For the sake of clearness, it may be well to group the various activities according as they are mainly outdoor or indoor occupations.  In the outdoor group, games and sports need not be included, as being, in most cases, as much a part of the ordinary school course as the class-work.  They only become free-time pursuits, in the sense here intended, in so far as practice for them is optional, and a large amount of free time spent upon it.  Thus, for example, while swimming is, or should be, compulsory for all, and a regular time found for it in the school time-table, it is entirely a voluntary matter to go in, as in many schools a large number do, for the tests of the Royal Humane Society.  Apart from games, the outdoor pursuit that occupies the largest place is probably, in most of these schools, some branch of natural history (which may perhaps be held to include geology as well as the study of plant and animal life)—­not so much by the making of collections, though this usually serves as a beginning, as by the keeping of diaries, notes of observations illustrated by drawings and photographs, and experimental work, in connection, perhaps, with work done in science classes.  Similarly in the study of archaeology, visits to places of interest—­there are always many old churches within reach, if not other buildings of equal interest—­give matter for written notes as well as for drawings and photographs; and in at least one case, the fact that the neighbourhood is rich in Roman remains has given opportunity, under the guidance of a keen classical archaeologist, for the laying bare of more than one Roman villa, and for making interesting additions to the school museum.  Besides their use in the service of other pursuits, sketching and photography also have many votaries for their own sake, though the former is usually more dependent on encouragement from above.  Then there is gardening.  The tenure of a plot of ground is a joy to many children; and in the opinion of the writer, some experience, and some experimental work, in the growing of the most necessary food plants, as well as flowers, should form part of the education of all at a certain stage, whether in school time or in free time.  For some, where the conditions are favourable, this can be extended to the care of fruit-trees, bees, poultry, and to some kinds of farm-work.  The needs of war-time have brought something of this into many schools, to the real gain of education, now and later, if it can be retained, at least as a possibility of choice.  So also with the care of the playing fields:  the more that the work needed for a game is thrown upon the players themselves, the more does it contribute to education.  And so too with constructive work of any kind that, with some help of suggestion or direction, is within the compass even of comparatively unskilled labour.  A lengthy list could be given of things accomplished in this way, with an educational value all the greater for their practical purpose, from Ruskin’s famous