and arms, or from playing with his fingers and his toes. He derives
satisfaction from the sensations of touch and sight and sound, as
well as from the feeling of freedom and the sensation of his active
muscles. But this infantile play is not only satisfying to the
child; it is a means for learning the use of his little hands and
arms and legs. When the baby learns to crawl, and later to walk, he
derives pleasure from the exercise of his newly-acquired arts, and
at the same time attains perfection in the use of his limbs and in
the correlation of his muscles. He is also gaining strength with his
growth, for these muscles will not gain in strength unless they are
exercised. Of course, the child does not know about these advantages
of play; but the mother should know and give the growing child every
opportunity to exercise himself in every possible way; for thus
alone can he gain in strength, in endurance, and in confidence.

When the child is a little older his play takes on new forms, for he
is now deliberately _making_ things: the chairs become wagons
and animals, the corner of the room may be made into a lake, a
pencil or a button-hook is quite long enough for a fishing pole, and
a handful of beans may be converted into all kinds of merchandise,
coins for barter, a flock of birds, or seaside pebbles. That is, as
the child's experience broadens, he finds more to imitate, he
exercises his imagination more, and combines into more complex plays
the materials he finds about him. But all the time the child is
_working_, as much so as an artisan at his task; and all the
time the child is _learning_, more rapidly probably than if he
were at school; and all the time the child is _playing_, that
is, enjoying the outlet of his impulses.

[Illustration: Work is play.]