In the country, ready-to-hand resources, trees for climbing, the five-barred fence, the pasture gate, the stone wall, the wood-pile, Mother Earth to dig in, furnish ideal equipment for the muscle development of little people and of their own nature afford the essential requisites for creative and dramatic play. To their surpassing fitness for “laboratory” purposes each new generation bears testimony. If the furnishings of a deliberately planned environment are to compare with them at all they must lend themselves to the same freedom of treatment.

The apparatus shown here was made by a local carpenter, and could easily be constructed by high school pupils with the assistance of the manual training teacher.

The ground has been covered With a layer of fine screened gravel, a particularly satisfactory treatment for very little children, as it is relatively clean and dries quickly after rain. It does not lend itself to the requirements of organized games, however, and so will not answer for children who have reached that stage of play development.

A number of building bricks, wooden boxes of various sizes, pieces of board and such “odd lumber” with a few tools and out-of-door toys complete the yard’s equipment.

THE SEE SAW

Board - Straight grain lumber, 1-1/8” x 9” x 12’-0”.

Two cleats 1-1/4” x 9” bolted to the under side of the board to act
as a socket on the hip of the horse.

Horse - Height 25”. Length 22-1/2”. Spread of feet at ground 20”. Legs built of 2” x 3” material. Hip of 2” x 3” material. Brace under hip of 7/8” material.

THE STAND AND SLIDE

Stand or platform - 26” wide, 30” long, 5’-4” high.

Top made of 1-3/8” tongue and groove material.

Uprights or legs of 2” x 3” material.

Cleats nailed to front legs 6-1/4” apart to form ladder are of
1-1/8” x 1-3/4” material.

Cross bracing of 7/8” x 2-1/4” material.

Apron under top made of 7/8” x 5” material nailed about 1-1/8” below
to act as additional bracing and provide place of attachment for
iron hooks secured to sliding board.

The stand is fastened to the ground by dogs or pieces of wood buried
deep enough (about 3’) to make it secure.

Slide - Straight grain piece of lumber, 1-1/8” x 12” x 12’-0”.

Two hooks at upper end of sliding board are of iron, about 3/8” x
1-1/2”, set at a proper angle to prevent board from becoming loose.
Hooks are about 1-1/4” long.

THE SWINGING ROPE

Upright - 3” x 3” x 6’-9”.

Top piece - 3” x 3” x 2’-9”.

Upright and top piece are mortised or halved and bolted together.

Bracing at top (3” x 3” x 20-1/2” at long point of mitre cuts) is
nailed to top piece and upright at an angle of about 45 degrees.

Upright rests on a base measuring 3’-0”. This is mortised together
and braced with 2” x 3” material about 20” long, set at an angle of
about 60 degrees.

Unless there are facilities for bracing at the top, as shown in the
cut, the upright should be made longer and buried about 3’ in the
ground.

The swinging rope (3/4” dia.) passes through a hole bored in the top piece and held in place by a knot. Successive knots tied 8” to 9” apart and a big knot at the bottom make swinging easier for little folks.

THE TRAPEZE

Two uprights - 3” x 3” x 6’-10”.

Top piece - 3” x 3” x 2’-10”.

Ends of top piece secured to uprights by being mortised or halved
and bolted together.

Uprights rest on bases of 2” x 3” material, 3’-7” long, connected by
a small platform in the form of an H.

Bases and uprights are bolted to dogs or pieces of wood 2” x 4” x
5’-8” set in the ground about 3’-0”.

Adjustable bar (round) 1-3/8” dia.

3 holes bored in each upright provide for the adjustable bar. The
first hole is 3’-0” above ground, the second 3’-5”, the third
3’-10”.

Swing bar (round), 1-3/8” dia., is 20” long. Should hang about 16”
below top piece.

2 holes 5/8” dia. bored in the top piece receive a continuous rope
attached to the swing bar by being knotted after passing through
holes (5/8” dia.) in each end of the bar.

THE LADDER AND SUPPORT

Ladder - 14” x 10’-2”

Sides of 1-1/2” x 1/2” material

Rungs 1/4” dia. set 10-1/4” apart

At upper ends of the sides a u-shaped cut acts as a hook for
attaching the ladder to the cross bar of the support. These ends are
re-inforced with iron to prevent splitting.

Support - Height 4’-6”. Spread of uprights at base 4’-2”.

Uprights of 1-1/2” x 2-1/2” material are secured to a foot (1-1/2” x
4” x 20-1/2”) with braces (11-1/2” x 2-1/2” x 12”) set at an angle
of about 60 deg..

Tops of the two uprights are halved and bolted to a cross bar 1-1/8”
x 2-1/2” x 10” long.

The uprights are secured with diagonal braces 1-3/8” x 3-1/2” x
3’-9” fastened together where they intersect.

A borrowed step ladder converts this gymnastic apparatus into an airship.

The ladder detached from the support is an invaluable adjunct to building and other operations.

THE PARALLEL BARS

The two bars are 2” x 2-1/4” X 6’-10” and are set 16-1/2” to 18-1/2” apart. The ends are beveled and the tops rounded.

Each bar is nailed to two uprights (2” X 3” X 5’-0”) set 5’ apart and extending 34” above ground. An overhang of about 6” is allowed at each end of the bar.

THE SAND BOX

The sloping cover to the sand box pictured here has been found to have many uses besides its obvious purpose of protection against stray animals and dirt. It is a fairly good substitute for the old-time cellar door, that most important dramatic property of a play era past or rapidly passing.

BOX VILLAGE

The child is to be pitied who has not at some time revelled in a packing-box house big enough to get into and furnished by his own efforts. But a village of such houses offers a greatly enlarged field of play opportunity and has been the basis of Miss Mary Rankins experiment on the Teachers College Playground.

In addition to its more obvious possibilities for constructive and manual development, Miss Rankin’s experiment offers social features of unusual suggestiveness, for the village provides a civic experience fairly comprehensive and free from the artificiality that is apt to characterize attempts to introduce civic content into school and play procedure.