Parading the Children: The Leisure Activities of Ontario’s Protestant Sunday Schools, 1840-70

Abstract

history of the Sunday school and of religious history more generally. As Lynne Marks explains, “religion and leisure are particularly valuable for exploring questions of identity because they were spheres in which late nineteenth-century Ontarians had the widest latitude of choice about their lives.” This was also the case in the middle of the nineteenth century. Although children may have had less power than adults in the choices of recreation they engaged in, a close look at the social activities that were common across Ontario provides important insight into how families chose to spend their leisure time. The shifting patterns in the leisure activities of Sunday schools over this period also reveal the changing role of religion in the everyday lives of Protestant Ontarians. As a site of popular and regular engagement of lay women, men and children, the extra-curricular aspects of Sunday schooling provide a window into how the routine experiences and activities of the laity evolved at this time. As early as 1840, Sunday school communities in Ontario were holding regular extra-curricular, leisure activities along with their weekly classroom lessons. From nature excursions to parades and picnics, these activities were enjoyed not only by the young pupils, but also their teachers, friends, fellow church members, and other Sunday school