The chief difference between work and play to a child seems to be
that in work a definite creative result is kept in mind, so that the
_end_, rather than the means, is the central purpose. In play the
_means_ is everything and the end is a matter of indifference.
Until the child is old enough to become something of a creator and
inventor he does not instinctively perform much work. Sometimes before
that period arrives, however, it is possible to interest him in
profitable tasks if he can engage in them with his imagination; and all
through childhood, and, indeed, all through life, imagination is the
Shekinah that leads the host of toil through its wilderness toward the
promised land.
A pleasant device to encourage young children to work is to denominate
them as “soldiers,” “watchmen,” or “little partners.” The addition of a
_paper cap_ or a _wooden sword_ or a _policeman’s club_
will carry many a small youngster through a task which would otherwise
seem intolerable. One mother has strengthened her family discipline
by assigning each of her children in turn to be “the captain of the
day,” giving each in turn special privileges and the responsibility of
keeping the other children in order. If a boy or girl can only turn
something into something else more to his liking, he will develop
considerable industry. If the woodpile and the dishpan can be utilized
as enemies to be destroyed and the untidy room as a province to
conquer, these tasks are fulfilled with a complete, though furious,
equanimity.
In one home where there were many humdrum tasks to be performed by the
children the oldest won the enthusiasm of the rest by printing the
names of all the tasks upon slips of paper and letting each draw lots.
The uncertainty of the lot and the chance to relieve the tedium by
entering for a time into the work of another changed the aspect of the
whole situation.
The idea of partnership may be profitably employed all through
childhood. The writer remembers an investment in hens in which the
drudgery was completely lightened by the fact that he entered into
equal partnership with his father, which involved the keeping of a
leather-bound account book and the rendering of weekly balance sheets.
It seems probable that during the years of youth, when imagination
no longer disguises the task, the growing boy or girl meets it with
complaisance and success because he still thinks of himself as a
skilled craftsman who has pride in doing his work well.