established, and placed in charge of competent and enthusiastic
leaders, who are teaching the children something they never should
have unlearned. But at the same time we are coming to realize that
the children in the country and in small towns, although they have
plenty of space, have not really had the opportunity to get the most
out of their play activities. It would seem that even the instinct
of play can be made to work to better purpose when it is
intelligently directed. It is our duty, then, to provide not only
play space and play time, but also play material and, where
possible, play direction. It is our further duty to keep alive in
ourselves, as far as possible, the spirit of play; for there is no
one thing that will do so much to keep us young and in sympathy with
our children as the ability to play as they play, and to play with
them.

Excepting only the infant when playing with his fingers and toes, the
child must play with some _person_ or with some _thing_. The selection
of suitable toys becomes a more serious problem than is commonly
realized, when we once recognize the great influence of play upon the
child.

Stepping into the toy shop, we are confronted by a multitude of
objects, the variety and quantity of which are distracting.
Everything that the ingenuity of man could devise is here presented
to our astonished eyes, and children gaze upon the great spectacle
and are delighted. If we go to the store just to be amused or to buy
_something_, a very indefinite something for a child of a
certain age, we are quickly satisfied. But if we have in our mind
some idea as to what is really good for the child who is to receive
the gift, it is just as hard to find the right thing to-day in the