Children Require Long, Uniterrupted Periods Of Play

Every Time We Teach A Child Something, We Keep Him From Inventing It Himself. On The Other Hand, That Which We Allow Him To Discover For Himself Will Remain With Him Visible For The Rest Of His Life.

Our Problem, From The Point Of View Of Psychology And From The Point Of View Of Genetic Epistemology, Is To Explain How The Transition Is Made From A Lower Level Of Knowledge To A Level That Is Judged To Be Higher.

As Far As The Game Of Marbles Is Concerned, There Is Therefore No Contradiction Between The Egocentric Practice Of Games And The Mystical Respect Entertained For Rules. This Respect Is The Mark Of A Mentality Fashioned, Not By Free Cooperation Between Equals, But By Adult Constraint.

As You Know, Bergson Pointed Out That There Is No Such Thing As Disorder But Rather Two Sorts Of Order, Geometric And Living.

The Discussion Of The Game Of Marbles Seems To Have Led Us Into Rather Deep Waters. But In The Eyes Of Children The History Of The Game Of Marbles Has Quite As Much Importance As The History Of Religion Or Of Forms Of Government. It Is A History, Moreover, That Is Magnificently Spontaneous; And It Was Therefore Perhaps Not Entirely Useless To Seek To Throw Light On The Child's Judgment Of Moral Value By A Preliminary Study Of The Social Behaviour Of Children Amongst Themselves.