The Glenwood post., 1919-01-18
Kindergarten
Helps fos Parents
Articles Issusd BY tis Department
0f the Interior B'tS..Iu Of Education
0us -'ro
Nofton0i khnderea. :. .snAssoci0non
TOYS "MADE IN AMERICA"
0y MRS. MARTHA GALLAUDE7
WARING.

Clear track, toOt-toot, ding-a-lang.
chu-chu. all aboard II all of which
means that my wo-year-old is at his
favorite play.
As look out Of my window l see
him on his kiddy car. pushing along
with his sturdy legs and pulling 4
train behind him consisting of an iron
locomotive and three cars His point
OF departure Is the station" proclaim.
ed center Of traffic by "wind-up
auto-deivery wagon" small one
horse cart full Of "wocks," and two
mule cart In which sits Seraphina, his
rag doll. holding her baby. His objec.
tive Is "Tybee" at the other end Of the
long, straight piazza, so called after
the island Of that name which we fre
Quently visit In the summer. A gate
way, built up Of l-inch cubes and long
brick-shape pieces Of wood, marks the
entrance to the island"
Boy has been playing this way the
better part of an afternoon, with an
occasional bit of encouragement from
elder sisters near by. He is playing
with things that afford plenty OF room
for original work. manipulation, and
imagination, the auto toy being the
nearest approach to a mechanical one,
and the one he cares least about. Ev-
erything he has Ia solid and substan-
tial enough to be really used and en-
joyed.
Made In Our Own Country.
As watch him racing up and down
In his kiddy car, I wonder at his
control over 1t until I study its simple
and excellent mechanism. Its front
wheel can turn In any direction. Its
steering gear 10 strong and easily man.
aged, and 1t 10 made entirely Of wood.
Both carts are also Of wood, - we'll
a. the mule and horse. and all are
well painted and strongly put toSsth-
er. The cars are painted red. white
and blue. 80 I know they are made In
our own country. The rag babies We
made ourselves. and although they are
"of . crudensss," they are none the
less beloved. The blocks were made
BY measure at 4 wood yard. Being
large and easily handled. 4 child can
build gates, bridges and platforms
with them big enough to walk under
or upon, and strong enough to stand
firm after they are built.
Our older children when they were
small played principally with imported
dolls dressed In native costumes. And
can remember that my brother and
I had handsome books brought from
England, that my finest dolls were
French and his regiments of toy SOL
diers came mostly from the land of
militarism.
But our baby boy. born during the
world war and forced to rely on sturdy,
homemade toys, is much better of.
Lesson for Mothers.
There Is a two-fold lesson here for
us mothers. One concerns the chill
dren themselves and the other goes far
afield into the laws Of economics, world
production and the like
We have found that our own SUBJ
stantial. wooden. easily-handled play
things are what our children need and
want. ChIldren's books we have
aAlenty. the most artistic. suppose.
in the world. And then we can de-
mand well-made, pretty American
dolls. 1t only remains for us to hold
to all these. and prove our patriotism
by refusing to buy foreign manufac-
tured toys, even II they are put on
the market again later on.
A far cry. isn't It. from baby boy
with his "toot-toot. ding-a-lang. chu-
chu." on the piazza, to the law Of sup
ply and demand and the regulation Of
one of the great Industries Of the
world? But In just such ways we are
now finding out how great problems
must be handled. We are going back
to our earlier and simpler days. when
we shall discard the nonessentias as
so much waste and rubbish. Let us
begin. then, at the beginning and stick
to toys-made In America.