The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1906-11-22
After

In the case of a large Thanksgiving
gathering, the hours which follow directly
on the heels of dinner present a problem
for the hostess. Naturally, the elder
guests prefer to sit quietly and chat about
family affairs which have arisen since the
last annual gathering; but not SO the
young people, who desire more attractive
forms of entertaining. The wise hostess
will plan amusements for the children
and young people, so that their elders may
be left in peace for an hours CONVERSE
ton.
AS soon as the dining room Is cleared of
all signs Of the feast 1t can be changed
into a play room, and some older girl
should be elected as mistress Of cere-
monies and should plan the games SO that
the children are amused quietly until the
eianolats Timer has been digested.
A pleasing little contest for children
is laid out on kindergarten lines. Two
bowls, one containing big white popcorn
kernels, and the other cranberries, are
placed at their disposal, with a supply OF
t~oothpicks, threads and needles. The chill
dren are then requested to make some ar
ticle of decorative design in the white
kernels and the red berries. 1t is re-
markable how quickly the children will
seize upon the idea and what fetching lit
tie ornaments they will produce. Tooth
picks. run with cranberries and Joined
at the corners with popcorn, will make a
frame 10 lay Hat on lHe taDle, ana IHS-ue
Of this a child will block out a picture in
red and white; or, strung on the thread,
they can be wrought into red and white
~tassels, balls and odd-shaped ornaments,
such as are seen on Christmas trees.
Half an hour will pass quickly at such
work, and then a committee of the older
guests can pass upon the results and
award a prize to the most skillful worker.
This prize should suggest Thanksgiving
day, and Inexpensive little favors are
shown in the form Of boxes Of candy, with
a Puritan maiden standing on the box as
on a pedestal. This Is merely a doll dressed
IN Puritan garb, generally in crepe pa
per.
The second game is a trife more active,
and is merely a variant of the old game
OF pinning a tail on the donkey In this
case a sheet IS fastened against the wall
and on it is drawn or pinned a representa-
ton of a turkey. A turkey, drawn in COL
ored crayons and then cut out and passed
carefully on the sheet, gives the best eff
feet. In the old donkey game a tail was
provided and did service for all the play
ers, but for the turkey game the housewife
may provide real turkey feathers, saved
from the gobbler which was served at din
ner. Each child Is given one of these
feathers and a long pin; then, blindfolded,
he is started toward the sheet in search of
a proper place to pin the feather.
If the paper turkey has been pasted on
the sheet, it is 4 comparatively easy mat
ter for a blindfolded person to feel around
until the bird is discovered, but it is not so
easy to find the exact spot on which the
tail feathers should be pinned. AS a re-
suit, when all have taken G turn, the tur-
key is liable to have tails sprouting in
every direction, which of itself will create
fun.
The mistress of ceremonies must keep
track of the game and award the prize,
which can be a papier-mache turkey. filed
with small candies, to the child whose
feather strikes nearest the mark.
For the third game. start the children
in search Of cranberries which have been
hidden all over the room. For this pur-
pose provide each child with a small bas-
ket of wicker or crepe paper, and have
the cranberries hidden before the guests
arrive behind oraments, in the c~revices Of
the table legs, behind pictures, or the up
per sashes Of the window-in any place
which will tax childish wit and ingenuity.
When the voyage of discovery is over the
cranberries can be counted, and a small
prize, such as a crepe paper basket, filled
with crimson-coated Jordan almonds, can
be awarded to the child who has found the
most berries.
Ely this time the heavy dinner will be
pretty well digested, and the children will
be glad to go for 4 run out of doors, or a
skate On the pond If, fortunately, the fam
lily gathering be in a country where ice
forms early.
If these games be too childish for the
young people who have reached the age OF
Is or more, the hostess will do we'll to
plan some formal entertaining for the
evening, which will he given under the
direction OF q college girl or boy versed il
the handling of amateur theatricals. Thi!
VIII afforG an afternoons entertainment
for the young people Will need to be drilled
for the evening performance. Even in this
blase age, young people from 10 to Is thor
oughly enjoy getting up a SHOW
New England poetry has suffered al
eclipse, and school boys and girls of to
day arc not SO familiar with its beautie!
as were their fathers and mothers. It VIII
therefore, be something of a novelty If TIL,
hostess arranges a Thanksgiving evening
with Longfellow, presenting living pic
lures from his poems dealing with New
England home Life.