Constructive Activities as 'Purposeful Activities'

       In determining what the constructive activities or projects of little children are, to be, the motive prompting the children in the doing of any special task is of greatest importance, also the fact that the activity shall wholesomely and naturally form an intrinsic part of the life of the child at any given time. The motive may vary considerably and yet be acceptable. It may be social and cultivate the growing and sharing spirit, as when gifts are made for different seasons of the year, or refreshments served for special occasions at school; it may be the expression of the love of beauty and show itself in a desire to decorate the schoolroom, or to make covers and portfolios for the preservation of school work; it may answer a special need, as when costumes, spears, helmets and other accessories are simply made in order to lend to dramatic expression an added sense of reality, or when material is needed for nature study; it may furnish a fitting climax to industrial studies, leading to an understanding of actual conditions, as when jelly or biscuits are made from the fruit and grain harvested. Insistence upon a genuine motive there should be; otherwise constructive activity loses its educational significance and becomes barren of its best results.

       The love of beauty being essential to all appreciation and adequate expression, it may be considered a dominant factor which permeates and accompanies all other motives in their attempts at realization. Hence the artistic training in design and color must be kept in mind.

       Crude results should be accepted and given due credit, providing only that they represent the best effort of the child at any given time, and that conditions exist for growth. The work should be that of the child, with only so much of the teacher in it as prevents discouragement through insurmountable obstacles, or standstill through lack of vision. The difficulties must be within the capacity of the growing child at any given time.

       The suggestions following have been carried out in various schools with little children. 

• Constructive activities growing out of roll play activity
• Constructive activities growing out of the social motive
• Decoration of schoolroom and care of same
• Useful articles for preservation of classroom work
• Useful articles and activities for class and home use
• Constructive activities growing out of school-garden, excursion to a farm, dairy, trades etc...
• Constructive activities growing out of desire for dramatic expression and realistic representation. Costumes and other simple accessories. 

The Role of Play in the Overly-Academic Classroom