if we recognized the depressing effect of routine and solitude and
monotony. One of the chief reasons why working girls prefer to go to
shops and factories, as against domestic service, lies just in this
natural instinct for society. The work of the household has much
more variety than the work of a factory; but most of it has to be
done in solitude, without the stimulation that comes from the
companionship of others doing the same thing, or at least working
within reach of the voice.

[Illustration: In their games they should learn to lose as well as
to win.]

The truly wonderful transformations in character that have been
worked in girls and in boys by means of well-organized play have
taught us the moral value of team-work for the older children. In
these games, which come at a period when the child has already
acquired considerable skill and strength, the chief interest is in
doing the best for the team, so that the individual learns the
importance of subordinating himself to a common purpose. He learns
the joy of contributing his best to his "side" without considering
his individual glory or gains. In this way he acquires that negative
but very important side of self-control which consists in the
ability to _avoid_ doing what the impulse would drive him to.
He learns also the importance of dreary drudgery, in his practice
work, for acquiring special skill, and a boy will spend hours in
such dull practice, animated by the desire not to excel some other
individual, but by the desire to help his team win. He learns not
only to take his place in the game, but to judge his companions by
their special ability and by their value to the group, rather than
by clothes or personal feelings or other outward and incidental