Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-11
BOYS AND GIRLS
How Children May Be Easily and
Nationally Entertained.
TO MAKE CHILDREN HAPPY.
Let Them Play Unrestrained for Certain
Hours-Excite Their sympathies by Giving
Them Pets-A Lesson in Juggiery-Ths Best
Kind of Games

anon WA Lesson In Suggiery-The bese
Kind of Games.
Written for The Evening Star. toopyrighted.
IN THE LIFE OF NINE. sNETCHINE WE
- read the following account Of the amuss-
ments Of q clever child:
The occupation of . courtier did not pre-
vent Mons. Soymonof from bestowing the most
assiduous care on the education Of daughter
who for six years was his only child He was
struck by the progress Of her young intellect
She showed An aptitude for languages, music
and drawing while she developed frmness Of
Character, rare quality in . child
"She desired a watch with An ardor which
transpired in all her movements Her father
had promised her one. The watch came and
was worn with the keenest enjoyment, but sud-
denly new thought seized upon the little
Sophia She reflected that there was some
thing better than . watch. To relinquish it Of
her own accord she hurried to her father and
restored to him the object Of her passionate
desires, acknowledging the motive. Her father
looked at her, took the watch, shut il up in Q
bureau drawer and said no more about it
HORROR OF THE MUMMIEs.
M. Soymonofs rooms were adorned with
bronzes, medals and costly marbles. Sophia
was on terms Of intimacy with these personages
OF fable and history. but she felt an unconquer-
able repugnance to a cabinet full of mummies
The poor child blushed for her weakness and
one day when alone opened the terrible door,
ran straight to the nearest mummy, took it up
and embraced it till her strength and courage
gave away and she fell down in swoon. At the
noise OF her fall her father hastened in. raised
her in his arms and obtained from her, not
80
which she had hitherto concealed from him.
But this supreme effort was good for her as
victory. From that day the mummies were
to her only common objects of interest and
curiosity.
"Studious Is was her education, M. Sow
monof did not Danish dolls. His daughter loved
them as friends and preserved this taste be-
yond her childish years, but elevated it by the
admixturs of an intellectual and often dramatic
interest. Her dolls were generally of the
largest size; She gave them each name and
part to act, established connected relations
between the different individuals and kept up
animated dialogues which occupied her imagi-
nation wildly and became means of instruc-
ton. Playing dolls was for her an introduce
ton to ethics and knowledge of the world.
AsUccEssIoN OF CONTINUAL FErEa
GATHERINGS court was a succession Of con-
tinual fetes. The fairy pantomimes performed
at the Hermitage were the first to strike the
imagination of the child who, as vet, could not
relish the tragedies of Voltairs. She composed
ballet which she called The Faithful Shep-
herdess and the Tickle Shepherdess' She
writes in her sixtieth year: One Of the iveliest
pleasures Of my childhood was to compose
festive decorations, which l loved to light up
and arrange upon the white marble chimney
piece OF my school room. The ardor which I
threw into designing, cutting out and painting
transparencies and finding emblems and notices
for them was something incredible. NV heart
beat high while the preparations were in
progress, but the moment my illumination be-
gan to fade. an ineffable devouring melancholy
seized me-" This extrac. is invaluable not
only for its historic importance, but for the
keynote which it sounds to a child's nature.
The noble little Russian girl at the court of
Catherine Of Russia only found those pleasures
lasting which came from herself and when she
could invest the fairy pantomime with her own
personality.
FAIRY PANToMIME.
A fairy pantomime is possible to the poorest
child If some supreme intelligence, an older
sister or aunt, will LEND her help. The fairies
can all be of pasteboard with strings as the
motive power There can be no cheaper 'corps
de ballet nor any so amusing.
And the story OK the watch lie significant as
showing that the wish once gratified ceased to
be wish. She desired with a child's caprice
to give 1t back to do something else with it.
u,
often hear. "You have had nurse a nurs-
cry governess. fine pony for your bow YOU
take your children often to the play and give
them dancing parties. and yet they are not
happy
This is the sincere regret of many a mamma
that she cannot make her children happy Yet
In large town in house shut I'D from our
cold winter blasts what she can do? good
dog and a kind-hearted set Of servants will
solve the problem better than all the III sellect
in. hsax rfArl1 I~a-, .1,,..w
the little girl, who looks it over and says: The
dolly cannot be undressed; do not want il I"
IL Is the dressing and the undressing which are
the delights of her heart.
LET THE BOY MAKE NOISE.
boy wants to make q noise first of all things
Let him have large upper or lower room. a
drum, a tambourine, q ball, and there he
should be allowed to kick out the effervescence
of early manhood. Do not follow him with ali
manner of prohibitions. Constant nagging and
faultfinding is an offense against a child's par
adise. Put him in a room for certain hours of
the day where no one need say: Get down.
don't do that, don't make so much noise
Let him roar and shout and climb over chairs
and tables and tear his gown and work off his
exuberance, and then he will be yery glad to
have his hands and face washed and listen to a
story or come down to meet papa with a smiI-
ing countenance.
Children should be allowed to have pc. birds
and kittens and dogs, as much live stock as the
house will hold it develops their sympathies.
And when bird dies and the fioodgates of
the poor little heart are opened sympathize
with him. 1t is cruel to laugh at childish woe.
Never refuse child sympathy in ioy or sor-
row. This lack Of sympathy has made more
criminals than anything else.
CHILDREN SHOULD NEVER BE CHEATED.
Children should never be cheated either in
the taking Of medicine or the administration of
knowledge. One witty writer a few years ago
spoke of the bad influence of good books He
declared that reading shat Tommy was a good
boy and kept his pinafore clean and rose TO
affiuence while Harry flung stones and told ibs
and was carried off by robbers developed his
sympathies for Harry, and that although he
was naturally q good boy he went for nure
hatred of the virtuous Tommy to the rivers
brim and helped bad boy to drown his aunt,s
cat, and then he went home and wrote n nrize
composition called Frank the Frlendless or
Honesty is Best
All this was because the boy saw that Tommy
was q prig: that his virtue was of that kind
mentioned in Jane Eyre in which the charity
child was asked which she would rather do.
learn hymn or receive a cake and she said
learn hymn" whereupon she received .stwo
cakes as a reward for her infant piety." Chill
dren cannot be humbugged they can be made
into hypocrites, however, by too many good
books.
PLAY AT BEING USEFUL.
The best entertainment for children IL TO Let
them play at being useful. Let the little girl
get papa slippers brush his bat-evan 10 tho