Perhaps the greatest single help in teaching children the voluntary limitation of their play impulses, is the knowledge that play is only postponed, not forbidden. Most children have so strong a love of approbation that they like to do things in the proper way if the sacrifice be not too great. They are willing to put off their fun, but not to put it off forever. The teacher who says, “If you’ll wait until recess, I’ll show you how to play a new game with marbles,” will secure willing obedience, when she who takes the marbles away has only sullen submission for her reward. Here the teacher utilizes the instinctive love of novelty in teaching control of play impulses. During the period, when conduct is so largely a matter of instinct, wise teachers play off one instinct against another to the child’s gain, knowing that some impulses need encouragement and others need to be inhibited. [Sidenote: First Grade] (1) “_Just mischief._” One of the most frequent ways in which the play instinct expresses itself in the first and even in higher grades is in the little annoyances which teachers group together under the general term, mischief. An energetic child, if he is not constantly employed, naturally vents his energy either in play or in trying to satisfy his curiosity. The principle of suggestion alone will often be sufficient to control the child. The principle of substitution will work equally well. Coöperation can be correlated with either of these, and expectation that the child will do what the teacher desires should be used in whatever method the teacher may adopt. The mischievous boy will be quiet so long as he is reciting, but while others are reciting he will immediately hunt for something else to do. He will drag his shoe on the floor, reach over and touch his neighbor, pull out a pocketful of string or help himself to his neighbor’s pencil. It is not a case for punishment, but a time to apply one or more of the fundamental principles. The teacher, without even a word or look, may reach over and draw him to her side, asking him to look on her book, or better still she may look on his book (suggesting that he attend to his lesson). She may send him on some little errand—to bring a book or a piece of crayon—and by the time she whispers, “Thank you, you did that like a little gentleman,” he will have forgotten all about his mischief (substitution and approval). When the class is dismissed, however, the teacher must see that the mischievous boy is kept busy and his work changed once or twice within the half hour. She must not fail to show an interest in his work. The comment, “That is so good, my boy, that I want you to put it on my desk where we can look at it,” will so elate the child that he will work industriously to do his best, and doing his best will keep him busy a long time. When on the playground or in the gymnasium the teacher must see that he gets plenty of “full-of-fun” play. It will use up some of his restless energy.