as Goethe shows in _Wilhelm Meister_, of the greatest possible
educational advantage. In them the child expresses his ideas of the
world about him and becomes master of his own ideas. He acts out
whatever he has heard or seen. He acts out also whatever he is
puzzling about, and by making the terms of his problem clear to his
consciousness usually solves it.

[Sidenote: Dancing]

As for dancing, Richter exclaims: "I know not whether I should most
deprecate children's balls or most praise children's dances. For the
harmony connected with it (dancing) imparts to the affections and the
mind that material order which reveals the highest, and regulates the
beat of the pulse, the step, and even the thought. Music is the meter
of this poetic movement, and is an invisible dance, as dancing is a
silent music. Finally, this also ranks among the advantages of his
eye and heel pleasure; that children with children, by no harder canon
than the musical, light as sound, may be joined in a rosebud feast
without thorns or strife." The dances may be of the simplest kind,
such as "Ring Around a Rosy," "Here We Go, To and Fro," "Old Dan
Tucker" and the "Virginia Reel." The old-fashioned singing plays, such
as "London Bridge," "Where Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow," and
"Pop Goes the Weasel" have their place and value. Several collections
of them have been made and published, but usually quite enough
material may be found for these plays in the memories of the people of
any neighborhood.

[Sidenote: Toys]

All these plays, it will be noticed, call for very simple and