similar nature including America at that period. French playgrounds have been developed in recent years and are being included now under educational guidance as well as in public parks. English playgrounds have taken on an aspect somwhat different than that in this country, having consisted mainly 251 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS until very recently in space for and the promotion of ath- letics and sports in connection with schools of the type that are known in this country as private or preparatory schools ; also the characteristic sports at the universities. The de- velopment of physical training in England, especially in the schools and the social settlement work, have brought into ex- istence a considerable number of playgrounds and recreation centers more nearly approaching the type that is being devel- oped in the United States, although there as here often con- ducted as features of social welfare work. Scotland has in Glasgow a series of a dozen or fifteen modern playgrounds equipped with apparatus. It has been stated that these playgrounds were the first anywhere in the modern world conducted by a municipality ; that is, they were the first playgrounds in the modern understanding of that term. One defect, which is being remedied, was that the playgrounds did not have systematic supervision or instruc- tion. Other European governments have taken up the play- ground idea and are developing it in one form and another, including Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. This is true also of Japan, which is at the present time conducting a systematic investigation for the purpose of adopting eventually a modern and complete system for the physical welfare of its people in all respects. 252 CHAPTER XXXIV. SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THE PLAYGROUND. (Reprinted by permission of the United States Commissioner of Education from the report of the Bureau of Education, 1903, being part of a chapter in that report.) By Henry S. Curtis, Ph. D. A number of problems that occur in every playground will be treated under this head, and also a superficial glance at social and moral conditions in the playground will be given. Cleanliness. — One of the things which claim the attention of every playground worker is the cleanliness of the children. Of course no very high standard can be extracted. The child who comes clean in the morning will not be clean after he has played basketball for an hour. But there are some children who become so dirty when left to themselves that other chil- dren (especially true of girls) do not want to associate or play with them. Their appearance is a disfigurement to the playground and a bad example to the other children. A child, who will behave very respectably when he himself is clean, will tend to live up to a very different standard when he is filthy. Of course, dirty children can not be allowed to take books from the library, or play many of the games, or do in- dustrial work, so it follows that some standard of cleanliness must be insisted on. This does riot extend to excluding chil- dren with bare feet, in my opinion, though this has been done. In general, a great deal can be accomplished by putting in as monitors and leaders only those children who are clean, and let the other children know why these children were selected. In drills some teachers give a military inspection of the line and insist on some standard of neatness. Occasional praise of neat children and hints to those who are too careless of their appearance are usually sufficient, but children are sometimes sent home for too great negligence in this matter. 253 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Politeness. — Politeness is another problem. A high standard of parlor etiquette can not be required, neither can the roughness of the street be tolerated. If the leader does not insist on politeness to herself she will not be respected, and if the children do not grow more polite to each other nei- ther can her influence be availing, nor can the playground furnish a very wholesome social life. There is an unquestion- able increase in politeness among the children frequenting any well-managed playground. This is due in part to the kindly spirit which pervades the play, and in part to the chil- dren learning that there is such a thing as politeness in play, and something of its requirements. It may seem absurd, but it is really true, that most of these children have never dreamed that politeness applied to such things as their play with each other. But the main source of this improvement is the example of the teachers, who take pains to be very polite in playing the games and in the general treatment of the chil- dren. Justice, waiting their turn. — One of the best effects of the playground movement has been the cultivating in the children a sense of justice. In the street might makes right. When the playgrounds opened, the large children did not expect to wait their turns with the small children at the swings or apparatus. They went to the head of the line, or even pulled the small child out of the swing. This has changed, but whether it in- dicates any considerable reformation or only respect for au- thority it is hard to tell, but the influence on the child is sure to be good. This respect for the rights of others is one of the most needful lessons for a child to learn, and the writer knows no better way to teach it. The method that has ordinarily been employed to prevent a scramble for scups, swings, see- saws, etc., is to line up the children and put a monitor in charge to give each child so many swings. This in itself is not always effective, as children will step out of their places and step up ahead of other children. To prevent this the children are sometimes lined up according to their size, or each child is given a slip with a number on it. A reliable child with a little instruction will manage this. Often some game like bean bag or buzz is started for the children who are stand- ing in line. 254 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS Stealing. — Stealing is likely to occur in any playground, especially in the first week or two it is opened; but if the worker succeeds in raising a school spirit, the older children will soon cease to take things. Gangs. — The playgrounds of most cities were troubled at first by gangs of boys who came in for mischief. In the first week or so they often caused great annoyance, so that a police- man was stationed in every playground in New York. The gang problem is becoming much less acute as the system be- comes better organized and the workers learn better how to deal with them. The gang can often be conquered by turning them into a gymnasium or basketball team. In this they have the advantage over other teams in having a strong spirit of loyalty to each other. They will usually respect a gymnast who is capable and tries to help them, and they will expend their superfluous energy in work instead of mischief. In order to do this it is usually necessary for the teacher to make friends with the leader. By making monitors of one or two of the moving spirits, the whole gang is often subdued and very effective assistants are gained in the playground. This is a method that must be used with discretion, as the influence of such monitors on the other children is not always good. This same method will very often work with the troublesome child in general. If he can be influenced to help or if he is put in charge of something, he ceases to be a nuisance and makes a very effective assistant. After the work of a play- ground is well organized the home talent will generally take such good care of its premises that a troublesome gang will soon find the street a pleasanter abiding place. Profanity, Obscenity, and Cruelty. — All of these offenses will be met with in the playgrounds. There are cases of chil- dren who are lewd both in actions and language. There has been trouble in some cases from loose girls in their early teens. The only cure of the evil seems to be to exclude the girls. Playgrounds can not be made reformatories for such charac- ters. The influence of the teacher is divided among too many children, and these characters may have a bad influence over many. The teacher can not correct it, because these things will be said when she is not around. Playground Spirit. — To a keen observer who visits dif- 255 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS ferent playgrounds it is soon evident that there is a different spirit in each. The children have a different attitude toward each other and toward the work and teachers in the various playgrounds. Some playgrounds do not seem to differ from the streets ; there is no loyalty. In other playgrounds you feel that there is an air of friendliness ; you find older children assisting the younger ones ; often the teacher may go away and the playground will take care of itself. It is the creation of this spirit that is the hardest task of playground teachers. It requires unusual qualities for one to be largely successful. The writer has never known but two or three such leaders of children. If this school spirit is analyzed it seems to me to resolve itself into a three-fold loyalty. It consists in loyalty to the leader, loyalty to the playground, and loyalty to the other members. In most cases one or two of these elements are lacking, and consequently the result is imperfect. Discipline. — There are not many ways of punishment open to the playground teacher. The main method must al- ways consist in having the work so well organized, the chil- dien so friendly, and surplus energy so well consumed that dis- order will not naturally occur. When it does occur, the moral penalty of the disapprobation of the teacher and the other children will then be a strong preventive. When this is not effective the child is excluded from teams or games or, as a last resort, from the playground. Social and Moral Influences. — As the playground has al- ways been regarded as something of a social settlement, it remains to say a few words of its social and moral forces. The first of these is the playground itself, in removing the chil- dren from the temptations of the street. There is a sugges- tiveness about the playground which differs from that of the street. The child does not naturally think of doing the same things. The games themselves have a great influence in over- coming race prejudices and cementing friendships among children. The teachers have often taken a great interest in the work and in the children, and their personal contact with them has borne fruit in a copied politeness, gentleness and justice. •■56 QUOTATIONS AND EXTRACTS It is doubtful if a great man ever accomplished his life work without having reached a play inter- est in it. — George E. Johnson. The more playgrounds the fewer the hospitals, asylums and prisons. — Stoyan Tsanoff. To play in the sunlight is a child's right, and it is not to be cheated out of it. And when it is cheated of it, it is not the child but the community that is robbed of that besides which all its wealth is but tinsel and trash. For men, not money, make a coun- try great, and joyless children do not make good men. — Jacob A. Riis. Experience has shown that it is not desirable to establish playgrounds or athletic fields any faster than adequate supervision can be provided. Such supervision is the only guarantee of equal participa- tion by all who are entitled to it and the only safeguard to the tendency toward disorder, selfish agression of the strong upon the weak and the immoral influences which may make a playground an offence instead of a beneficient influence in the community. — From report of a Joint Committee to the Mayor of Rochester, N. Y. 257 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS PLACE OF PLAY IN A DEMOCRACY. By Luther H. Gulick. Play in itself is neither good or bad. To sink one's very soul in loyalty to the gang is in itself neither good or bad. The gang may be a peril to the city, as indeed is the case in many cities. The gang of boys that grow up to be the political unit, bent merely upon serving itself, possessing a power which mutual loyalty alone can give, is thereby enabled to exploit others for its own advantage in a way that is most vicious. My point is that these mutual relationships have an ethical effect. This effect may be toward evil and it may be toward good; but the ethical nature in itself is primarily related to self-control and to freedom. * * * * Anti-ethical play is worse than no play at all. It is not merely play that our cities and our children need. They need the kind of play that makes for wholesome moral and ethical life, the play that makes for those relationships between individuals that will be true to the adult ideals which belong, and should belong to the community. * * * The two great institutions that have to deal with children — the school and the home — rest primarily upon the development of the qualities of obedience. The playground alone affords to children the one great opportunity for cultivating those qualities that grow out of meeting others of like kind under con- ditions of freedom; it develops progressively, from babyhood on, the sense of human relationships which is basal to wholesome living. Thus the play- ground is our great ethical laboratory. * * * Democracy must provide not only a seat and in- struction for every child, in school, but also play and good play traditions for every child, in a play- ground. Without the development of these social instincts, without the growing of the social con- science — which has its roots in the early activities of the playground — we cannot expect adults to pos- sess those higher feelings which rest upon the ear- lier social virtues developed during childhood. The sandpile for the small child, the playground for the middle-sized child, the athletic field for the boy, folk dancing and social ceremonial life for the boy and the girl in the teens, wholesome means of social relationships during these periods are fundamental conditions without which democracy cannot con- tinue, because upon them rests the development of that self-control which is related to an apprecia- tion of the needs of the rest of the group and of the corporate conscience, which is rendered neces- sary by the complex interdependence of modern life. — From paper on "Play and Democracy." 2 5 8 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS PLAY AND DANCING FOR ADOLESCENTS. (From an article by G. Stanley Hall, in "The Independent.") Dr. Hall's well known sympathy with dancing and the joyfulness that modern study says is a necessary part of our physical training and of life generally, is indicated in this paper. He presents three views of what play really is and means : Her- bert Spencer says play is superfluous activity and the overflow of vitality, and that if vitality is defi- cient the child ought not to play; Gross says that play is practicing in childhood activities that will be necessary in mature years. Dr. Hall approves the third view — that play is re- hearsing activities of the race in the past and is "the best kind of education, because it practices powers of mind and body which, in our highly specialized civilization, would never otherwise have a chance to develop. Hence, in my opinion, this latter view contains more truth than any other, and to under- stand the play instinct we must know something of the past life of the race, and even where we do not understant it we must assume that we could do so if we knew more of the past." Dancing he rates as "one of the most beneficent groups of play activities for adolescents." "I would have dancing taught in every school, even if the school had to be opened evenings for that purpose. The dances chosen should be simple, rhythmic, al- lowing great freedom, such as the Morris dances now being revived in England, and sometimes the song and dance. We should also teach old folk and national dances after very careful selection from a wide repertory. The object aimed at should be the cultivation primarily of the sense of rhythm; next, the ease and economy of movement, for grace is only another term for ease. There should be great va- riety and poise ; balance, control, ease, presence and bearing, rather than posturing or feats of agilitv are the goal." "Another end to be aimed at in teaching all children to dance should be the- im- planting of a habit of so doing that should last on into maturity, not to say old age." "What we want first of all is more knowledge of what dancing has meant and can do, and I appeal to young clergymen and to directors of Y. M. C. A.'s to bestir and in- form themselves, for the time is not far distant, un- less I am mistaken, when they will be called upon to act in this matter." "Dancing is one of the best expressions of pure play and the motor needs of youth. Perhaps it is the most liberal of all. forms of motor education." Right dancing can cadence the very soul, give nervous poise and control, bring harmony between basal and finer muscles, and also between feeling and 259 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS intellect, body and mind. It can serve both as an awakening and a test of intelligence, predispose the heart against vice, and turn the springs of character toward virtue." "Adolescence is the golden period of nascency for rhythm."— G. Stanley Hall in "Youth." WHTA IS DANCING? By Melvin B. Gilbert. ''Dancing is considered by many to be a mere mechanical moving of the feet to music. This idea is false in the farthest degree. Dancing is the ex- pression of inward emotion, and movements become meaningless, mechanical and gymnastic, when not inspired by the promptings of the inner self. The general public is inclined to applaud mere difficulty, marvelous material execution, novelty and singular- ity of combinations, which have no relation to our passions or emotions. ''All arts have two distinctive parts — the expres- sion of human passions and sentiments which con- stitute their foundation, and the peculiar mechan- ism or process of each, which gives the form, and of which the artist must be master. A dancer must know how to execute movements, steps, postures, etc., but if effort stops there, and if one does not seek to speak to the soul as well as to the eyes, he will remain a simple gymnast or acrobat. "The peculiarity of dancing is to evoke souls by means of bodies ; to create the spiritual and the ideal by means of the material and the real. With these qualities, dancing to be esthetic must have finish in its execution, vivacity, rapidity, voluptuous grace, eloquence of coporal gesture, and attitudes that speak to the senses. In theory, we might, perhaps, lay down the axiom that dancers are emblems and not persons ; they are poets, expressing themselves without the apparatus of the writer, without words, without rhyme, without conventional signs in black and white. Sentiment should never be outdone by virtuosity, the essential should never be eclipsed by the accessory." "Dancing is, next to eating and drinking or feast- ing, the most primitive form of enjoyment." RECREATION FOR GIRLS IN CITIES. By Jane Addams. The discovery of the labor power of young girls was to our age like the discovery of a new natural resource. In utilizing it thus ruthlessly we are not only in danger of quenching the divine fire of youth, but we are imperiling our civilization itself, if in the movement of its most pronounced materialism we dry up the very sources of beauty, of variety, of suggestion, which these charming creatures have always given to the world. To fail to provide for the recreation of young girls is not only to deprive all of them of their natural form of expression, and 260 AMERICAN PLA YGRO UNDS to subject some of them to the overwhelming temp- tation of illicit and soul destroying pleasures, but it furthermore pushes society back into dreariness ; into a scepticism of life's value — that shadow which looks around the corner for most of us — it deprives us of the warmth and reassurance which we so sorely need and to which we are justly entitled. PLAYGROUND AND KINDERGARTEN METHODS. (From 1907 Report of Frank E. Parlin, Sup't. of Schools, Quincy, Mass.) The kindergarten is a very desirable part of a public school system, if it be a real childgarden, a place where children are cultivated and allowed to develop according to natural laws. But if, by arti- ficial methods and forced processes, the children are to be taught unnatural sentiment and make believe, are given no opportunity for originality and spon- taneity and are deprived of sunlight and open air, the kindergarten could be discouraged as being de- cidedly detrimental to the physical and mental well- fare of children. * * * Many of the plays and songs used (in kinder- gartens and schools) have been devised by adults who teach the ways of the animal world or the occu- pations and virtues of men, and are both in thought and in manner of playing wholly unnatural to chil- dren. There is a great difference between this play- ing play and the genuine spontaneous play of chil- dren in which, after observing the acts of men and animals, they extemporize their own means and in- vent their own methods. In imitation the children demand the free exercise of their own imagination. The games they most enjoy are those probably in- vented by children and have been played by children for centuries. The time will come when the kindergarten will be out of doors, when the kindergartner will con- duct children to the best places to observe the birds, the brooks, the flowers and the industries of men and will intelligently answer as many of their questions as she can. Or she will take them to the playground to watch them in their play and teach them the old games of childhood. * * * One thing seems certain, if the school room would divide the time equally with the playground, the co- partnership would be unusually profitable to the children of the primary grades. The director of physical training should be competent to map out and supervise the work in the elementary schools. It certainly is to be hoped that the time is near at hand when our numerous parks and playgrounds shall be utilized as they ought to be in the education of children and when the play instinct shall be called in to do its proper part in their motive development and training. 261 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF RIGHT GAMES AND RIGHT SUPERVISION. By Dudley A. Sargent. "The prominent part which so-called recreative games are now playing leads us to ask just what recreation really is. Etymologically considered, the word "creation" means a forming and "re-creation" means forming anew. When applied to the body, the word "creation" means a forming; and "re-creation" vital energies. Therefore recreation is, or ought to be, not a pastime entered upon for the sake of the pleasure which it affords, but an act of duty under- taken for the sake of the subsequent power which it generates and the subsequent profit which it in- sures. Recreation may be defined as that which, with the least expenditure of time, renders the ex- hausted energies best fitted to resume their work. Most games are played for the fun, the enjoyment, or recuperative power there is supposed to be in them ; but if they are played so long and hard as to become exhausting, they are certainly not recreative. * * * "In the popular mind baseball, football and row- ing are included under the general term 'athletics/ but for educational purposes it is better to group baseball and football with cricket, tennis, golf and lacrosse, under the head of games. As these games are played at present * * * there is an element want- ing, especially for children or hard-worked students, that is found in another class of games which may be well termed 'plays.' The plays include the dif- ferent forms of tag, with which we are all familiar, the impromptu races and contests of one kind and another, and the gymnastic games, which the in- telligent instructor knows how to sandwich in be- tween the different periods of routine work to relieve the set exercises of their monotony, or to dispel the gloom that usually accompanies a dark, stormy day. One of the first essentials of such games is that they shall appear to the pupil to be spontaneous, though all the details must be carefully arranged be- forehand for the instructor. "It is of the utmost importance that the right games should be introduced at the right time and that they should be checked in case they become too violent, overheating or exciting. The school- teacher should take the position of leader and advisor rather than of preceptor. Of course he should be perfectly familiar with all the games taught and should be the willing interpreter of all the rules and regulations governing them. He should encourage the weak and timid and restrain those who are too strong and overbearing. He should be the umpire in all disputes and the ready exponent of justice and fair play. Occasionally he should start impromptu contests in running, jump- ing, and some of the lighter forms of gymnastics 262 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS and athletics. He should be the first to recognize merit when he sees it and to call attention to the fine points and particular excellence of any one's performance. On the other hand, he should be the first to frown upon anything that looks like cheating or dishonesty and should immediately visit his disapproval upon any young athlete who gains an advantage by any kind of unfairness. "By supervising and conducting games in this way the teacher not only has an admirable opportunity to study the character of his pupils and thus acquire a knowledge which will prove valuable in the school- room but also a chance to instill into their minds in connection with their athletic sports the im- portance of such qualities as promptness, obedience, alertness, energy, perseverance and justice." — (From "Physical Education.") BEGINNINGS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS. By Robert W. DeForrest. I do not think that any movement for the im- provement of social conditions should proceed unless private philanthropy has first marked the way. I believe that private philanthropy should always be relied upon to make the experiment and that the public, that is the tax payers, should not be called upon to support any movement, however promising, for the improvement of social conditions until that movement has passed beyond the line of experiment and has become a success. Speaking historically, that is the way in which every movement of our government for the public good for social improvement has commenced. It seems hard to realize with our public schools and our public school system that there ever was in this country a condition in which private philanthropy had to be relied upon to give children a primary education. And so it may in view of succeeding generations seem very strange that there ever was a time in this country when private philanthropy had to be relied upon to take the initiative in getting public playgrounds. It is an enlargement of the sphere of governmental action. That has been its history : first experiment by private enterprise fol- lowed up by governmental initiative and govern- mental support afterwards. * * * One word as to the municipal management of playgrounds. * * * I am inclined to think that conditioned as our Amer- ican city governments are on short terms of office, without always having the wisest and best men in control, that some kind of partnership between private enterprise and our cities may turn out to be a very wise kind of arrangement. 263 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS A BOY LEARNS CITIZENSHIP IN GROUP GAMES. By Joseph Lee. The group games are. in my opinion, the best school of citizenship that exists. In playing these games the boy is not going through the forms of citizenship — learning parliamentary law, raising points of order and moving the previous question — he is being initiated into its essence, actually and in a very vivid way participating in the thing itself. To the boy playing football, the losing himself in the consciousness of the team, utterly subordinating his individual aims to the common purpose, is not a matter of self-sacrifice but of self-fulfillment, the coming into his birthright, the satisfying of his human necessity of socialization, of becoming a part of a social or political whole. What is being born in that boy is the social man — man the politician, man the citizen, and it is my belief that in most instances this political or social man will get himself thor- oughly and sucessfully born in no other way. If in making public provisions for the education of our children, — in our anxious search of the heavens and the earth and the water under the earth for all possible subjects and materials with which to arouse and to enlighten them, — we still fail to supply the one opportunity which of all others the child's nature imperiously calls for. the one thing which in any case, if not in one form then in another, he is most certainly going to have, we can- not expect that our system shall be a success. If our public schools are for the -making of citizens, then we must turn the force of the spirit of citizenship, as it actually exists in the boy's soul today, into its legitimate channel of making a citizen of him instead of allowing it to run partly to waste, and partly to turning him into a tough or criminal. PLAYGROUNDS AND THE PHYSICAL TRAINING PROFESSION. What has the playground movement to do with the physical training profession? This question indicates that to some physical di- rectors the present tendencies to extend the care for the physical welfare of the people, young and old, beyond the limits of the gymnasium has no spe- cial interest, unless the interest be antagonistic. The play movement is not opposed to the fundamental physical development that is still to be best secured in a properly conducted gymnasium. If there is any confliction, it is more than apt to be the fault of short-sighted, partly-informed gymnasium instruc- tors. To be sure, some enthusiastic promoters of play and games claim fully as much for these ele- ments of physical training as they can prove, but that is the characteristic exaggeration of youth. Time will modify and force each element into its proper place. Gymnastics, athletics, games, play, 264 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS dancing, walking, and open-air activities of various sorts are certainly parts of the work for members of the physical training profession. The instructor who does not think so, or, still worse, who says the present development is wrong, needs to wake up. The present growth in the conception of physical training in this country is bringing us to the ground long occupied by Europeans who class under "phy- sical education" items that the profession of physical training instructors, in a more narrow application of the term, have been content to ignore. To be sure, it is the mark of the educated — the scientific — profession that it is conservative and slow to alter its ideas, but there comes a time when readjustments have to be made to meet conditions. The play movement now conspicuous did not gain its present popularity by any help of the physical training profession, and not by much help from in- dividuals in the profession, but came rather from social and educational working-students. Neverthe- less play always belonged to physical training and belongs to it now. Playgrounds are the laboratories of the physical training profession, quite as much as the gymnasiums and the athletic fields. To allow them to be used by others and not by those who should be best fitted to guide and direct their use- fulness, would be neglecting a tremendous oppor- tunity. (From "American Gymnasia" editorial.) GROWN-UP FOLKS NEED THE PLAY SPIRIT. (From an address by J. J. Kelso, Toronto, Can- ada.) "In the older civilizations, in Europe, they have their national play festivals and the people de- vote themselves heart and soul to this enjoy- ment, and are not too proud or too dignified to laugh, and have a good time. In this advanced age and country you know it is almost a crime to laugh, and one has to be very dignified and grave, notwithstanding that doctors tell us that a good laugh is better than medicine any time. In the older civilizations they give more atten- tion to the matter of play than we do here. You have heard about Merry Old England with its village green and Maypole, and interesting stor- ies of olden time festitvities, although I am afraid these are disappearing in the England of to-day. In the United States the only place so far that has developed the festival idea to any extent is New Orleans, where the people have the delightful mardigras lasting for three days, but looked forward to in anticipation for months. We (in Toronto) made an attempt at something of that kind some years ago. We had a sum- mer carnival — four days of solid enjoyment. That was a dismal failure, and why? Not be- cause we did not want it to be a success or that it was not a good thing, but because we were 265 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS not educated up to the idea of enjoyment, of going in for a pleasant sociable time, free from business cares and anxiety. "Nowadays we are getting to iook on the sad side of life altogether too much, and we ought to keep constantly in mind that man needs di- version, needs to forget the cares and worries of business life, and if we cannot be happy our- selves, if we are too busy making money to take time to enjoy life, let us at least provide the facilities for boys and girls to be young while they are young. The whole tendency of modern times seems to be to make prematurely old folks of our boys and girls." EARLY EFFORTS AT AMHERST COLLEGE. (From "Athletic Chronology of Amherst Col- lege," by Paul C. Phillips, M. D., associate professor of physical education.) The following outline of very early steps to- wards physical training at Amherst College is interesting because it is possible to trace here the progress of the movement, which started out of doors and afterwards went into a building, the Barrett gymnasium, and quite recently has re- versed its steps and is going to the open air more and more. This outline applies to college physical training without special thought of play- grounds in any sense, but the work done and doing is all in the same line. 1826 — A special holiday was granted the stu- dents to clear up College Grove as a place for outdoor exercises. 1827 — Gymnastic Society formed for the erection and support of gymnastic apparatus in the grove; Joseph Howard, '27, first president. 1827 — Bath house, 10x12, erected in southwest corner of the grove for shower baths ; water conducted thither by troughs from college well. 1828 — Faculty discontinued plans for bowling al- leys, "as they would be noisy; though inno- cent in themselves might be perverted." 1828 — Occasional addresses on physical culture delivered before the Gymnastic Society. 1828-45 — Gymnastic Society- equipped with swings, a circular swing, a rude horse of wood and spring boards in the grove; jump- ing, running, round ball, loggerheads, quoits and association football indulged in. 1845 — Running track cleared in grove; wicket in- troduced; parallel bars used. 1852 — Swinging rings used in grove. 1858 — Wrestling, boxing, fencing, kicking and weight lifting added to exercises in grove. 1859 — Amherst ball club organized. 266 AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS i860 — Barrett gymnasium completed. 1862 — Dr. Edward Hitchcock chosen professor of hygiene and physical education. STATE EXTENSION PLAN. In pursuance of a policy for the rational co- ordination and development of comprehensive phy- sical training upon an educational basis inaugurated at the University of Missouri seven years ago under the direction of Prof. Clark W. Hetherington, the department of physical education began in 1907 an extension policy intended to extend the benefits of physical training to the towns and cities of the state of Missouri. Prof. Hetherington conducted an ener- getic campaign first for purity of American college athletics and later for the same purification through- out the country, his work being based upon a con- structive social policy, broad and deep as well as wide and inclusive. Following this general policy has come the present playground extension work which has begun to bear fruit the present summer (1908). In charge of this state work is a social economist, Prof. Royal L. Melendy. Organized work has been begun in some thirty towns and villages in Missouri, usually under the supervision of the local school boards, most of them agreeing to manage play or vacation schools during the summer months, provided the funds for maintenance were secured by contribution. The school boards also agreed that if the work was suc- cessful, to incorporate it into the educational system with provision for its maintenance from public funds. The necessary backing for this season's work was secured in a dozen communities where play schools are being conducted. The whole work so far is experimental. "Missouri must be shown the educational value of a necessity for the play school in the small city and rural village. The fact that the plan was adopted by the unanimous vote of 29 of 31 school boards, that instead of meet- ing opposition from the people it was generally re- ceived as a plan designed to meet a long felt need was a surprise and an encouragement to increase the facilities for university extension in this direction." Such work by a university presents one additional phase of the conception of what may be done for the advancement of the physical welfare of the people by those who know and are willing to do the initiatory work. 267 A LIST OF AVAILABLE BOOKS. containing information on play and games, phy- sical training and other features having relation to playgrounds and outdoor gymnasium activi- ties. The aim in compiling this short list has been to name books and other publications that can be secured, rather than a long bibliography of inaccessible publications. All the publications here mentioned can be supplied by American Gymnasia Co., Boston, Mass., at prices indicated. For a more complete bibliography of material relating to play as well as to playgrounds and kindred interests, see — "Playgrounds," a pamphlet compiled by Jo- seph Lee, published by American Civic Associ- ation. (10 cents.) "Education by Games and Play," G. E. John- son. (90 cents.) General. Growth and Education, John M. Tyler. — Relation of exercise, play, games, etc., to life of the race $1.50 The Human Mechanism, Hough and Sedg- wick. — Physiology, hygiene, sanitation of mankind 2.00 Physical Education, Dudley A. Sargent. — Survey of conditions now and in the future 1.50 Sexual Hygiene (male), Winfield S. Hall. — Practical book for teachers and young men 1.00 Physical Education by Muscular Exercise, Luther H. Gulick. — Why and wherefore of sports, games and exercise 75 Psychological, Pedagogical and Religious Aspect of Group Games, Luther H. Gulick (nearly out of print) 25 Play and Playgrounds, Joseph Lee. — A pamphlet of practical value for commit- tees and instructors 10 Educational Value of Children's Play- grounds, S. V. Tsanoff Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy, Joseph Lee. — The relative phases of playgrounds to other means 1.00 American Municipal Progress, Charles Zueblin. — Has a chapter (19) relating to playgrounds 1.25 Play of Animals, Karl Gross 1.50 Play of Man, Karl Gross 1.50 The two books by Gross are stand- ards of their type, being treatises on play in various aspects. Education of Man, Froebel 1.50 Education by Plays and Games, G. E. John- son. — Has sections on both theory and practical application 90 268 Youth, G. Stanley Hall 1.50 The Field Day and Play Picnic for Country Children, Myron T. Scudder. — Descrip- tion of events, how to work up interest, sample programs, lists of games 12 First Steps in Organizing Playgrounds, Lee F. Hanmer, with description of methods that have been used to advantage 12 Dancing. Old English Games and Exercises, Kirk. — For children 60 Maypole Possibilities and Dances, Lincoln. — Figure marches, American and English country and folk dances, the Maypole exercises, etc 1.00 Folk Games and Dances, Mari R. Hofer. — With music and description 75 Children's Old and New Singing Games, Hofer .50 Old Danish Folk Dances, Hanson and Gold- smith. — Description, 75c; music, $2.70; both 3.45 Old Swedish Folk Dances, Bergquist. — De- scription, 75c; music, $2.30; both 3.05 Swedish Weaving Dance, Bolin. — Descrip- tion and music 25 Swedish Folk Dances, Clapp and Bjerstedt. Description, 75c; music, $1.50; both.... 2.25 Song Plays, Bolin. — Music and description, for children 75 Folk Dances and Games, Crawford 1.50 Dance Songs of the Nations, by Oscar Duryea. — Ten fancy dances with proper music and detailed description 2.00 Folk Dance Music, Burchenal and Cramp- ton, selected from various nations; paper covers, $1.50; cloth covers 2.00 Marching Calisthenics and Fancy Steps, Lundgren. — For school and gymnasium use 50 Rythmical Balance Exercises, Perrin and Starks. — Fancy steps with description.. 1.50 Play "Exercises and Marching, including fancy steps for school children, Nissen .25 Dancing, its relation to educational and so- cial life, Dodworth 1.50 Dancing, Wilson. — Practical directions mainly relating to social dancing 50 Grammar of the Art of Dancing, Zorn, translated by A. J. Sheafe from the Ger- man. (Special prospectus free) 10.00 Games. Gymnastic Games Classified, Arnold. — Paper cover, 70c; cloth 1.00 150 Gymnastic Games, B. N. S. of G 1. 10 Gymnastic Games (200), Grey 70 Popular Gymnastics, Betz 75 Education by Plays and Games, Johnson... .90 269 Educational Gymnastic Play, Johnson and Colby. — For children 70 Gymnastic Stories and Play, Stoneroad. — For children 75 Play — Its Value, with 50 games, Lamkin... .66 Graded Games and Rythmic Exercises, Marion B. Newton. — Games and plays for school room, playground and home use by children 1.25 Athletics. Practical Track and Feild Athletics, Graham and Clark 1.00 Track and Field Athletics, Harpers 1.50 Popular Gymnastics, Betz. — Adapted to play- ground use 75 Handbook of the Public Schools Athletic League. — Contains rules for events, conduct of meets, rules for tests, hints on training. . . .12 Marching. Manual of Marching, Cornell 30 Infantry Drill Regulations, U. S. Army. — Paper cover, .30 ; cloth 50 Tactics of the Individual, Arnold 25 Gymnastic Tactics, Betz 75 Gymnasium Apparatus Exercises. Parallel Bars, Dimmock 50 Horizontal Bar, Dimmock 50 Vaulting Horse, Campbell 50 1076 Gymnastic Exercises, Harvey 40 Horizontal Bar, Butterworth 1.00 Code Book of Exercises, Puritz 60 German-American System, W. A. Stecher. — Sections on all forms of physical training, illustrated liberally 2.60 Class Drills, Exercises, Etc. Pyramids and Postures, A. B. Wegener 15 1000 Dumb Bell, Indian Club and Bar Exer- cises, Harvey 40 Wand Exercises, Chesterton 50 Light Gymnastics, W. G. Anderson 1.50 Pyramids, Harvey 40 Club Swinging, W. J. Schatz 1.00 How to Tumble. Butterworth 1.00 Drills and Marches, Lundgren 50 Miscellaneous. Fencing with the Foil, Heintz. — Class and indi- vidual exercises with catechism 25 Foil and Sabre, Rondell 3.50 Skating, Badminton 2.50 The Art of Swimming, R. F. Nelligan 50 Any of the publications listed sent on receipt of price quoted. Information regarding any title sent on request ; table of contents can be supplied in some cases ; by American Gymnasia Co., Boston, Mass. 270 OGT 23 WU8