ABSTRACT
There are three general types of human activity, work, art, and play. In art the control of the activity is not a sharply defined end which governs the selection of the means, but the harmony of the means in their relation to each other. Play distinguishes itself from both work and art in its absolute spontaneity and in its lack of consciousness of an end in view, of the means used to accomplish an end, or finally of the perfection of the movements and postures, that is of the technique. The whole spontaneity and with it the fascination and value of play, would be lost if such elements were brought to the child’s consciousness. The chapter aims to criticize the basing, especially of the earlier education of our children, upon the work phase of our activity. It seeks to fix the child’s attention upon the problem, and upon the external motives which are to keep him at work.
