A History of Children's Play

The New Zealand Playground, 184-195

Brian Sutton-Smith

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Anniversary Collection
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780812278088, 9780812278088
• eBook ISBN: 9781512807790
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: History of Education
• Index: Social Sciences

New Zealand children from 1840 to 1890 were subjected to an unusual combination of agrarian existence and an industrial social philosophy in the newly formed schools. When schools became more universal in the expanding industrial society, a new emphasis on the control of children developed, and from 1920 onward, adult supervision in the form of heavily organized sports and playgrounds encroached more and more on the untrammeled freedom of the rural environment.Returning to his home country of New Zealand, Brian Sutton-Smith documents the relationship between children's play and the actual process of history. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of informants from every province and school district of New Zealand, the author illuminates for the first time the various social, cultural, historical, and psychological context in which children's play occurs. He treats both formal and informal play, as well as the play of both boys and girls.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. The control of children at school 1840-1890
• 2. The control of children's leisure 1890-1950
• 3. A personal epilogue
• Appendix 1: Sources of Information
• Appendix 2: Reminiscence sheet
• Appendix 3: Place names cited in text with provinces
• References and Bibliography
• Index