The Colorado statesman. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1895-1961, 1919-03-01
kindergarten
Helps for Parents
Articles Issued by the Department
offhe Interior. Bureau Of Education
and The
observation-disclosures
KIDDlES LIKE TO USE HANDS
BY DOROTHY cANFlELD FISHER.

| -" many VI VHi N'iN"
houses are situated In very risorous
climates mat good many niotiierS
VIII not think the out-of-doors possr
Die playground In wintertime' Inns 10
less true than they are apt TO tilihh'
On almost any sunny day III winter,
little children, If warmly dresseu' VIII
dement, TAR more by Disk, rolhpihs'
active half-hours running ana Junplhe
than city babies do In their swatheu'
motionless outing in baby carriage.
And when really bad weather drives
them In, as 1t should do very seldom
the country mother has a great advan-
tage in space over n city one. FOR
there is about farm nearly always
some corner, woodshed, corner or
the barn. an attic, or an unused room
where the little folks may romp ana
play actively. If necessary the sacred
spare room is better used for this pur-
pose than kept In idle emptiness. Ana
all the varieties of handwork are re-
sources for rainy days.
For, as the children advance beyond
real babyhood and the mere need for
constant romping and climbing and
running like little animals, their In
stlnctive desire to use their hands in
creases, and this Is an instinct which
should be encouraged in every posi-
BILE way Just as the wise mother sees
to 1t that they are provided when ba-
bies with ample chance to roll and
kick and tumble, so when they are
older she is never more pleased than
when they are doing something with
their hands, and she has all around
her ample material for beginning this
handwork pan of beans or shelled
corn. with a wide-mouthed bottle and
spoon, will keep two or three-year-
old happy and absorbed for n long
time. A pack of cards to be shuffled
or used to build houses is another
"plaything" which does not need to
be specially bought. A pan of bran
and handful of clothespins occupy
even n baby of fourteen months as he
pushes them into the closely packed
bran and pulls them out. A big rag
doll the size of small child, is easy
to make and stuff with cotton.
MANY Homemade TOYS.
And then there are blocks. peren-
Mai BLOCKS, Wnlcn nee0 not ut all be
bought from store. A father with a
plane and n saw can plane n couple.
of two-by-four pieces and in about
half an hour make as many square or
oblonp blocks 1.-TWO by four by six
inches is good size) as any child
needs TO play with. These large blocks
not only cost practically nothing, but
are much better for the little children
to use than the smaller expensive
kind that are sold: and the set will
outlast family of most strenuous chill
dren.
A collection of empty spools of diff
ferent sizes is n treasure for the child
of three, who will rejoice in stringing
them on cord passed through n
bodkin. When he is little older and
has acquired skill in this exercise he
may graduate to stringing buttons
| with real needle and thread. On
| baking days small lump of dough
| lmade less sticky by working more
| flour into iD which can be rolled ard
played with on a bit of smooth board
| Is preat fun for little folks; and let
the mother constantly remember that
any fun which is secured by using
the hands does not only make the
| child happy. but Is of educational
value.
On washing day basin OF soap>
water and some bits of cloth to be
washed out will fill many happy
minutes. The oilcloth apron is as in
dispensable for this play as for the
outdoor water play and for clay mod
cling. This last is perhaps the most
externally interesting of the indoor oc-
equations for little children. If the
clay is kept on bit of oilcloth on
low table. it is not an untidy ele,