Toys, Play and Discipline in Childhood 1032348593, 9781032348599

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ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: EARLY YEARS

Volume 13

TOYS, PLAY AND DISCIPLINE IN CHILDHOOD

TOYS, PLAY AND DISCIPLINE IN CHILDHOOD

BEATRIX TUDOR-HART

First published in 1955 by Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd This edition first published in 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1955 Beatrix Tudor-Hart All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-032-34369-3 (Set) ISBN: 978-1-032-34859-9 (Volume 13) (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-34882-7 (Volume 13) (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-32427-0 (Volume 13) (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003324270 Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.

TOYS, PLAY AND DISCIPLINE IN CHILDHOOD by BEATRIX TUDOR-HART Formerly Principal, Fortii Green School

1955

LONDON ROUTLEDGE AND KEGAN PAUL

First published in 195$ by Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. Broadway House • 68-74 Carter Lane, London, E.C.4 Printed in Great Britain by the Bowering Press, Plymouth and London

To MY DAUGHTER WHO TAUGHT ME MUCH

Contents INTRODUCTION THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND PLAY

page

I

GOOD AND BAD PLAY MATERIAL

3

WHAT NEEDS DO TOYS SATISFY

5

DISCIPLINE

6

CHAPTER I. BABYHOOD (0—2 years) THE NEED FOR PLAY

10

THE FIRST YEAR

11

The infant's routine: First sensations: Sense training: Social play: Early Discipline ACTIVITIES FOR THE TODDLER

21

Crawling and walking: Investigating the world LEARNING TO BE CLEAN

25

IMAGINATIVE PLAY

29

EARLY DISCIPLINE

31

MEALS

32

CHAPTER II. THE NURSERY YEARS (2-6 years) LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

35

OUT-DOOR OCCUPATIONS

36

Physical skills and balance for the two-year-old: Play equipment: Living things: The fiveyear-old vii

Contents PLAYING INDOORS

page

The two-year-old's needs: The older nursery child: Fantasy play: Dramatic play: Learning adult skills: Creative experience BOOKS Fantasy tales: The beginning of reading MUSIC

45

59 65

CHAPTER III. THE DISCIPLINE OF THE NURSERY YEARS

OUR RIGHTS AND THEIRS

THE DISCIPLINE OF HOME ROUTINE THE CHILD'S RIGHTS IN THE HOME CARE, TIDINESS AND DAMAGE THE DAILY ROUTINE

67

70 73 74 77

MEALS

78

OUTINGS

79

TANTRUMS

80

NEGATIVE BEHAVIOUR, RUDENESS AND BAD LANGUAGE

82

CHAPTER IV. THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE NURSERY THE BABY'S FIRST CONTACTS THE TWO-YEAR OLD NEEDS COMPANIONS NEEDS AND ACTiviTIES DURING THE NURSERY YEARS GROUP PLAY EXPERIMENTING AND LEARNING FROM OTHERS viii

88 90 94 96 99

Contents CHAPTER V. A NURSERY SCHOOL DAY THE DAY'S ROUTINE

page

104

NURSERY SCHOOL MATERIAL

108

OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT

116

ABOUT ANIMALS AND PLANTS

120

CHAPTER VI. THE SCHOOL CHILD THE SLOW APPROACH TO SCHOOL WORK

124

PLAY NEEDS

127

OUTDOOR GAMES AND SKILLS

131

BOOKS FOR THE SCHOOL CHILD

133

CHAPTER VII. THE DISCIPLINE OF LATER CHILDHOOD THE DEMANDS OF SCHOOL, CUSTOM AND TRADITION

138

THE DRIVING FORCES UNDERLYING SELF-CONTROL

142

STEALING AND LYING

145

CHAPTER VIII. THE SCHOOL CHILD'S SOCIAL LIFE THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDREN THEY NEED ADULT HELP MORE LASTING FRIENDSHIPS; LEADERSHIP HELPING CHILDREN TO HAVE THE RIGHT SOCIAL APPROACH PERSONAL AND GROUP RESPONSIBILITIES THE 'GANG' STAGE ix

149 151 152 154 156 159

Contents CHAPTER IX. THE PRIMARY SCHOOL'S TASK THE EFFECT OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM ON THE CHILD

162

THE PLACE FOR FREE ACTIVITY IN THE SCHOOL CHILDREN'S IDEAS OF JUSTICE CONCLUSION

164 167 171

APPENDIX I

173

APPENDIX II

175

X

Illustrations I Ha nb Ula Illb IVa TVb Va Vb VT Vila VHb Villa VHIb

BABY'S TOY—Cotton-reels serve 101 purposes and they can be safely sucked EATING is often messy to be enjoyable and successful UP THE STEPS—What an adventure and what fun WATER PLAY—You learn a great deal from the greatest fun SLIDE—You require confidence GARDENING—This is an adult skill which all children enjoy ROPELADDER—Climbing is one of childhood's joys and is most educational VILLAGE—All and any kind of oddments of wood can be used for the layout of a village PLAY-ACTING—Little is needed to stimulate it and it is well rewarding PADDLING POOL TRAINS AND BRICKS—The best train has trucks for loading PETS—An excellent way of learning responsibility and kindness DOLL'S PLAY—Improvised material and homemade dolls suffice for a successful tea-party THE COT—A real hut of your own makes hard work worth while xi

20 21 21 36 36 37 37 100 100 101 116 116 117 117

Introduction THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND PLAY

JRING twenty-five years of teaching children ; between the ages of two and twelve years I have come to realize how closely linked play and discipline are in the development of young children. I have learnt this by experience, not through theory, for there are no books which deal with this connection. There are few books which deal with play, and my experience has led me to the conclusion that many parents need advice and welcome help in catering for their childrens' needs. During the second world war we had to open hundreds of day nurseries, at short notice, to cater for children whose mothers were required for war work. This need found us quite unprepared. There was a deplorable lack of women trained to know and understand the needs of young children of pre-school age. This lack of understanding showed itself most in the kind of pky material, or very often just in the absence of play material, which was provided for the children—particularly the smaller ones—those between one and two years of age. It also showed itself, however, in the way in which the behaviour of the children was handled. Among those who answered the appeal for nursery helpers were many exteachers, and these were often the persons who least knew how to manage the children. This was not because they i

D

Introduction were bad teachers but because their training and experience had been for the classroom. The classroom, even for fiveyear-olds, before the last war, took the child out of his normal living context and placed him in a relatively artificial one, in which the world of play and its social discipline was unknown. What opportunity has the average teacher of watching children at pky or of taking part in their activities? Since 1940 some infant schools, but by no means all, have improved in the provision of play material, but most are still so overcrowded and underequipped that it is not easy to provide as much play with its play discipline as children really require. It is impprtant not only to know why and how children require to play, but to understand the kind of play material which they need at different ages for their various kinds of play. The chief purpose of play material is to forward the child's development, physical, mental and emotional; suitable toys and play equipment will help, bad ones will hinder it. It is not only toys made or bought by the adults which will help the small child to develop successfully; it is probable he learns more and gains more satisfaction from the material he provides himself with if he is given reasonable opportunity; for instance, earth, stones, sticks, water, sand and, in fact, all he finds in the garden and out of doors generally, and the odds and ends he succeeds in picking up indoors, empty cotton-reels, bits of string, old cartons and flour bags, as well as old kitchen utensils his mother discards; all these objects of everday life should be at a child's disposal at home; they are usually there for the having. At a nursery school they may have to be deliberately collected by the staff, and should be. Play material is needed for the child to learn to know his 2

Introduction own world, the objects which are presented to him by his five senses. He also needs toys to learn, train and practice his newly found skills, e.g., grasping, holding, throwing, walking and climbing; co-ordination of hand, eye and brain, such as building; he needs to stimulate his imagination, through which he satisfies so many emotional needs and feelings. The older child needs play equipment both to practice skills and to satisfy imagination and creative energy just as much as the child of nursery age. GOOD AND BAD PLAY MATERIAL

Play material can be divided into five chief categories: (a) That which helps the child to experiment with and discover the nature of the world around him. For this he needs to be allowed to explore and to handle as far as possible all the objects in his environment. The most important of these are water, sand, earth, clay and paints. (&) That which stimulates creative activity, initiative and effort, sand, clay, paints, chalks. (e) That which stimulates the imagination—dolls, dressing-up clothes, farmyard animals. (