Page:Indoor and Outdoor Gymnastic Games.djvu/23

Rh "Again, 'We must not ignore the play-impulse in human nature, which, according to Schiller, is the foundation of all art. Meet Nature on the cricket ground or at the regatta; swim with her, ride with her, run with her, and she gladly takes you back once more within the horizon of her magic, and your heart of manhood is born again into more than the fresh happiness of the boy.'"

("Play in Physical Education," G. E. Johnston; American Physical Education Review, Vol. III., no. 3, p. 179.)

The belief that play activity has its root in instinct is by no means novel. Professor James, in his chapter on instinct, catalogues what seem to him to be the most prominent of the tendencies which are instinctive in the human species, and in the list is play. In 1877 John Strachan, a physician of Edinburgh, issued a little book in which he endeavors to show that play is instinctive, and that it is Nature's method of preparation for mature life, claiming that play activity, alone, is sufficient for the highest development of all the faculties, mental or physical. Mr. Johnson also claims in this article that play is a preparation for future serious occupations, and cites the play of kittens or young dogs as an example. But observation seems to teach us that in many cases the play activity seems to be a rehearsal of race instinct, as in the hunting and fighting games of boys. We are inclined to think that it is both.

The boy who is building a hut in the woods and the girl who is making a dress for her doll are working with all their might, but are nevertheless at play, acting from "inner necessity and impulse," and from tendencies which are clearly instinctive. Moreover, it is the glory of play, that it may not only prepare for future serious occupations, but does actually in some happy cases, develop into a life work. Art belongs to play, and he who paints or chisels or writes because he must is only following out a play impulse into and through maturity. It is serious now, and for that reason, and for dignity's sake, perhaps should be termed work rather than play.

To recapitulate. Play activity is rooted in instinct. It is a law