Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-18
VACATION PLAY HOURS
Value Of Having Children
Enjoy Their Leisure.
WHAT 'MOTHER"MAYD DO
SHE CAN START THE FUN OR
MANAGE IT.
Explain Wonders of Nature as the
Trees and Stones Tell
Usefulness.


| Written for The Evening Star.
| Now that the long summer vacation is in
full swing many mother finds herself sore
| ly perpleXed to what she shall do with
| the children until they return to their desks.
| Her little charges always demand a great
deal of attention. but never more than IN
the summer, when mother has to guard
| them against the ills peculiar to the heated
season, must see to it that they DO not
| overdo themselves in their games, and
should take pains to provide them occa-
sionally with forms of amusement that will
combine instruction with recreation. NOT
| that she should interfere in their childish
sports without good cause, for one OF the
greatest mistakes that mothers make IS to
curb the natural activity of childhood; out
it Is we'll for her to insist now and again
| on the children remembering that they are
in the world for other things than mere
| amusement. and this cannot be better &C
| compliShed than by gently guiding thenl III
| games that are educational
| The value of play is too often underesu-
mated. People forget that what is psycho-
| logically termed play activity is one OIL
| the greatest factors in the development OIL
the mind and character of the child mere
| is a great deal of truth in the Duke or
! WellingtOn's historic saying that the battle
| of Waterloo was won the cricket Held
| The Importance of play lies in the TACT ttIil
! 1t teaches the child as nothing else can no"
| to adapt himself to his environment. Al
the same time 1t brings out his innate ten
| dencv to act for himself The law Is the
! sa me as that which prevails in the animal
world. Thus the kitten, playing with SUCKS
SpOOlS, string. paper ana other lSht aF'i-
| Giles gets an experience In pursuing ana
catching mice which it would not have time
| to get if it waited until hunger compelled
it to seek food. The story is told of an old
| sea CAPTAIN who once saved his snip IN an
! emergency by a device that he had learned
! while pla wing with a toy boat in his child
| hood but had forgotten until the great
crisis arose. Similarly play influences the
chld's whole career. giving his brain the
requisite set" to enable him to succeed IN
his ifes work.
Let Them Have Their Fling.
! From this it will readily be seen that it is
| extremely unwise for any mother to at
| tempt to curb what is really necessity Of
nature or to repress the eXuberance that
| accompanies PLAY We often hear people
say: Children, don't make SO much noise
forgetting that the noise Itself Is the ex-
preston Of an energy that must find vent
| OF course do not mean to say that chill
| dren should be allowed to. Shout to their
| hearts content all the time, for 1t is I'M
| portant that they should be taught self
| control but what is objectionable is the
| continual repression of childhood mat
"children should be seen but not heard IS
| an old-fashioned maxim, containing a grain
| of common sense and a buShel OF nonsense
| and is happily fast losing its baneful intlu-
| ence in the light of modern knowledge OF
| the Importance of childhood.
| The wise mother will give her children
| every possible opportunity to manifest their
! play activities during the summer vacation.
| She should however. exercise a watchtul
supervision, not of their games so much as
! the conditions under which they play th"S"
| games 1t is we'll to remember. for instance,
| that the children should not he allowed to
! exert themselves to any extent until an
I hour after each meal, else their digestive
| functions may suffer. If the summer is
! spent by lake or ocean this caution is
| douhly necdFul. for It is extremely danger
! Gus for children to go bathing Immediately
| after eating-eVcn NOR" dangerous than in
| the case of adults. Indeed. nobody should
take a dip until the expiration of at least
| two hours after meal time. Then, too. the
! children should not lie allowed to rOmp too
much in the heat of the day. If they have
| big nursery. however. mother will have
| no difticultV in solving the problem of what
| to do with them when the sun is at it's
! height for they can he turned loose in the
nursery. allowed to undress to their under
| cloth ng and play active games they
| please.
| She Can Draw Them Out.
| While it is true that the children Will
manifest their play activities more spon-
| taneouslv when no older person is present
| il is equally true that mother can do much
| in the way Of raWng them out 1t is i'm
| portant also. that she take pains to cult
| waite their aesthetic side. especially their
| imagination, and she will find greater OPP
| portunities of doing this in the summer va
| cation than at any other time for she then
| has them all TO herself. Nowadays too
| many mothers neglect the incubation or
| idcality in their children, being content to
| provide them with pretty picture books and
| the current litera ture for the young How
| much better would IT be to assemble the
| little ones for an hour each day and explain
| to them he hidden meanings of the pictures
| or tell them stories which VII arouse their
| latent powers of Imagination, The good
| old-fashoucd fairy tales are just as potent
| factors in the cultivation of the aesthetic
| as they We're when mother and father were
| young. despite all modern theories to the
| contrary Even Santa Claus has been to a
! great extent relcgHted to the regions OF
| myth in these unitarian tines and so far
| from children being taught the curious
| legends surrounding the good old patron OF
| ChristmaStidn, they do not in n ma iorit u
| of cases, so much as learn what his name
| signifies.
The Wonders of Nature.
Another excellent idea is for mother to
| take her children and their little friends
| to the nearest woods once a week or once
|
| wonders of nature, utilizing wild flowers
! ferns, tree leaves bits of rock, etc. to
! teach the httl" ones primary lessons in
| botany and geology. True. this presupposes
| a knowledge of these subjects on the part
| of mother herself, but even if she knew
| nothing OF them il viii not take her long to
| pick up enough information to warrant her
| Undertaking mature studies in the woods
| for excellent guide books to ferns wild
| flowers and trees can be procured at com
| paratiVely slight expense. and as a rule
are 50 well Illustrated that any species may
i be readily identified. The same is true re-
| gardina geology.
| The way to make these lessons popular
with the pupils is to organize picncs car
| rying the luncheon in baskets large enough
| 10 serve later as receptaclcS for the Vari-
Gus specimens that will be collected in the
| woods. The morning can be devoted to
| playing games. the more serious occupa-
| ton being set on foot after luncheon AS
| soon as the baskets filed the start
| homew&rd should be made In order that
| the specimens may be classified and ar
| ranged before bedtime. BY allowing each
| child TO make a private collection interest
| and pride will speedily be aroused. and the
| seeds Sowed of a mental discipline that will
| prove extremely useful in after years
| Needless to say, care must be taken to
| keep the children from feeling that thav