^^-'^^^'^^ If rX^/ ^^ /f/r i..'-;--:> /-■-,-,, 1 .-,-•' . -'x^ % --'J ■n LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Chap. Copyright No. Shelf....L.a/^07 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HOME OCCUPATIONS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN BY KATHERINE BEEBE CHICAGO NEW YORK THE WERNER COMPANY ^^/fM- \ ^ .; \ V Copyright, 1896, by Katherine Beebe Home Occupations for Little Children IPretacc. In this book the Kindergarten offers to the Home suggestions for the occupation of little children with simple materials. The author does not presuppose a kindergarten training on the part of the mother, nor an ideal environment. She simply takes for granted the child's ceaseless activity and the mother's desire to furnish him with material and opportunity for development. The occupations here considered are of three kinds. The first are those which require the active participation of an older person; the second, those for which only occasional direction or assistance is neces- sary; the third, those in which the child can engage by himself. The first two sorts prepare the way for an increase in the num- ber of the third kind of occupations, and all participation and help from the mother ought to be repaid in time by an added power and independence on the part of the child in contriving and carrying on games, plays and childish work by himself. K. B. Contents. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. "What can I do?" 6 II. Stories and Music 17 III. Out OF Doors 29 IV. SUGGEISTIONS FROM THK KINDERGAR- TEN Gifts 46 V. Suggestions from the Kindergar- ten Occupations 61 VI. With Needi^e and Thread 72 VII. With Paste and Scissors 82 VIII. With Paints and Pencii^s 97 IX. Christmas and Howday Work 105 X. Games and Pi^ays 118 XL Work and Pi.ay 132 List of Materiai^ 144 Cbapter IF. '*WHAT CAN I DO?" T is a well-known fact among kindergartners that many chil- dren who are restless, turbulent and unruly at home are abso- lutely happy and good during the morning hours spent in the kindergarten. Some mothers do not understand why this is so, but to the close observer of children its explanation is simple. Children must and will be active. If enough of the right material and opportunity is not supplied them, they will make use of the wrong, to their own and others' disturbance, for they are usually punished or reprimanded for indulging in activities which are unap- proved by their elders, in spite of the fact that approved opportunities for activity have not been furnished. In the (ideal) kindergarten, for three happy hours, the child has a place, a time and 6 6 Home Occupations for Little Children. an opportunity for a natural growth, during which time he expresses himself freely in play. He has materials with which and playmates with whom to play. He has the sympathy and participation of his elders. He has the help he needs in carrying out his ideas. He is allowed to work in his own way, and he is never heard to say, "What can I do?" As a consequence, he is both happy and good. Could some such conditions prevail at home during the rest of the day, many a household would be more comfortable, and many a little child transformed from a * * troublesome comfort " to a constant de- light. The child wants something to do, and he must have it. Even after the hours which can be spent out of doors are added to those during which he occupies himself with his toys, and to those when he can be directly amused by mother or nurse, and their sum subtracted from the whole number of his waking hours, there still remains that ach- ing void filled too often with the fretful What Can I Do f cry, ''What can I do?" and a mother's unaccepted suggestions. " Play with your blocks," she says. " I don't want to; I don't know anything to make. ' ' **Well, why don't you play with your horses ? ' ' ** I don't want to play with my horses ! " * ' Run down into the kitchen a while and see Maggie." ** I don't want to ! There isn't an5i:hing to do down there." And so on, the result of such conversations being all too often that he stays with his mother and her guest, either destroying the comfort of both by his restlessness, or sitting quietly listening to conversation which introduces him before his time into the adult world. Surely, any- thing which will tend to keep him at such times in a child's world of play is worth considering. Mother and nurse must supply themselves with resources for these hours. There is always a supply of food in the pantry, of clothes in the closets, of remedies in the 8 Home Occupations for Little Children. medicine chest, and of other things necessary to physical comfort and well-being, but there needs to be as well a supply of mental food and stimulus, if the child's mind is to have the power of occupying his hands in a way to keep him normally happy and good. The time is coming when mothers will no more fail to supply the cry of ' ' What can I do ? " than they now fail to satisfy that other cry, '' Mamma, I am hungry! " The time is coming when a kindergarten train- ing will be a part of every high school, sem- inary and college course. It is in the hope of placing something in the play-larder that the following chapters are written. If a child is to play, it goes without say- ing that he must have a place in which to play; and yet we know that in many houses there is little or no space which he can call his own. Remembering that a child's de- velopment, physical, mental and moral, comes to him through play, it seems strange indeed that so little regard is paid to play- space in our domestic and civic economy. Even out of doors the children are not very What Can I Do? well provided for, except in the country. In cities and towns the boys are hounded from one place to another by irate property- owners, who do not care where they disport themselves so long as they keep away from their particular premises. They are not even wanted in vacant lots, each set of neighbors driving them away to some other lot. If they play in the streets, pedestrians and drivers are always interfering with games, and people want door-steps and co- pings kept clean. Indoors it is even worse, for the space available in the average home of the middle class citizen does not permit a special play- room, and the place where play can be carried on freely is usually a small bedroom or part of one, neither of which localities ajffords scope enough for expanding in- genuity. It is a pleasure to kindergartners to ob- serve the children's delight in the space, pure and simple, of a good-sized room, and that alone serves to occupy them for con- siderable periods of time, for they can run, 10 Home Occupations for Little Children. jump, throw, dance and do many other things with only themselves and elbow-room for material. I have no definite suggestions to offer as to play-space in the home. Each mother's problem is a different one, but she who is convinced that her children need play-room as much as they need food or light will manage in some way to secure it for them. There may be mothers who would reduce their number of parlors from two to one; there may be others who, at some personal sacrifice, would build on an extra room; some might sacrifice the order of one par- ticular room, and others might even be driven to the extremity of purchasing fold- ing beds. One mother whom I know sur- renders her dining-room, except at meal times. Another has turned the unused barn into a day nursery. The way follows the will, and sacrifices of this sort are generally rewarded a hundred fold. Servants are often fond of children and willing to help them in their plays, but they are, as a rule, without resource and unable What Can I Do f 11 to suggest occupation outside of their own range. Nothing is better for children than a participation in the work of the house, and nothing is more deHghtful to them in their earliest years. Happy is the mother who has a cook, housemaid or other servant to whom she can explain the necessity of allowing the children to '*help," and who will, with some degree of intelligence, fol- low her suggestions. Many a servant has both time and inclina- tion to be of real service to the children of the house, if she but knew how to do it. If the mother's head be enlisted in the cause as well as her heart, she can make good use of this friendly feeling by furnish- ing a little stimulus and material when it is impossible for her to give her own time to her little ones. The companionship of servants, while it may be disastrous and sometimes is perni- cious, is not altogether the evil some would have us think. Too much of it would, of course, subject a child, during the plastic period, to influences which any mother 12 Home Occupations for Little Children. would deplore; but, like all other forces, when handled and used judiciously, it may have its good uses. Servants are oftentimes more near to the child's state of mind than his adult relatives. They are frequently only grown-up children, and really enjoy child- like employments. Irish girls are born child-lovers and sympathizers. The Swedes, while less demonstrative, are usually honest and trustworthy. To share the work of these friendly members of the household, and to share with them their own little in- terests, is usually a part of every child's life where there are servants in the family; and so, if from the play-larder the mother can give to those servants into whose hands the children must fall occasionally some material or suggestions, both servant and child will not only be made more comforta- ble, but many an evil hour will be kept from taking a place in the time-chain of the child's existence. Children, to be truly happy, must have the companionship of other children. Most parents, believing this, allow their children What Can I Do ? 13 friends and playmates; but there are moth- ers who, in their desire to keep the child's mind uncontaminated, deprive him of this necessary stimulus. Students of child-nature are beginning to think that there is less dan- ger from chance companionships than has been imagined, presupposing a sound home training. Just as a sound body resists ex- posure and contagion, and throws off dis- ease which is the undoing of a weaker one, so a sound mind and healthy soul will resist evil. Unless a child's companions are known to be really objectionable, the evil of no companionship is apt to be greater than the risk run in letting him play with his mates. Other mothers there are who, in their de- voted absorption in their children, forget or ignore this need of child-life. That their own companionship is not enough does not occur to them. Such mothers should at least try the experiment of allowing their children to play with others of the same age before coming to the conclusion that playmates are unnecessary. 14 Home Occupations for Little Children. Our country is full not only of children who are suffering for companionship; it is also full of respectable, hard-working fami- lies who have so many children that but few advantages and little attention can be given them. Some sort of social exchange, with schools and kindergartens for centers, seems a possibility of the future in the con- sideration of these problems. It has been stated that there are 350,000 homeless children in the United States, but happily we hear every little while of one family and another who has taken one of these little ones in, either to brighten a childless home or to bring companionship to a lonely little only child. In this latter case, it is hard to say which child is the more benefited. Many articles have been written by kin- dergartners of more or less experience, with the alluring title of ' * The Kindergarten in the Home," which have proved disappoint- ing to the reader. The writer either pre- supposes a kindergarten training on the part of the mother which does not exist, or the JVhaf Can I Do ? 15 directions are too elaborate to be easily fol- lowed. Often the ideas suggested, when carried out, yield but scant results, the work occupying the average child about ten minutes, more or less, at the end of which period both mother and child are about where they were before. I recall one such article, which, when boiled down, conveyed to the mother the two ideas that the kinder- garten balls should be introduced into the nursery, and that with a four-inch square of folding paper many beautiful forms could be made. More than this is necessary. The kinder- garten has much to offer to the home in the way of helpful suggestions, and it can do this without asking the mother to do at home the same things that are done in the kin- dergarten by trained teachers. Often mate- rials which can be used and work which can be done in the kindergarten are impractica- ble in the home, and vice versa. The home needs the kindergarten to lead the way and provide stimulus to developing action. The kindergarten needs the home to complete. 16 Home Occupations for Little Children. carry out and extend work which can be only begun in the limited time at the kin- dergartner's disposal. The principles of Froebel can be applied to the chairs, pans, spools, buttons and strings with which the child occupies himself at home, and it can also impart a new life and suggestiveness to toys, pets and all home materials. Cbapter irif. STORIES AND MUSIC. HE child at times needs from the adult assistance in storing his mind with play material, in order that at other times he may- have a stock of ideas from which to draw. His imagination needs food and stimulus other than that supplied by the ordinary hap- penings of his daily life. This is proven in the kindergarten by the difference in the power to play existing between children who come from homes where this stimulus is sup- plied, and those who come from homes where it is lacking. The more fortunate little ones are seldom at a loss for play material, while the others often have actually to be taught to play those games in which thought and imagination play a part. Children of this first class, as we all know, love to dramatize the life about them, are 17 18 Home Occupations for Little Children. fond of games which are largely, if not wholly, of a physical nature, and will in- dulge both of these tendencies freely, but while in spite of this they continue to de- mand "something to do," we who have charge of them will have to continue our search for opportunities and employments for their active minds and bodies if we are not to give stones for bread and serpents for fish. In the homes of the poor, for obvious reasons, the children seldom have stories told to them, rarely if ever hear story books read, and never have music adapted to their minds and hearts provided for them. Con- sequently the beautiful imagery of song and story is lost to them. Their imagina- tions are starved and their souls often remain una wakened long past the time for such un- folding, while many powers never develop at all which exist potentially in them. It is true that poets and artists sometimes come from very humble walks of life, but in most cases Genius or Nature provided the neces- sary stimulus. Happily the schools of to- stories and Music. 19 day are doing for the less fortunate what is done for the more fortunate at home. It is with the children of the ordinary well-to-do class that we have now to deal, however, and we know that these children love stories told and read, and that their souls open to music. These things are such potent factors in, and such a vital part of kinder- garten life, that they surely belong in the child's home-life as well. Kindergartners never have time enough with their children to give them half the songs and stories which they really want to give, and they would be glad to pass over to the home their uncom- pleted work and store of material to help fill those hours which echo with the cry, * ' What can I do now f In the kinder- garten the stories are not told and then dis- missed as something finished and gotten through with. They are carefully selected in the first place, and there is a pedagogical reason for each selection with which just now we have nothing to do. One prime ob- ject is to feed the growing imagination and stock it with play material, as well as, in 20 Home Occupations for Little Children. technical phrase, to help the child to self- expression. The stories told are not only retold by the children later on, but they are also ' ' worked out;" that is, the children pic- ture the story, or such part of it as appeals to them, on the blackboard or with paper and pencil. They also play it with their blocks and sticks ; they model objects sug- gested by it with clay ; they cut these objects from paper, sew them or paint them, as the exigency of the occasion demands. Children love the definite, and gladly take and work out definite suggestions. When clay, paint, paper, or other material is put into a child's hands and he is told to play with it, an active imagination will sometimes supply a sufficiency of ideas to be expressed, but usually he soon reaches his limita- tions, if not on the first occasion then very soon after, and will be apt to say, '* I don't know what to make. ' ' * ' Oh, make a horse ! ' ' mother or nurse will suggest. " I don't want to make a horse," says the child, in whose mind only images of in- stories and Music. 21 definite and general horses are called up by the word. But, if after hearing Longfellow's beautiful story of " The Bell of Atri," that particular horse is suggested, it becomes an- other matter, and one object often suggests another, until the whole story is worked out by busy fingers stimulated by a live imagi- nation. The mother then wants from the kinder- gartner a list of stories to be told and of books to be read which shall fill her child's mind with beautiful images which can be expressed by the little hands so anxious to do. She should adopt in the nursery the kindergarten method of working out or making these stories with whatever material is at hand. These home stories should not only fill the time in which they are read or told, but many happy after hours; often only a suggestion will be necessary to set the children to work, and sympathy and appreciation only will keep them at it. With some children the mother may find it necessary to participate actively in the play to show the children how it may be 22 Home Occupations for Little Children. done, and to get them started; but this she will not accomplish by play ing/^r them, but by playing with them, and encouraging their efforts by judicious praise and admiration. Stories are dramatized in the kindergarten with great success, and children who can be led to do this at home will have an inex- haustible store of material for play hours. I know of one group of ten-year-old chil- dren who played * * The Prince and the Pauper ' * a whole winter, and of another who played ' ' Robinson Crusoe ' ' day in and day out. One little home kindergarten went to Greenland one snowy day and lived there for three weeks. If the mother's own imagination will seize upon those particular stories which are best adapted to dramatic action, if she will aid the children a little in their representations, occasionally take part, and always sympa- thize, she will soon develop a dramatic talent, which, to say the least, will make stormy days interesting in her household. As a rule it is hardly wise for the mother and kindergartner to be using the same ma- stories and Music. 23 terial in the same way. Fortunately this is rarely done, as only a trained kindergartner has the power of using the material without wearying the child or reaching his limita- tions too soon. Mothers are often made to feel that the knowledge they lack and should possess is the knowledge which kindergart- ners use in giving gift and occupation lessons. Not that this knowledge would not be of great advantage to any mother, but the point is that there is much that she can do without it. Such a profound knowledge of the pos- sibilities of the gifts and occupations as would enable her to continue, enlarge and supplement the kindergartner' s work would be of the greatest use, but to be able to give the child the same work with blocks or sticks which he has had or will have in the kindergarten is of no particular advantage, except when the child cannot go to the kin- dergarten. In the matter of stories, however, she need have no fears of trenching on kindergarten ground. When a child loves a story he will hear it many times, and one often-told 24 Home Occupations for Little Children. and well-loved tale is frequently better than many. One direct help which the kindergartner craves of the mother is her encouragement to the child to retell at home the stories he has heard in the kindergarten. If in addi- tion to this he will at home play or work out these stories the kindergartner 's work will be carried on. Some stories are better told than read, others make good reading, and it is impor- tant that a child should learn early to listen to reading. For children under three years old there are no better books than the bound vol- umes of ' ' Babyland;* ' ' ' The Baby World, ' ' compiled from St. Nicholas; "Mother Goose;" and the "Finger Plays," by Emilie Poulsson. For the four-year-olds get the bound and current volumes of ' * Child Garden;" and " In the Child's World," by Emilie Poulsson. For the children of five and six there are "The Story Hour," by Kate Douglas Wiggin ; " In Story land, ' ' by Elizabeth Harrison ; the new editions of Grimm and Andersen, Bible Stories, Greek Stories and Music. 25 and Norse myths; ^^sop's Fables; tales from Roman and American History; Jane An- drews' books; ''Seaside and Wayside," by Julia McNair Wright ; ' * Adventures of a Brownie," by Miss Mulock; some of Miss Alcott's stories for little children, and such poems for children as Kliot, Childs, Whit- tier, Stevenson and Field have written or selected for us. Susan Coolidge has written some very good tales for young children, and there are, of course, many others which time and space forbid me to mention. Some classic stories which are excellent for telling are ''Rip Van Winkle," "The Pied Piper," " The Bell of Atri," " Paul Revere," and *' Rhoecus." If to this list is added bound and current volumes of "St. Nicholas," "Six-year-old" will have a very fair library. Much of what has been said of stories ap- plies also to music. In the kindergarten the songs are dramatized and often worked out with different kinds of material. If at home the child sings for his mother and other mem- bers of the household, if he is aided in 26 Home Occupations for Little Children. the correct use of words and tones, the kin- dergartner's work is continued. It often happens that in teaching a song little brains do not always get the ideas which the words of the song and the teacher's explanations are designed to convey. In the necessary concert teaching many a small mistake es- capes the ear of the kindergartner which the mother can correct. For instance, one little girl sang for the words ' ' All for the little ones' Christmas joys," *' All for the little ones' Christmas George,^' and the teacher was greatly obliged to the mother for detecting and correcting a mistake which probably would have escaped her entirely. In all homes, whether the children attend a kindergarten or not, the beautiful song books of these latter days should be in use. Mother and children should sing together, the children should be taught to sing for others, and where it is possible the song- story should be acted out in a play spirit. These song books furnish music for almost every occasion in child-life, and songs learned by the children can be used in a way that stories and Music. 27 will make life happier for all who hear them. No kindergartner needs to say that she dis- approves unqualifiedly of showing children off. Mothers still do this to their own and the children's undoing, and the songs and plays of the kindergarten seem to furnish added temptation to these fond and foolish parents to go on with the process of brush- ing off the bloom of childish unconscious- ness. But children can sing for others with- out being shown off. Christmas, Thanks- giving and Easter songs can be sung on the occasions for father. Groups of neighbor- hood children can give little serenades and concerts to friends and neighbors judicious enough to listen respectfully and comment sensibly. What invalid or convalescent would not rejoice to hear songs sung by happy children's voices? What family fes- tival would not be sweeter for the childish songs which voice the soul of the occasion ? There are a few homes where the mother or father, or both, can and will take the time to sing with the children, to teach them the beautiful songs which are so many 28 Home Occupations for Little Children. that the teacher can only use a fraction of them, to learn the songs which they sing in school or kindergarten, and so to have in their home music for the children as well as for themselves. Among the approved present day music books for children are those prepared by Eleanor Smith, one by Mildred and Patty Hill, the Reinike Collection, Tomlins' " Child Garden of Song" and other books, and the St. Nicholas songs. With any or all of these books many a happy evening hour can be passed and many a profitable Sunday afternoon, for the devo- tional songs in these collections are good vtusic, which is more than can be said of most Sunday school melodies. With their aid and the mother's, the house may become musical with child- like songs, and delightful surprises and joyous occasions provided for. Mental and spiritual food for growing minds and souls can be given in this way, and the store of play material enhanced as well. Cbapter iririF. OUT OF DOORS. HE Nature Study of schools and kindergartens is full of suggest- iveness for the home occupation of little children in their out- door hours and vacation days. The province of the kindergarten in the matter of Science teaching, and also of the nursery, is chiefly to inspire a love of nature and her works in the children, although by so doing the ob- servation is quickened and all the faculties aroused. All analysis and classifying should come later. It is a mistake to think that little children unaided will become observers and lovers of Nature. We of the present generation have but to look back to our own childhood to prove that. In spite of a child's love of out- door life and his keen interest in all he sees, that interest will become dulled and blunted if his questions are not answered 29 30 Home Occupations for Little Children. and his efforts appreciated. His very love for out doors may become a purely phys- ical feeling, and he can soon become both blind and deaf to Nature's teachings. On the other hand it is very easy to lead a little child from his Heaven-sent beginning in Na- ture Study into a real love for and intelli- gent interest in all natural phenomena. The chief necessaries for this are appreciation of and sympathy with his efforts, to which must be added opportunity for further obser- vation. To be much out of doors with the children, to follow their restless leadings, to be interested where they are interested, and to be able to lead them into * * other fields and pastures new ' * when they are ready to go, is to " live with our children" as Froe- bel hoped we should some day. This lover of children laid great stress on sense games in his book for mothers. He would have them train the senses of their children to acuteness and discrimination by means of play. In one kindergarten this idea was carried out last September by means of the fruits so abundant at that time. Out of Doors. 31 A number of these were provided, the num- ber suited to the ages and abilities of the children, who named them and counted them, and also drew them with colored chalk. One child's eyes being blindfolded, another child hid one of the fruits. It was then the turn of the blinded one to guess which fruit was missing, and if he guessed correctly he was " heartily cheered;" if his guess was wrong, he tried again another time. This was played as long as the chil- dren were interested, and on another occa- sion a game of guessing feeling the fruits, filled a half hour, while still later they were guessed by smelling and tasting. Such games as these, when taught to children and played occasionally with them, ought to set them going in this particular direction to their own physical, mental and spiritual upbuilding. Older children delight in these simple kin- dergarten games and seldom have the oppor- tunity they wish to learn and use them. In their playing school or playing kindergar- ten they could amuse both themselves and younger brothers and sisters in this way, for 32 Home Occupations for Little Children. the games can be played with nuts, leaves, shells, stones, blocks, flowers, grains, chil- dren, and miscellaneous objects. Nuts make delightful playthings used after this manner, and kindergarten children delight in playing they are squirrels and hunting the nuts previously hidden by one of their number, especially if privileged to eat the nuts at the end of the game. Hunting nuts in the real woods is a psycho- logical basis for this play as well as a joy which children should taste oftener than they usually do, for in these days of rail- roads and electric cars the woods are not so very far off, and once a year at least there should be a nutting party in every well- regulated family. If in the Indian Summer days, after the leaves are ofF the trees and the birds have flown, a collection of nests could be made from the woods, parks or suburbs, by means of excursions in company with a boy of tree- climbing age and propensities, a work worth doing would be wrought in the minds and hearts of all concerned. Out of Doors. 33 Nothing gives children more pleasure in the Fall than milkweed pods full of the "dainty milkweed babies." Go where these are to be found in September or Octo- ber ; bring them home and let them dry in the house ; explain to the children why they are furnished with wings and how the wind plants them ; let them have some pods to play with out of doors on windy days ; and let them make pretty winter bouquets of dry clusters of the pods for friends and relatives, lyittle girls can make down pillows of the seeds for their dolls, and an ambitious child could even collect enough for a down pillow for a real baby. Thistle down can also be used in this way. During the autumn the different kinds of seeds and seed-pods greatly interest the children, who would enjoy gathering them if there was any reason which appealed to them for so doing. The interest of the older people in such a collection is sufficient oftentimes to stimulate them to effort, but a real object, such as saving for next year's garden, making a collection for a present 34 Home Occupations for Little Children. to somebody, or gathering quantities to be sent to city relations, city kindergartens or anyone poor or sick, appeals more to the child. He is a reasonable little being and does not care to do things which are not ' ' worth while, ' ' much more than we do. An examination of the seeds with a micro- scope will repay anyone, and no child will fail to be interested in the perfectly formed leaves tucked up in many seeds all ready for next year. When the leaves begin to fall, playthings are literally showered on those children whose eyes and hearts true sympathy has opened. It is a commonly pathetic sight in autumn days to see a little child gathering the bright leaves with a wistful what-can-I- do-with-you expression, only to throw them away. If he brings them into the house, they are often unnoticed and uncared for, and the most he can expect is to have them put into a glass of water and forgotten. Kindergarten children bring leaves to their teachers by the bushel and the wise use made of them in the child-garden can also Out of Doors. 35 be made of them at home. The names can be learned; guessing games can be played with them; they can be traced, drawn and painted; beautiful borders and patterns can be laid with them; tea-tables can be deco- rated with them; wreaths and festoons can transform the child into an autumn picture for his father; they can also be pressed, var nished and waxed. In our kindergarten the waxed leaves of last October decorate our tables during the rest of the year for birthday or other parties. In the great masses of dead rustling leaves are delightful places to play squirrel and rabbit games, and for a romp, what material is better adapted for tossing, roll- ing and throwing? Children will rake leaves patiently, if, when father comes home, they can be present at the bonfire, and to go to the woods with older friends and bring home great bouquets of red and yellow to make the house beautiful is a long remem- bered joy. Baskets of acorns will be gladly gathered if they can be used, and in many a city kin- 36 Home Occupations for Little Children. dergarten they would be treasures indeed. The double acorn cups can be strung by slipping the string between the two cups. These productions give much pleasure to the children who have to find the double acorns and string them, as well as to the baby- brother, sister or neighbor to whom they can be presented. Corn-cobs in quantity made in olden times, and still make, charming playthings, and a corn-husk dolly would be a greater treas- ure than one from a store to many an in- dulged child. Wild cucumbers and tooth- picks will stock a minature farm with bristling pigs, and the vines can be grown in almost any spot of earth where there is good soil. Stones always interest children, but the interest is a fleeting one for the rea- son that limitations are reached so soon. If a place is prepared for a collection of the most attractive stones, and if the mother can tell her child a little of their history, an added stimulus to patient hunting and sort- ing is given. Duplicate collections can be made for friends and sick children, and Out of Doors. 37 bottles containing a little water filled with bright colored pebbles make a gift for a con- valescent which will afford him a little, and the giver much pleasure. The bright berries of autumn, the haws, thorn-apples, and cranberries are beautiful for stringing purposes, making a pleasant change from beads and buttons. In season, clover heads, dandelion heads and the tiny flowers which make up the lilac's blossom make good material for stringing, and this industry should be added to the familiar oc- cupations of making dandelion curls and chains. Get a sheet of dark bronze paper on whose white side flying birds can be traced from a pattern. The model can be drawn and cut out of pasteboard, or a picture be made to serve the purpose. Let the chil- dren trace and cut out a flock of these birds; fasten them high up on the nursery wall headed south in the fall, and make others which can head north in the spring. Sets of these can be made for friends and saved for Christmas and birthday gifts; for 88 Home Occupations for Little Children. a present which is not the child's own has Httle value, as a gift, in his eyes compared with one which has cost him eiBfort or sacri- fice. Where children can have the use of ham- mers and nails they can make crude bird houses in which real birds will live all sum- mer, and they will often spend a half-hour raveling out bits of coarsely woven cloth, which, hung on bushes, trees or fences in the spring, are to furnish the birds with nest-building material. A globe, or other receptacle, in which fish can be kept will be a treasure to children old enough to go about alone or fortunate enough to possess a grown-up real friend who will take them occasionally where they want to go. It will give a reason for the collection of frog's eggs, tadpoles, tiny min- nows, crawfish and mussels. How chil- dren love these things, and how seldom is it worth their while to bring them home we both know and remember ! * * They are very interesting, dear," says mamma, trying to repress a look of disgust, "but we have no Out of Doors. 39 place to keep such things. Throw them away. ' ' A tub in which water from their own homes and breeding places can be placed seems to agree best with tadpoles, by the way. To learn the trees by name, to know their blossoms and seed is a pursuit in which old and young may join with mutual pleasure and profit. The country is full of thriving little seedling trees which, striving for life in vacant lots, parkways and roadsides, would one day become real trees, if trans- planted into an amateur nursery. Some one once suggested that, if for every child bom, a tree, seedling, or seed were planted the forestry problem would be solved. A miniature fruit farm can be made by planting apple, peach, plum, pear, cherry, orange or lemon seeds, and, while it may never reach a very advanced state, the plant- ing of the seeds, the watching for the first shoots, and the observation of the tiny trees will fill up some of those industrial vacancies for which we are trying to provide. When we were children there were few springs 40 Home Occupations for Little Children. when we did not plant a vegetable garden in an old dish-pan or cheese-box, using for planting purposes one potato, one beet, one onion, one turnip, and one anything else we could get. I do not remember that there was ever any outcome to this agricultural enterprise, but I have a very distinct recol- lection of the pleasure this tilling of the soil gave to me. I will add that we lived in a city and that our backyard was boarded over, but to the true farmer- spirit all things are possible. The collecting of cocoons in the fall will give occupation at that time as well as later on when the moths come out. These are found in both city and country, and a study of them will prove most interesting. Of the small snail shells found on the lake shore, and in gravel piles, strings can be made, as they usually have holes in them. A child will hunt patiently for these treas- ures even when he has not the hope of using them. Babies and younger children are de- lighted recipients of such gifts as these, and the fact that they so soon tire of them need Out of Doors. 41 not affect either the work or the satisfaction of the donor. Drinking cups can be made of large leaves pinned together by their stems, and those of us who read the Rollo books long ago re- member that the backs of the lilac leaves can be used for slates if pins are the pencils. I have known kindergarten graduates to repro- duce their brief educational experience, using pebbles, twigs, leaves, dandelion stems and burrs for material. The pebbles were seeds, the twigs sticks, the leaves folding papers, and the burrs clay. They even wove coarse grass into mats and did pricking with thin leaves and stiff grasses. The burdock's prickly seed-pod can be made, not only into baskets and nests, but into animals, furniture and almost any sort of object. It is well to protect little hands with old gloves for this work, for the burrs leave invisible splint- ers in the fingers, which are very uncomfor- table. Until one has tried it one does not knov>^ how lifelike and satisfactory to the children are the squirrels, rabbits, dogs, cats and elephants which can be made of either 42 Home Occupations for Little Children. the green or the brown burrs. The golden rod galls can, with a knife and the addition of grasses or stems, be transformed into tiny vases and dishes. Flower dolls make beautiful fairies with their pansy, daisy or dandelion faces, their leaf shawls and poppy or morning glory skirts, and ' 'pea-pod boats with rose-leaf sails" are delightful possi- bilites. I know one child whose delight it was to make fairy-lands, filling a shady corner or shallow box with moss-covered earth in which she planted miniature trees, flowers and shrubs, sinking a saucer, which could be filled with water, into the ground for a lake. On the lake or seashore the construction of geographical formations, hills, moun- tains, islands and rivers, gives even a little child at times more satisfaction than his own rather aimless building of houses. One group of children last summer made the Michigan fruit farms and a smaller I