CHAPTER XIV
GAMES
“The difference between a genius and a pedant consists exactly in this, that the genius performs his work playfully, while the pedant groans under the drudgery of his task.”
—Paul Carus.
“The real fall of man is to do things without zest.”
—G. Stanley Hall.
The Value of Games. All games are play, but not all plays are games. In a game some rule is involved, some goal or object is to be attained. Usually, though not always, in a game, two or more play together.
Most children under three years of age, and many under four, have not developed sufficient self-control, imagination, memory, and judgment to play a game. If “Hide-and-Seek” is attempted, they will run out of the hiding place before they are discovered. In “Hunt the Thimble”, they will point out where the object is hid. They are with difficulty held to the sequence of circle games, except of the simplest sort.
At about four years, however, most children have the mental and social development to find interest in circle games, traditional games, and some competitive games.
Supplementing the educational values of play in general, different games have some of these additional educational values:
Training in social relationships, in group action, coöperation, competition