The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1919-08-21
n even the thriftiest and most eco
nomtcal family more money is

r n even the thrifdest and most eco
nomical family more money is
spent foolishly on meaningless
aimsy toys for children than pa
rents realize. Tho familiar i've
cent bag OF candy which many
country children expect on .
trip to town would buy q box Of coll
ored crayons which would be a we'll
spring Of Joy and profit to them for
days and days. The cheap twenty-five
cent gaudily dressed doll which goes
to pieces after a day or SO of Wig
orous play, costs as much as Ave
pounds OF potter's clay which would
| make innumerable toy dishes, and be
advancement. II tho mother, away
Temptation to take The children
| something In the shape of q poorly
constructed woody lamb which loses
its legs in the first half-hour's play;
II she can persuade the visiting aunt
TO have bought candy. very bad for
little teeth; It she can head on the
bachelor friend from bestowing a me-
chanical top which becomes uninter-
esting after the second day; h will
soon havs s.a money enoSgh IT., to buy .
tional playthings which will last
through the children's early years.
Colored crayons cost five cents a
box; for another nickel a good supply
OF wrapping paper can be bought
from the grocer. which. cut into large,
ground for much drawing" and COL
oring by artists Of three and our
years They can be shown how to
draw around q drinking glass or p
small plate. to make circles; around
q block to make q square; around, a
-~Ik 4 - i, IO 1 ht~1 80
they delight in coloring the designs
thus formed. This Is fine preparatory
training for writing. These colored
designs can afterwards be cut out by
the children with blunt-pointed scis-
sors (Which can be bought for ten
er. exercise for the hand. The gem
eral opinion is that children under five
are not able to use scissors. but there
are many exceptions to this rule.
AS the children grow older they
like to change from colored crayons to
bought for ten cents. Such a box is,
next to modelling clay, the most last
Ing satisfaction to children, and the
uses to which 1t can be put nrs not
to be counted. The spools which they
have been playing with a be coll
ored brightly and made into necklaces.
AL the designs they have made and
colored with colored crayons can be
colored with water color with fresh
pleasure. Old magazines with large
iize pictures can be colored, and the
children, IL a bit encouraged, are very
apt to make large drawings on the big
sheets of wrapping paper and color
those. Paper dolls cut out OF fashion
magazines and colored by the children
not only cost nothing. but give excel
lent. practice to hand and aye. The
mother should remember hat any
child who has la much practice in
handling pencils and brushes has an
immense advantage over others when
he goes to school and begins to learn
TO read and write. After the child
passes his fourth birthday, his mother
should taxi special pains to encourage
hin'to use his fingers, III drawing and
cploring, although eve in small de-
Signs, which might tire his eyes.
NOn the whole, perhaps the very best
use that the country mother can make
Of money saved by economies on
candy and fimsy toys Is to buy herself
= few good books which will give her
valuable hints on her new profession
Of motherhood. She does not dream
Of trying to get along without a good
cookbook; why should she think she
can manage all the details Of another
new business without any instruction?
Let her. al a matter Of course, put on
the kitchen shelf beside the cook
book one or two good mother books
which she take down and dip into
ut odd minutes as she waits for the
water to boil or the over to heat. One
Of these books win cost her but a
To-cest sta nj and IL she reads it