Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-03
SAND HEAP IN THE NURSERY.
It Gives the Children an All-Year-
Round Taste Of the Seashore.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star
Il don't know what to do with the chill
dren when we first get home from the sea-
Shore" groaned a mother who has a couple
of little ones below the school age THE
older children have plenty to do to take I'D
their minds, but the others miss their free
dom. and above all the sand with which
they could amuse themselves in so many
ways"
You should have brought the seashore
home with you," said the second mother
THAT is what I learned to do some time
ago. and 1t keeps the children happy all
winter long 1 have a small barrel of sand
sent me by freight. and keep it in the Gel
lar as source Of renewal for the small
quantity of sand 1 always have in the
nursery for the children to play in
Mothers who have discovered the value
of the indoor sand heap find that they are
more than repaid for the little trouble it
causes by the extra time they have to
themselves while the children are inter-
ested in their play If it is possible to give
the children a room to themselves for their
sand play, this is desirable, for the dry
sand is nearly as pervadng in the house as
outdoors, and it will be tracked from room
to room. But it Is clean dirt, and If 1t is
kept in tables with raised rims it will make
little trouble.
These tables best solve the problem of
what to do with the sand. They can be
bought in the shops and are gaily colored
stands with the rim raised two three
inches. AS a rule they are lined with zinc,
SO that the sand may be used moist. The
table Is at the proper height to allow a
small child to sit before it and work the
sand comfortably.
But the whole thing is so simple that it
may be made at home A wooden box, with
the edges cut low, can be placed upon a
bench; or the child can play upon the floor,
though this is not always to be desired in
cold weather.
There are any number of implements for
working the sand either outdoors or in the
house-sets of wooden rakes, hoes and
shovels molds of wood and tin and alpha
bet letters But scraps of dishes, an old
knife or the shells brought from the sea-
shore will please the child infinitely more.
They best lend themselves to the child 8
chief delight in making believe
Moistened little the sand can be nodded
into cakes and pies, or made into houses
by the Smalb boys. kindergarten children
make small gardens out of sand heaps and
plant flowers and trees in them, and find
there all the natural objects that they have
studied at school.
Older children. especially those taught at
home, work out their lessons in the sand,
and there is no better way for teaching Il
geography lesson. This has been learned in
some of the schools. A child never forgets
a mountain when it has made one. and 1t
remembers always why river runs from
high to low land when it has been Illus
trated in sand heap. Drawing coast lines
and marking in rivers and lakes may be q
trial on paper but it is a delight in sand,
where errors can be easily corrected.
All the toys work into the play in the
sand heap. A Noah's ark becomes an I'M
told treasure when the animals march out
two by two on the sand or when the dove
can fly to sand mountain to pick an
olive leaf.