In some of the biting days of winter it becomes so cold as to make the feet and legs of an adult uncomfortable, and completely to chill a child, who, in creeping, has his whole body in it for long periods. Colds are contracted and many more are protracted by playing on the floor in winter. Many nurses, and some mothers, have an idea that a child should walk at a certain fixed age, and when this time arrives, put into practice various plans for teaching the process. The proper and only safe plan is to let the child teach himself to walk. This he readily does, first through the act of creeping, in which he exercises every muscle of the body without throwing undue weight upon the soft bones.
Set walks, however, are an abomination to the child as well as to the adult.
City-bred children suffer most in this respect, as they are too frequently sent out merely to walk a certain number of blocks, or for a fixed time, and it is no wonder that they quickly tire of such exercise and prefer their nurseries to the streets. The only way to avoid this is to give an object to the outing, as, for example, a household errand or the purchase of a cheap toy. In the country, on the other hand, children run about and amuse themselves according to their own pleasure, visit the garden or the farm, and involuntarily take that kind and degree of exercise best calculated to promote the growth and development of their bodies. For such, when the parents' purse allows, a donkey or a pony should be provided. In the earlier years of life the girl and boy play together and take nearly the same sort and amount of exercise.