Freedom to Play

We Made Our Own Fun

Edited by Norah L. Lewis
Subjects Social Science, Sociology, History, Canadian History, Sports & Recreation
Series Studies in Childhood and Family in Canada Hide Details

Paperback : 9780889204065, 224 pages, October 2002
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781554587315, 224 pages, September 2010

Table of contents

Table of Contents for Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun, edited by Norah L. Lewis
List of Illustrations
Acknolwedgments
Introduction
Go Outside and Play
The Fair Land | Anna V.M. Robinson
Happy Mountaineers | Anna V.M. Robinson
Good Times at Oakville | Fanny Heeks
The Absolute Freedom We Had | Don Clay
A Trip on a Steamer | Helga Erlindson
Wild Flowers | Wild Rose
We Were Free to Roam | Eileen Scott Campbell
Untitled | A Farmer Boy
We Always Found Something to Do | R.B. Green
I Was Into Everything When It Came to Sports | Earl Sherman
Songs to Sing, Games to Play, and Places to Explore | Peggy Sherman
When Our Parents Were Away | Rex G. Krepps
Growing Up in North-Central British Columbia | Dick Saunders
Rattles and Steadies: Memoirs of a Gander River Man | Gary L. Saunders
I Can’t Remember a Dull Moment | Judy Wells
The Effects of a Distant War | Paul Barker
My Games Parallel My Life | Kim Gosse Hilliard
Playing Is Playing When Shared
Maple Leaf Club Picnic | Ethel Swan
Strange Bedfellows | Chick/p>
The Kay Children
Scouts and Smoking
The Very Best Time for Us | Barry Broadfoot
School Field Day | Janet McNab
Sports Were Fine | Byron Kingsbury
Went to Picnic in an Ox Cart | Ellsworth V. Griffin
Going to Make a Playhouse | Margaret Muskett
Boys’ Farming Club | Reggie Meeks
From Small Town to Big City | Ann Thrasher
Camp Fire Girl | Hattie Morrill
A Charivari | Iola Crouse
How I Had Fun as a Kid | Ivy Moulton
We Had Freedom Galore | Dawn McKim
More Praise for the Red Cross | Wilhemena Rosin
Being Youngest Had Its Advantages | Bill Wells
Growing Up in the Ottawa Area | Janet Reid
Cut Outs and Other Games | Janet Marshall
Dauphin Fair | Olga Kudurudz
Untitled | Mary Kett
Camping with the Guides | Nellie Mailie
Boy Scout Week | Pathfinder-in-Chief
A Very Busy Childhood | Jean Wilson
Through the Eyes of a Newcomer | Tony Plomp
Paper Doll Poems | Polly King
Playing Is Playing Games
We Knew How to Have Fun | Henry Barone
Lefty Wilson and the Naked Lady | Hal C. Sisson
A Fine Coasting Tray | Mariposa Lily
Made a Pair of Skis | Clarence Orser
Tennis and Golf | Anemone
The Games Kids (Used to) Play | Ida Trudgeon
A Game of War | Laura Whitelaw
A Skating Party | Ruth Pinder
Making a Rink | Theodore Holden
We Organized Ourselves | Freda Mallory
Every Season Had Its Activities | Margaret Walker
A Skating Party | Gwyneth Davies
Games of War | Fred Greaves
Scotch Games at Banff | Walter Kenyon
Palying Marbles the St. John’s Way | Helen Porter
Childhood Games in the Yukon in the 1930s | Hugh and Jim McCullum
Growing Up in Quebec | Margaret Nichols
There Were Lots of Playmates | Lis Schmidt Robert
Spring Sport
Seems Like Old Times | Helen Hansen
A “Mulligan” Roast | Olive Kataskuk
Creating Their Own Equipment
Insect Collection | Evan Shute
A Mechanical Leaf | Simon Gaudet
Enjoys Doing Fretwork | Danny Goosen
Building Boats Along the Skeena | E.H. Harris
Birds Returning | Margaret Dwyer
Whoopie Ti Yi Yo! | Carl Victor Friesen
Infected by a Radio Bug | Rolland Lewis
Alone but Not Lonely | Marilyn Barker
It Was a Magical Time | Audrey Kendall
Try Crab-apple Pie | Hollyhock
I Made My Own Toys | Glen Sullivan
Seepeetza Gets a Doll | Shirley Sterling
Animals: Friend, Foe, or Food
Hunting Gophers in Saskatchewan | Harold Zwick
Very Special Friends | Ken Strong
A Young Sportsman | Fred J. Bicknell
Fond of Hunting | Arthur Kay
Our Duck Hunt | Lloyd Essex
Bunny for a Playmate | Everett Sharpe
A Wonderful Pony | Hazel M. Buckler
Feeding the Birds | Richard Asher
Jottings for My Family | Laurena Saunders
There Was Always Something To Do
A Picnic Excursion | Johnstone Willett
A Bob Sled | Ernest Q. Herne
A School Picnic | Gladys M. Davidson
Christmas in a Prison Camp | Shizuye Takashima
Celebrating Chinese New Year | Sing Lim
Oh! My Poor Duck | Andy MacDonald
Space, Freedom, Active, Love | Ian and Lee Rennie
Victoria Day in Ponoka | Lis Schmidt Robert
A Lot of Strenuous Outdoor Fun | Norman St. Clair-Sulis
Fun Was Seasonal in Edmonton | W.J. Phillips
Across the Prairies on a Pony | Rural
My Favourite Pastime Was Going Trouting | Nick Green
A Very Special Time | Donna Palmer Ebbutt
Bibliography

Description

“When we were children we made our own fun” is a frequent comment from those who were children in pre-television times. But what games, activities and amusements did children enjoy prior to the mid-1950s?
Recollections of older Canadians, selections from writings by Canadian authors and letters written to the children’s pages of agricultural publications indicate that for most children play was then, as now, an essential part of childhood. Through play, youngsters developed the physical, mental and emotional skills that helped them cope with life and taught them to get along with other children.
In both rural and urban settings, children were generally free to explore their environment. They were sent outdoors to play by both parents and teachers. Their games were generally self-organized and physically active, with domestic animals acting as important companions and playmates. Children frequently made their own toys and equipment, and, since playing rather than winning was important, most children were included in games. Special days, holidays and organizations for children and youth provided welcome breaks from daily routines. Their lives were busy, but there was always time for play, always time for fun.
Norah Lewis has provided an entertaining view of the toys, games and activities in Canada and pre-confederate Newfoundland from approximately 1900 through 1955. Her book will be of interest to historians, educators and sociologists, as well as anyone who lived through, or wants to know more about,those early years in Canada, and the games children used to play.

Reviews

Freedom to Play is a useful addition to the historiography of childhood in Canada. As a general reference, the book will undoubtedly prove practical to historians; to a researcher in the field of children's play it is essential reading; and for instructors of the History of Childhood or the History of Education, there are myriad possibilities for using the documents it contains.
- Brian J. Low, Historical Studies in Education, 16:1, 2004