The play-grounds of some schools are paved with bricks, which I have found to answer very well, as they absorb the rain so quickly, that ten minutes after a shower, the place is dry enough for the children to play in; which, perhaps, would not be the case with any other kind of paving. They are commonly placed flat on the ground, but I should prefer them being put edge-ways, as they would last many years longer, yet it would take nearly double the number of bricks were they so placed.[A] If it be not paved, the ground will be soft, and the children will make themselves dirty. It should be so managed that the water may be carried off, for, if there are any puddles, the children will get into them. Some persons have recommended a few cart-loads of good iron-mould gravel, there being a sort which will bind almost like a rock, if well rolled; but the children are liable to dig holes if it is only gravel. If this is noticed in time it may be prevented; but if they are suffered to proceed, and no notice be taken of it, it will be very difficult to prevent them from continuing the practice. If money can be saved by any plan, perhaps it is as well to notice it; but after having weighed the advantages and disadvantages of gravelling, I am of opinion, that bricks are preferable. I should also recommend that fruit-trees be planted in the centre of the play-ground, and likewise round the walls; which will delight the children, and teach them to respect private property. If any person doubts the propriety of this plan, I can only say we leave many play-grounds thus ornamented: and instead of proving a temptation to the children, it has so far become the means of confirming principles of honesty in them, that they never touch a single flower or even a leaf in the garden. There should also be a border of flowers round the play-ground, of such sorts as will yield the most fragrance, which will tend to counteract any disagreeable smell that may proceed from the children, and thereby be conducive to their health, as well as to that of those who have the charge of them. They will, besides, afford the teacher an opportunity of giving the children many useful lessons; for the more he teaches by things, and the less he teaches by signs, the better. These things need be no expense to the establishment, except the purchase in the first instance, for they will afford an agreeable occupation for the master before and after school-hours, prepare him in some measure for the duties of the day, and afford him an ample opportunity of instilling a variety of ideas into the minds of the children, and of tracing every thing up to the Great First Cause. I have witnessed the good effects of these things, which makes me desirous of humbly but earnestly recommending them to others.
[Footnote A: In Lancashire, and other places where flagging is cheap, it has been found decidedly better than any other plan alluded to above, the children will not hurt themselves more by falling on flags than they would on bricks or pebbles.]
With regard to the expense: if 200 children pay two-pence each per week[A], which is now the usual charge, the annual receipts will be, deducting four weeks for holidays, about £80, and if the deficiency be made up by subscriptions and donations from the friends of the system, it may be easily adopted, and all its advantages secured. A village school might be furnished for half the money, and supported at less than half the expense. I QUESTION WHETHER IT DOES NOT COST THE COUNTRY AS MUCH FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL THAT IS TRANSPORTED OUT OF IT, AS WOULD SUPPORT THREE INFANT SCHOOLS ANNUALLY, and secure good pay to the teachers, with 200 infants in each school.
[Footnote A: In some parts of St. Giles's, Wapping, &c., &c., many of the parents are not able to pay, and many that are, would sooner let their children run the streets than pay a penny; yet the children of the latter persons are the greater objects of charity; and it is the children of such persons that chiefly fill our prisons. We want three classes of infant schools: one for the middle class, who will pay; for skilled mechanics, who will pay 2_d_. or 3_d_. per week; and for the poor and illiterate who will pay nothing.]
Every year increases my conviction of the great importance of the play-ground, and of the folly of some of my early views respecting it. Finding a great variety of lessons and objects necessary to arrest the attention of children, diversified as they are in disposition and taste, it was supposed that an equal variety of toys was required for the play-ground. A good supply of balls, battledores, shuttlecocks, tops, whips, skipping-ropes, hoops, sticks, and wheelbarrows, was, therefore, obtained, and we flattered ourselves that this must produce universal happiness. In thus, however, we were most grievously disappointed; for the balls frequently bounced over the wall,—the players, not being able to throw them with the precision of Spartan children, sometimes struck their comrades, perhaps, in the eye: if we could succeed in quieting the sufferer, by a kiss and a sugar-plum, the ear was as immediately afterwards saluted with the cry of, "O, my chin, my chin," from some hapless wight having been star-gazing, and another, anxious for as many strokes as possible, mistaking that part for the bottom of his shuttlecock; while this would be followed by, "O, my leg," from the untoward movement of a stick or a barrow. In short, such scenes were insupportable; and what with the accidents that arose, and the tops without strings, and the strings without tops, the hoops without sticks, and the sticks without hoops, the seizure of the favourite toy by one, and the inability of another to get any thing, it was evident that we were wrong, but not so clear how we could do otherwise.
It then occurred that we might provide some wood-bricks, about four inches long, an inch and a half thick, and two inches and a half wide, and of these a thousand were obtained. With these children are exceedingly amused from the variety of forms in which they may be placed, and of buildings which may be erected with them.
The play-ground should always be at the rear of the premises, and as private as possible, that both teachers and pupils be secure from annoyance of any kind. The entrance should be only through the school, and no other way; this secures the flowers, the fruits, and the moral training of the children.
[Illustration]
In addition to these, all that is required is a rotatory swing, of which the above is a representation. To make one, a pole eighteen or twenty feet long should be firmly fixed in the ground: three feet of the but-end should be sunk, secured by sleepers to keep it steady: it should be at least three quarters of a yard in girth at bottom, and taper gradually to the top to half that size. An iron rim is to be driven on the head of the pole to keep it from splitting, and then a spindle at least an inch in diameter, with a shoulder, is to be fixed in it; an iron wheel with four spokes turned up at the end like a hook, to which four ropes are to be fastened, must then be made to revolve on the spindle. As the ropes reach the ground, four children may take hold of them and run round until they bear the whole weight of the body on the arms; and this exercise will be found to strengthen the muscles, and give vigour to the whole frame. In a large school there should be two swings of this kind,—one for the girls, and the other for the boys. The teachers must, however, be careful the first few weeks, to train the children to look about them: this they are but little disposed to do, hence the most impressive manner should be adopted, and I will venture to say, should any injury be sustained by the children, the fault will not be theirs. The effect of the instruction thus urged will be valuable in other cases; for a child, thus taught to watch against accident, will be careful in passing crossings, and going through crowded streets, and thus be likely to escape many dangers into which others fall. This exercise may also be accompanied by instruction, as the children may repeat "The Cow," or "The Sheep," or any other lesson, as the measure of the time during which four may have the swing. It will, moreover, afford an opportunity for detecting the selfishness of some children, by their wishing to keep the ropes too long, and the passion of others, from the vehemence with which they will insist on their rights; but, as on such occasion, both are to be forbidden to swing any more that day, they will soon learn to bear and forbear.
In the event of a child being thrown down from standing in the way, all the children should be placed in the gallery, and this one shewn them. If it appear hurt, all will pity it; let then the question be put, How did this happen? and the answer will be, perhaps, "Please, sir, because he did not make use of his eyes." Here, then, is full opportunity to inculcate caution, and to inform and benefit the whole. For example: the master may say, How many senses have we? The children will answer, Five. Master.—Name them. Children.—Hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. M. Where are the organs of sight? C. Here (pointing to the eyes). M. Look at this child, and see if he has them. (Here an inspection will take place, the sufferer will look sheepish, and begin to perceive he has not made the best use of the sense of seeing, whilst the singular observations of the children will sharpen his faculties, and make such an impression as to cause him to be more cautious in future; and many a scholar who is sitting in judgment will profit by the circumstance.) I have known the lives of several children saved by such simple lessons, and they are of as much importance as any that are taught, though I am not quite sure that all the teachers will think so. Too many, to save trouble, will find fault with the swing; and I have known several instances where the swing had been taken down in consequence. We have found the swing answer in all three countries; it strengthens the muscles, which, in physical education, is a matter of the highest importance. It has been introduced into juvenile schools with similar success; and, also, in ladies' boarding-schools I have personally inspected tine effects produced. Under all these circumstances, and in every instance, I have found the most beneficial effects produced, provided the exercise was properly regulated and superintended. It will not do, therefore, to have this important part of the system dispensed with. The teachers must be present at all the exercises in the play-ground, or, more properly speaking, the training-ground. Non-attention to this is a capital error; and, if persisted in, must be followed with dismissal.