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This handbook contained dozens of games, some
complicated some simple, which were intended for the use of "recreation
leaders" in providing recreation for children. Recreation,
as such, was very much in vogue during the Progressive Era as
a part of the ideology of a healthy childhood.
It seems at first blush almost odd to think that teaching people
how to play games would be an expected function of the federal
government. But in the context of the work of the Children's Bureau
the idea seems fitting. Also, one might wonder whether children
need all that much instruction in how to play simple games. But,
as the Introduction to the booklet puts it, "the material
given in the following pages may seem simple and familiar to those
who have played many games, but several years' testing in recreational
programs in rural areas has shown it to be well suited to the
needs it is designed to meet and not at all familiar to the many
leaders with whom it has been tried." |
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