Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium - Jessie Hubbell Bancroft (good books to read for young adults txt) 📗

Thus, the little child of six years enjoys particularly games in which there is much repetition, as in most of the singing games; games involving impersonation, appealing to his imagination and dramatic sense, as where he becomes a mouse, a fox, a sheepfold, a farmer, etc.; or games of simple chase (one chaser for one runner) as distinguished from the group-chasing of a few years later. His games are of short duration, reaching their climax quickly and making but slight demand on powers of attention and physical endurance; they require but little skill and have very few, if any, rules, besides the mere question of "taking turns." In short, they are the games suited to undeveloped powers in almost every particular but that of imagination.

Two or three years later these games are apt to seem "babyish" to a child and to lose interest for him. His games then work through a longer evolution before reaching their climax, as where an entire group of players instead of one has to be caught before the game is won, as in Red Lion, Pom Pom Pullaway, etc. He can watch more points of interest at once than formerly, and choose between several different possible modes of play, as in Prisoners' Base. He gives "dares," runs risks of being caught, and exercises his courage in many ways. He uses individual initiative instead of merely playing in his turn. This is the age of "nominies," in which the individual player hurls defiance at his opponents with set formulas, usually in rhyme. Players at this time band together in many of their games in opposing groups, "choosing sides"—the first simple beginning of team play. Neuro-muscular skill increases, as shown in ball play and in agile dodging. Endurance for running is greater.

When a child is about eleven or twelve years of age, some of these characteristics decline and others equally pronounced take their place. "Nominies" disappear and games of simple chase (tag games) decline in interest. Races and other competitive forms of running become more strenuous, indicating a laudable instinct to increase thereby the muscular power of the heart, at a time when its growth is much greater proportionately than that of the arteries, and the blood pressure is consequently greater. A very marked feature from now on is the closer organization of groups into what is called team play. Team play bears to the simpler group play which precedes it an analogous relation in some respects to that between modern and primitive warfare. In primitive warfare the action of the participants was homogeneous; that is, each combatant performed the same kind of service as did every other combatant and largely on individual initiative. The "clash of battle and the clang of arms" meant an individual contest for every man engaged. In contrast to this there is, in modern warfare, a distribution of functions, some combatants performing one kind of duty and others another, all working together to the common end. In the higher team organizations of Basket Ball, Baseball, Football, there is such a distribution of functions, some players being forwards, some throwers, some guards, etc., though these parts are often taken in rotation by the different players. The strongest characteristic of team play is the coöperation whereby, for instance, a ball is passed to the best thrower, or the player having the most advantageous position for making a goal. A player who would gain glory for himself by making a sensational play at the risk of losing for his team does not possess the team spirit. The traits of character required and cultivated by good team work are invaluable in business and social life. They are among the best possible traits of character. This class of games makes maximal demands upon perceptive powers and ability to react quickly and accurately upon rapidly shifting conditions, requiring quick reasoning and judgment. Organization play of this sort begins to acquire a decided interest at about eleven or twelve years of age, reaches a strong development in the high schools, and continues through college and adult life.