_Collecting._ It is in the nature of children to seize and, if possible,
carry away whatever attracts attention. This tendency is the basis of
what is called the collecting instinct. If one will take a walk with a
child, one can observe the operation of the collecting tendency,
particularly if the walk is in the fields and woods. The child will be
observed to take leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, nuts, pebbles, and in
fact everything that is loose or can be gotten loose. They are taken at
first aimlessly, merely because they attract attention. The original,
natural response of the child toward that which attracts attention is
usually to get it, get possession of it and take it along. It is easy to
see why such tendencies were developed in man. In his savage state it
was highly useful for him to do this. He must always have been on the
lookout for things which could be used as food or as weapons. He had to
do this to live. But one need not take a child to the woods to observe
this tendency. One can go to the stores. Till a child is trained not to
do it, he seizes and takes whatever attracts attention.

Just as the wandering tendencies can be used for the benefit of the
child, so can the collecting tendencies. Not only should the children
make expeditions to learn of the world, but specimens should be
collected so that they can be used to form a museum at the school which
will represent the surrounding locality. Geological, geographical,
botanical, and zoölogical specimens should be collected. The children
will learn much while making the collections, and much from the
collections after they are made.

"Education could profit greatly by making large demands upon the
collecting instinct. It seems clear that in their childhood is the time
when children should be sent forth to the fields and woods, to study