The play spirit is the spirit of art.  No great result was achieved in any line of human activity without much work, and yet no great result was ever gained unless the play spirit controlled.  It is to this interaction of work and play that each owes much of its value.  Work in and of itself apart from play lacks educative power; it is only as it leads to and increases the power of play that it is of greatest value.  Its logical place in education is as a means to an end, not as an end in itself.  Play, on the other hand, that does not necessitate some work, that does not need work in order that it may function more fully, has lost most of its educational value.  To work in play and to play while working is the ideal combination.  Either by itself is dangerous.

Two misconceptions should be mentioned.  First, the play spirit advocated as one of the greatest educational factors must not be limited to the merely physical activities, nor should it be considered synonymous with what is easy.  This characterization of play as being the aimless trivial physical activities of a little child is a misconception of the whole play tendency.  It has already been pointed out that any activity which in itself satisfies, whether that be physical, emotional, or intellectual, is play, and all these phases of human activity show themselves in play first.  Also the fact that play does not mean ease of accomplishment has been noted.  It is only in the play spirit that the full resources of child or adult are tested.  It is only when the activity fully satisfies some need that the individual throws himself whole-souled into it.  It is only under the stimulus of the play spirit that all one’s energy is spent, and great results, clear, accurate, and far reaching, are obtained.  Ease of performance often results in drudgery.  To be play, the activity must be suited to the child’s capacity, but leave chance for initiative and change and development.

The second misconception is that because present-day educators advocate play in education, they believe that the child should do nothing that he doesn’t want to.  This is wrong on two accounts.  First, it is part of the business of an environment to stimulate—­readiness depends partly on stimulation.  The child may never play unless the stimulation is forcibly and continually applied.  Second, after all it is the result we are most anxious for in education, and that result is an educated adult.  By all means let us obtain this result by the most economical and effective method, and that is by use of the play spirit.  But if the result cannot be obtained by this means because of the character of civilized ideals, or the difficulties of group education, or lack of capacity of the individual—­then surely other methods, even that of drudgery, must be resorted to.  The point is, with the goal in mind, adapt the material of education to the needs of the individual child; in other words, use the play spirit so far as is possible—­after that gain the rest by any means whatsoever.