or state forest preserves which can be used for camping and picnicking. They have also aided the building of good roads. Some states have, in addition, passed laws establishing play and physical training in the schools. Massachusetts,

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado was recently made a national park. It is from eight to twenty miles in width and in certain places is more than a mile in depth. Colored in all the gorgeous hues of the rainbow, it is considered one of nature's most majestic spectacles. "Of its own kind," according to a government bulletin, "there is nothing in the world which approaches it in form, size, and glowing color."

for example, requires every city of ten thousand inhabitants to "maintain at least one public playground conveniently located and of suitable size and equipment for the recreation and physical education" of the children and young people of the community. In Illinois one hour a week must be given in the elementary schools to some kind of physical training. New York requires a minimum of one hour and forty minutes

of physical training for all school children eight years of age and over. Under this law half the salary of the physical directors is paid by the state, half by the local community. Supervision of the work is by the State Superintendent of Schools, assisted by a deputy commissioner of recreation. These provisions make New York one of the leading states in the Union in promoting physical education and recreation. National parks. Many national parks distinguished for their grandeur of scenery and their generous extent have been established in various parts of the country by the United States government. One of the most beautiful of these is the magnificent Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. This park contains over two million acres and is noted for its stately mountains, picturesque lakes, beautiful waterfalls, and numerous geysers. It also contains the largest and most varied assortment of wild animals in the world. Thousands of tourists visit it every year. Yosemite Park in California and Glacier Park in Montana are among the other notable parks of the country. By free illustrated lectures the Department of the Interior, under whose supervision the parks are placed, has tried to inform the people in an interesting way about the attractions of these national recreation grounds.

QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. Describe the games and amusements of one of the following: Spartans; Athenians; Romans; Hindus; Chinese; French; Japanese; Indians; American colonists; American frontiersmen; South Sea islanders. Of what educational value was their recreation?

*The Yosemite National Park, in middle-eastern California, is noted for big trees, lofty cliffs, trout fishing, and waterfalls of extraordinary height and beauty. The Yosemite Falls, shown in the picture, "drop 1430 feet in one sheer fall, a height equal to nine Niagara Falls piled one on top of the other. The Lower Yosemite Fall, immediately below, has a drop of 320 feet, or two Niagaras more."

2. Does your state have any law requiring play or physical education in the schools? If so, what are its main provisions?

3. Report on one of the following national parks: Crater Lake, Oregon; Grand Canyon, Arizona; Glacier, Montana; Hawaii, Hawaii; Mount Rainier, Washington; Rocky Mountain, Colorado; Sequoia, California; Yellowstone, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho; Yosemite, California (see reading-list).

4. What are the national monuments? Describe one of them. See Frank A. Waugh, "Why is a National Monument?" in Outlook (September 28, 1921), Vol. CXXIX, pp. 130–132.

SECTION III. RECREATION IN THE CITY

Playgrounds. The city of Gary, Indiana, has been a leader in furnishing opportunities for play for its boys and girls. Most of its schools have from ten to twenty acres of ground which, in addition to furnishing room for school gardens and small parks, give plenty of space for playgrounds and athletic fields.

Games are carried on with the help of the teachers. By this arrangement weak and sickly children, who especially need exercise but who frequently are elbowed out of the game or bullied by older or stronger children, enter into the play and receive great benefit from it. A schedule of contests in baseball, volley ball, tennis, and basketball, especially among the older pupils, adds interest to the games. In some schools the winners of these contests are honored with the school letter. For tournaments it has usually not been difficult to secure simple but attractive trophies. In a few schools all pupils who attain a certain record in various athletic events are given a distinctive pin or button. For a number of years the pupils have made all the equipment used on the playgrounds.

A few investigations have been made of the effects of introducing organized play. In Chicago a decrease of almost 50 per cent in the number of crimes committed by children occurred. Other factors than organized play entered into the

matter, of course, so that this reduction cannot be regarded as caused entirely by the introduction of play facilities.

Organized play has usually been followed by improvement in health and physical development. In a German city absence from school because of sickness was reduced

nearly one half. Before organized play was started in Washington, D.C., the Public School Athletic League test for boys under thirteen was tried on a large number of boys in an effort to secure some accurate statistics. This test is to broad-jump 5 feet 9 inches standing, chin a bar four times, and run 60 yards in eight seconds. Not one boy could do these three things. Four years later five hundred boys did all of them. The records also show that organized play at school causes children to be more regular in attendance and helps them to do better work in the classroom.1

1H. S. Curtis, The Play Movement and its Significance, p. 292.