Games

GAMES, a concept that at first glance seems quite simple, but is difficult to subject to a strictly scientific definition. According to the Schiller-Spencer theory, children's games are the realization of surplus energy: in a young, growing organism, there is a certain surplus of strength remaining after all expenditures on vitally necessary processes, and this surplus is spent on pleasant, artificial exercise of strength. In the opinion of Karl Groos, the view of games as a manifestation of surplus strength is not fully confirmed by facts: children (just like young animals) play until complete exhaustion and resume games after the shortest rest, which brings them not a surplus of strength, but only such an amount of it as is barely sufficient for the resumption of the amusement. Groos considers games to be an exercise of instinctive aptitudes embedded in the organism: a game is, as it were, training for future useful activity on the basis of innate predispositions. If, in the words of Groos, Spencer's theory strives to clarify for us the physiological significance of games, but does not clarify their biological significance, then in the words of Plekhanov, Groos's theory, while providing a biological justification for games, loses sight of their sociological significance. Plekhanov establishes a position according to which games historically grow on the basis of labor; labor requirements and the functions of utilitarian activity predetermine the character of games. On the basis of Plekhanov's position, Molozhavy builds his theory of games in preschool age: a child's game is an active orientation in the phenomena and processes of the surrounding environment, inaccessible to him in the life order, which is necessary for the growing child's organism; the environment, and not instincts, forms behavior. The environment provides stimuli for games; it determines the content of games. The socio-biological significance of games lies in the fact that a person, by playing, develops their properties that are useful to them in their life and labor activity. By imitating the phenomena of surrounding life in games, both the child and the adult acquire those skills and knowledge that consolidate pedagogically valuable qualities acquired in the process of upbringing. In relation to physical development, games represent a form of natural exercises, containing elements of walking, running, jumping, throwing, wrestling, etc. The advantage of games over artificial exercises also lies in the fact that games are connected with the excitement of the emotional sphere of the players. Games, moreover, are also a means of developing a number of psycho-physical functions (combinatorial abilities, attention, memory, imagination, decisiveness, self-control, etc.). The elevated mood in games contributes to the establishment of social ties, thanks to which games easily create a collective and cultivate collectivist habits through voluntary submission to the rules of the game; but on the other hand, it must be taken into account that a game with an antisocial orientation can become a means of developing and consolidating a number of negative qualities (cruelty, greed, etc.), which is why the question of the selection and guidance of games is an urgent pedagogical task, carried out with the help of a physician. Games are divided into 2 main types: free and organized. Free games are not limited by rules; in them, the surrounding environment is imitated; they reflect either social events (for example, war, revolution, demonstration, re-election of soviets, etc.), or production phenomena (factory, cooperative, transport), or everyday life (childcare, dinner, etc.). With a desirable orientation of games, pedagogical practice strives to use games by enriching the child's experience through storytelling, excursions, organized play, etc. Free games are usually practiced by children in preschool and early school age. Organized games, limited by rules tested by experience, are currently part of the system of social upbringing. Organized games are divided by the degree and nature of motor activity into mobile (simple and party-based mobile games with division into parties, rhythmic, dramatized, gymnastic, sports, militarized) and sedentary intellectual ones: competitions in word combinations, charades, riddles, etc.; board games, accompanied by the movement of pieces on a board (e.g., chess, checkers), cards, etc. An intermediate type of game is sport-like board games with exercises in accuracy (billiards, ping-pong, etc.). When conducting mobile games, their socio-biological basis is taken into account. The biological characteristics of each age must be taken into account, i.e., the degree of development of the motor apparatus (bones, ligaments, muscular system), the development of internal organs (heart, circulatory system, lungs), and the central nervous system. It is necessary to take into account the sex of the players; for example, after 12 years of age, not all games can be conducted together; in girls' games, it is desirable to introduce more elements of rhythm, plastics, and dance; the nature of the social element in games depends on age; thus, approximately the following indicative data can be applied: games of children 6-8 years old are based on the individual responsibility of each, 9-11 years old - on the coordination of the actions of one player with another and on comradely support, 12-13 years old - on responsibility to the collective; from 14 years old, a more complex organization of the collective is established. The social composition of the players to a significant extent predetermines the content and character of games, since games develop qualities necessary in labor activity (for example, village games are designed for fairly strong physical movements, with a large expenditure of physical strength, while the games of factory children require more dexterity and agility). The selection and character of conducting a game depends on its setting: whether it is a lesson in physical education classes or is conducted as a rest in a club or at a holiday. Medical control over the conduct of games is carried out in the form of a preliminary examination of the players, analysis of the lesson plan, inspection of the game site, and observation of the players. Absolute contraindications to mobile games are the same as in relation to other motor means of physical education: injuries, inflammatory processes, suppuration, hemorrhages, diseases accompanied by fever. Relative contraindications and indications are given by a physician depending on the sanitary conditions under which the game is conducted (playground, room, etc.), as well as, as indicated above, the biological characteristics of age, sex, and state of health. The dosage of mobile games (duration of the game, complexity of motor skills, degree of emotional uplift, tempo, etc.) is consistent with this. A particularly careful selection of games is necessary for a physically weak child and an unbalanced child - a psychoneurotic (in forest schools and psychoneurological school-sanatoriums). In relation to patients (not only children, but also adults), particularly those in hospitals and especially with long-term stays, the physician has the responsibility of organizing games for them, which are often a means of both medical gymnastics and psychotherapy. Games must also occupy an important place in the general regime of sanatoriums, resorts, and rest homes, since the emotional coloring of games brings liveliness to the organism and products of fatigue and metabolism are eliminated faster. The possibility of introducing a moment of sanitary education into the content of both intellectual games (charades, rebuses, quizzes, board games) and mobile ones (e.g., relays built on competition in carrying victims, in providing assistance to the wounded, etc.) should be used by the physician in their work on medical control. A. Rodin. Sports game, an organized mobile game in which two parties of prepared and trained players, competing on a specific court, at a specific time, according to precise rules, strive to achieve a win, counted in numbers. From a medical-prophylactic point of view, the duration of the game, the size of the court, and the elements from which the complex of movements is composed: running, jumping, throwing light or heavy objects, wrestling, are of particularly important significance. The duration of the tension of each participant in a sports game also plays a large role in the assessment. A sports game must be placed under medical control, especially during a competition. Sports games can be divided into four groups according to the degree of psycho-physiological load received from the game, which depends mainly on the nature of the struggle of the parties in this game. This determines the use of sports games among different ages. Group I of sports games is characterized by the separation of opponents by a center line, net, or tape; the parties must achieve a win without crossing to the other half of the court, without entering into direct struggle and acting alternately (gorodki, volleyball, Italian lapta, tennis, etc.). Group I is quite suitable for adolescents (school of the II stage) from 14 years old and for women. Sports games of Group II are distinguished by the marking of the court: players are partially on the other half of the court, but its marking and the structure of the game allow players to enter into direct struggle simultaneously in a limited number (ball to the captain, Swedish ball race, Russian lapta, etc.).

This group is especially suitable for adolescents, as it develops dexterity, speed, and orientation. In the III group of sports Games, players simultaneously enter into direct competition in unlimited numbers and, after the start of the game, have the right to move across the entire court (basketball, handball, handball, hockey, etc.). The characteristics of the IV group of sports Games are the same as the third, but players have the right to enter into direct contact with the opponent during the struggle (football, etc.). Games of the III and IV groups are suitable for the age of 17-18 years; the IV group is unsuitable for women. Sports Games of the III and IV groups, when conducted among adolescents, must be simplified by limiting time, the size of the courts, changing the weight and size of the equipment, and changing individual rules, with the aim of reducing the psycho-physiological load in the Games according to age. Such amendments should not distort the essence of the given Game or deprive it of its emotionality.

M. Kozlov. Military-sanitary game, one of the types of group exercises on maps or plans, in which participants are assigned to positions, forming a training organization that simulates the practical work of a particular military-sanitary apparatus (e.g., the sanitary service of an army, corps, division, etc.). The purpose of conducting military-sanitary Games is to develop organizational skills in the participants for managing the military-sanitary service and practice in using military-sanitary institutions and sanitary units of troops in various conditions. Military-sanitary Games, in addition, provide an opportunity to theoretically verify the correctness of calculations and the expediency of the structure of the military-sanitary apparatus for performing individual tasks facing military healthcare in modern war. As a method of training sessions with the commanding staff of the military-sanitary service, military-sanitary Games make it possible, in a lively, visual, and engaging form, to develop in the participants a unity of views on issues of managing the military-sanitary service, to consolidate skills in assessing the situation, in drawing up action plans, in the ability to think concretely and formulate decisions and tasks concretely, and in applying graphic methods for depicting decisions, action plans, etc. For the organization and conduct of military-sanitary Games, a specific operational background ("situation") is usually used, characterizing the general conditions of the activity of the military-sanitary service in a given task; the operational situation is supplemented by a conditional or actual one, borrowed from historical examples or modern activity, with a characterization of the sanitary state of the troops, the area of their location, and the local population; as an "initial position," the leader of the military-sanitary Game provides the location and general characterization of the state of the sanitary apparatus, the work of which is intended to be "played out." One of the participants, performing the role of the senior sanitary commander in the game, based on the operational decision of the command, draws up an action plan for the sanitary apparatus subordinate to him and distributes specific tasks among others playing the role of sanitary commanders subordinate to him; the latter solve these tasks on the scale of their sanitary units or institutions. The leader of the military-sanitary Game influences its course by giving additional and "introductory" data, to which the participants must react quickly, thus reflecting the practice of the actual situation of the activity of the military-sanitary service. The military-sanitary Game is accompanied by a review by the leadership of the activities of all participants. The review of the military-sanitary Game is an integral part of its organization, as here the leadership identifies the mistakes of the players and draws conclusions from the experience of the game. A distinction is made between partial reviews and a final review; partial reviews are conducted after individual episodes of the Game; the final one summarizes the results upon its completion. Military-sanitary Games were introduced in the Russian army in 1911 and initially had significant shortcomings. In the Red Army, with the improvement of the methodology of military training of the commanding staff, military-sanitary Games are gradually receiving more and more application when conducting training sessions on preparing the sanitary service for activity in a military environment. Military-sanitary games acquire special instructiveness when the game is preceded by direct familiarization with the area in which one or another episode from the life of the military-sanitary service is being played out. Such familiarization with the terrain is called a field trip, accompanied by a sanitary reconnaissance. Recently, the method of military-sanitary Games has been used when conducting training sessions with doctors on issues of air defense. For the first time, such military-sanitary games were organized at courses on chemical defense of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR in 1926.

B. Leonardov. Sanitary-educational Games, a form of sanitary-educational work consisting in the use of games for the purposes of sanitary education; it is used both in children's and adult audiences. Sanitary-educational Games can be used not only as a primary form of work, engaging due to their entertainment value, but also in the process of in-depth study group work to test knowledge gained on various issues of improving labor and living conditions. Sanitary-educational Games, as an aid for sanitary education, can be conducted in a club, reading room, school, therapeutic-preventive institutions, and the family. They first appeared in the Red Army ("Sanitary battle for health and victory"), and then began to be used in civilian institutions as well. For the majority of existing sanitary-educational Games, ordinary Games are used, but they are saturated with sanitary-educational content. At the present time, two types of sanitary-educational Games are common: 1) sedentary (tabletop) and 2) active. Sedentary Games mainly include games of the "goose" type, lotto, dominoes, cards, as well as Games published by the People's Commissariat of Health, the Moscow Health Department, and the "Molodaya Gvardiya" publishing house. Ordinary active Games (see above) are also adapted, and sanitary-educational content is put into them. When remaking active Games, one must always keep in mind that some Games do not lend themselves to radical remaking; if they are remade, they lose interest as Games and become boring. Sanitary-educational games can be used as Games proper and as an aid and material for a conversation on relevant topics. A conversation during sanitary-educational Games can be conducted in the most diverse ways: before the game, after the game, and during the game, and sometimes accompanying the explanation of its rules. In some Games, the conversation can be broken into 2 or 3 parts. The conversation should not be boring, dry, or tire the players; it should correspond to the age and strength of the players. The leader should not immediately start with sanitary-educational games; it is necessary to start with ordinary Games, and then move on to sanitary-educational Games.

K. Lapin.